Ethiopia

Link to HNO 2021

Link to HRP 2021

In 2021 Ethiopia continued to face consequences of climate-induced shocks and intercommunal conflict and violence compounded by high food prices, inflation leading to increase in acute food insecurity. Hence, acute malnutrition as expected continued to increase and overall country wide from January to December 2021, SAM admissions were 18% higher than they were last year same period and 91% of the 2021 target. The observed admission in 2021 which was 518670 is the highest admission ever reported since the start of CMAM programme in the country.

Oromia region continued to bear the highest burden of acute malnutrition with two out of five severely malnourished children admitted from the region. The problem is more pronounced in four zones (East and West Hararghe, Arsi and West Arsi) where over half (55%) of the cases in the region being reported from.  Somali region bears the second highest numbers (22%) of severely malnourished children and six out of ten admissions reported from 5 out of the 11 zones  (Afder, Daawa, Fafan, Liban and Shaballe).

In Tigray, SAM admissions quadrupled  to 37290 compared to previous years. In Amhara region where reporting rate declined due to inaccessibility and damage to health facilities, over 55K admissions has been reported. In Afar region, 24776 SAM admissions reported which is close to 5% of the total national admission in the year. 

In summary, overall country wide, from Jan to May 2021:

• There were more 518670 SAM children newly admitted for treatment across Ethiopia representing above 91% of the HRP annual target (513,972). Since Feb 2021 SAM admissions stagnated at very high levels for the period/season and reached peak in June with over 50K monthly admissions.
• In addition, in 2021, newly admitted children, pregnant and lactation women (PLW) for the treatment of MAM were:
  • 1531739 MAM children, representing 79% of the annual target (1531739)
  • 735245 acutely malnourished PLW, representing 73.9% of the annual target (994698)

The quality of the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) services continued to be strengthened through the gradual adoption of the revised national Acute Malnutrition guidelines (started to take place at local level end of 2019 / beginning of 2020). In 2021, the FMoH-led Technical Working Group (TWG) on CMAM continued to develop the necessary guidance to pilot the Family MUAC approach and initiated discussion on the prospect of adopting emergency protocols for the management of acute malnutrition at times of crisis, during exceptional circumstances where the health system collapsed and nutrition services delivered through mobile health and nutrition teams. The development of emergency guideline has been finalized and will be endorsed very soon.

• The piloting of simplified approaches are taking place at a very slow pace.
• The different shocks and crisis affecting Ethiopia continue to drive acute malnutrition at a very high level and SAM admissions were higher than those of previous years.
• Given much attention driven towards the Tigray crises, the situation in other part of the country didn't get the attention it deserves
• The mobilization of the necessary resources to run a large scale Targeted Supplementary Feeding Program (TSFP) remained a challenge and due to limited funds MAM treatment could be made available only in selected woredas of highest priority (in most severe needs). In 2021, as the number of conflict-induced crisis increased in Tigray as well as in other parts of the country (eg., BG Region, parts of Amhara Region), the capacities of the Nutrition Cluster partners to timely scale-up the enhanced support to life-saving nutrition services is over stretched and limited.