Food security in Ethiopia

[6] Accounting for 84% of the country's labor force, agriculture in Ethiopia is the largest contributor to economic growth and the economy's most important sector.

[2] The level of hunger in Ethiopia can also be measured based on child growth, which is "internationally recognized as an important indicator of nutritional status and health in populations."

50.7% of children suffered from growth retardation as a result of inadequate diets, and 12.3% were "wasting", which refers to a condition brought on by severe under-nutrition and causes permanent impairment of the immune system, making them much more susceptible to infectious diseases and death.

High child mortality, impaired immune system, and the results of stunting due to inadequate diet, which include delayed mental development and intellectual capacity and decreased performance in school, have long-term effects, not only for those children but for economic productivity as a whole.

Small, undernourished women are also more likely to experience complications in during childbirth, and are more likely to give birth to low birth-weight babies, further "contributing to the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition".

The first goal is to "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger", and the fourth is to "reduce child mortality rate", in which preventing malnutrition in mothers and children is integral.

In order to fulfill these goals in Ethiopia, in 2007 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) developed the Food Security and Recovery Project, which is intended to run from January 2007 to December 2011 and to "contribute to the achievement of food security in the country including disaster risk management and early recovery capacities."

It is designed to promote institutional coordination and community participation in order to achieve disaster risk reduction and food security.

By 2011, UNDP hopes to significantly strengthen Ethiopian government capacity to take appropriate action to respond to emergency situations, ensuring the population's survival and recovery.

[17] As part of the Food Security and Recovery Project, UNDP also supports the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), the country's first formal, organized marketplace.

[20] PSNP was born in 2005 out of deliberations of the government of Ethiopia, UN organizations such as UN-OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair), and international NGOs.

The PSNP system is rooted in the FSP(Food Security Programme) as an initiative of the World Bank and IMF championed Ethiopian Poverty Reduction strategy with an annual budget of US$107 million.

In addition, it ties relief to development by giving food aid in exchange for labor effort to construct public works.