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Child undernutrition continues to be a major public health problem in the Sidama

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ህጻናት በተመጣጠነ ምግብ እጦት የሚያጋጥማቸው የጤና መቃወስ በሲዳማ ዞን ጎልተው ከሚታዩ የጤና ችግሮች መካከል ዋነኛው መሆኑን በህጻናት ኣመጋገብ ዙሪያ በኣክሽን ኮንትራ ላ ፋሜ የተካሄደ ኣንድ ጥናት ኣመለከተ። ለዝርዝሩ ከታች ይጫኑ "1. Introduction  Action Contre La Faim (ACF) has been working in Sidama Zone, SNNPR since 2003, focusing on nutrition interventions in addition to food security, livelihoods and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes. Child undernutrition continues to be a major public health problem in the Sidama zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Region (SNNPR), an area marked by the paradox of the ‘green hunger’. The area possesses fertile lands, receives rains and is characterised by a good diversity of crops (false banana or enset, maize, barley, vegetables and coffee as a cash crop). Yet, the zone has persistently high levels of global acute malnutrition (GAM) in previous years, which peak during the lean ‘hunger’ season. ACF together with scientific partners, have developed a standardised method for analysing the causes of

Runner’s marathon journey to political asylum in Ireland

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Trips to Ireland to further his passion for running led to Bedilu Gebreselassie, a member of a political group opposed to Ethiopia’s government, seeking political asylum  Bedilu Gebreselassie shudders as he recalls the 15 days he spent in prison. “Oh my god, I can’t explain,” the 27-year-old from  Ethiopia  says, shaking his head as he attempts to describe the cramped conditions of prisoners piled on top of each other in an Addis Ababa jail. Inmates were given a piece of bread and a glass of water to make it through each day. Gebreselassie struggled to find room to sleep on the floor, leaning on his side to fit inside the confined sleeping quarters. “I was crying, I lost weight, there was no food. After they let me out I had no transportation to get home.” The sports enthusiast from the city of Hawassa in southern Ethiopia had travelled to the capital to participate in a race with his athletics club but ended up behind bars due to his affiliation with the Sidama Liberation Fron

Ethiopia appeals for international aid in face of deepening food insecurity

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Government requests $596m after crop failure caused by erratic rainfall leaves 48,000 under fives severely malnourished and 8.2 million people at risk The Ethiopian government is calling for international assistance to help feed 8.2 million people after erratic rains devastated crop yields. Climate shocks are common in  Ethiopia  and often cause poor or failed harvests that lead to acute food shortages. UN says 4.5 million Ethiopians now in need of food aid after poor rains   Read more The government has allocated $192m (£124m) for food and other aid and is appealing for $596m in assistance from the international community for the remainder of 2015, said Mitiku Kassa, secretary of the Ethiopian disaster prevention and preparedness committee. More than 300,000 children are in need of specialised nutritious food and a projected 48,000 more children under five are suffering from severe malnutrition, according to a government assessment conducted in September. T

CSA to Employ Mobile Technology for the 2017 Census in Ethiopia

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The Central Statistics Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia disclosed that it is going to use mobile technology in the 2017 national population and housing censuses, according to Ethiopian News Agency. The Agency states mobile technology is needed to fasten the rate of information flow. The Agency’s plan was disclosed at a regional conference by Kifle Gebre, Information System Technology Director at the Agency. Head of Ethiopian Statistical Association Secretariat Zelalem Destaw said the new mobile technology will be of much help in avoiding delay of information exchange. The regional conference which is taking place from October 13 to 17, 2015, will convey useful recommendations and outputs to utilize mobile technologies in collecting statistical data in Africa. The pilot project is being performed in Ethiopia and other six African countries. Upon full implementation of the project, collection and dissemination of quality data will be enhanced in Ethiopia, it was learnt. Source: E

Ethiopian Drought Threatens Growth as Cattle Die, Crops Fail

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Saado Osman straps two bulging sacks of United Nations wheat to her donkey, one of the few animals the 70-year-old eastern Ethiopian herder has left since the rains stopped. Like millions of others in the Horn of Africa nation she depended on that precipitation to provide fodder and water for her livestock. Now drought has killed 20 of her cattle and goats, leaving her family of 10 with just four animals. A dead cow lies in Afar region.   Photographer: William Davison/Bloomberg “There is hunger here,” Saado said as she stood among a crowd receiving food relief in Afdem town in Ethiopia’s Somali region on Oct. 8. “For one year it has not rained.” Rain failure from February to May this year in Ethiopia, one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, was compounded by a short and erratic primary wet season from June to September. That’s left 8.2 million people in need of emergency support, with the crisis set to worsen through September next year, according to the UN. The ef