Ethiopia Approves National Food and Nutrition Policy

Ethiopia makes a major stride towards addressing the country’s challenges around nutrition by approving its National Food and Nutrition Policy (NFNP). Save the Children, through its USAID funded ENGINE and Growth through Nutrition projects and Irish AID funded ECSC-SUN project, has provided significant support for its development process. The move signals the government’s commitment to curb malnutrition as the policy is hoped to guide and improve engagement and accountability of state and non-state actors through food security and nutrition initiatives in the country.  

Save the Children has been providing technical and financial support starting from the initial stage of the NFNP development. Key learnings obtained from study tours in Uganda and Brazil in 2015 guided the policy development process. They were made possible through the financial and technical support of Save the Children’s ENGINE project and the World Food Program and UNICEF. Save the Children’s Senior Policy and Capacity Building Advisor seconded to the Federal Ministry of Health facilitated those visits. ENGINE’s Chief of Party took charge of compiling the outcome of the visit and producing a final visit report jointly with the FMoH’s Maternal and Child Health Director who served as the National Nutrition Technical Committee Chair. 

Through its Save the Children USAID ENGINE project, “we led the drafting of the concept notes and content outlines from the study tours that were instrumental in drafting the Food and Nutrition Policy of Ethiopia,” said Israel Hailu, Deputy Chief of Party for Save the Children’s Growth through Nutrition Project. Israel was also member of the Technical Working Group established to lead the Food and Nutrition Policy development process. Save the Children hired two consultants to help the policy development undertaking under the leadership of the Ministry of Health.  

“We congratulate the Ethiopian government on this breakthrough, and celebrate the success as a key partner who have delivered to that effect,” Israel said.