Effect of dietary interventions in climate sensitive agriculture target villages in Southern Ethiopia on micronutrient status of mothers and children

Description

Malnutrition is one of the major development challenges in Ethiopia. For this reason, the Ethiopian Government and partners are targeting ways to minimize malnutrition in the country. Among the different forms of malnutrition, undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies (particularly in iron and vitamin A) are highly prevalent in Ethiopia and rural mothers and children are the most affected section of the population. To address these problems, agriculture-based interventions are given high priority since the majority of the Ethiopian population depends on agriculture production, both for food and income. This project will link the climate change-targeted agricultural interventions with nutritional status, in particular the micronutrient status of mothers and children. The nutrition research will be conducted in collaboration with agricultural researchers from Hawassa University so that agriculture interventions will be evaluated regarding their impact on nutrition. Dietary interventions will be investigated using biochemical and anthropometric indicators to assess health and micronutrient status of mothers and children.

Involved persons

• Dr. Samson G/Medhin
• Prof. Dr. Jan Frank
• PhD Scholar Dagem Alemayehu Ayele

Involved institutions

• School of Human Nutrition, College of Agriculture, Hawassa University
• Institute of Biological Chemistry and Nutritional Science, University of Hohenheim
• Food Security Center (791)

Sponsors

Supported by the DAAD program Bilateral SDG Graduate Schools, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)