ETHIOPIA: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BEYOND FOOD SECURITY ISSUE

With enough food to feed everyone on the planet, why are there so many hungry people? This is just a rational question posed by the United Nations. As long as a number of hungry people are concerned, the statistics most frequently cited is that of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which measures 'undernutrition'. It estimates that about 795 million people of the 7.3 billion people in the world, or one in nine, were suffering from chronic undernourishment between 2014-2016. While almost all the hungry people, 780 million, live in developing countries, representing 12.9 percent, or one in eight of the population of these nations. Besides, the hunger woe puts education into a challenge, 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone. Over 90 million children under the age of five are also dangerously underweight.

In view of that, today every developing nation in the world mantra unleashing barrier to sustainable development within local strategies and explicit tools. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, preceded by the Millennium Development Goals, is now a global governing agenda towards development. Ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture, which actually means "Zero Hunger" is one of 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals that make up the Agenda. A holistic inference has therefore been put forward that poor harvesting practices, as well as food wastage have contributed to food scarcity. Wars have also had a negative impact on the availability of food and have led to a destruction of the environment limiting growth of food.

Irrefutably, a profound change of the global food and agriculture system is needed to nourish today's 795 million hungry and the additional two billion people expected by 2050. By then the earth could reach at the pick of its advancement roving across the universe to reach other worlds whereas same time in contrary food remains a burning issue creating a trap from which people cannot easily escape. With hunger limiting human development, it's unlikely that the world will be able to achieve integrated path to development. A hungry society is less likely to assume the capacity for super actions that can positively impact its economies, health, education, equality and social development. Food in a sense becomes a key piece of building a better future for everyone.

However, rapid economic growth and increased agricultural productivity over the past two decades has seen the proportion of undernourished people drop by almost half, says the United Nations report highlighting achievements in reaching the targets set out by the first Millennium Development Goals. Many developing countries that used to suffer from famine and hunger can now meet the nutritional needs of the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, extreme hunger and malnutrition remain a huge barrier to development in many countries.

Part of this struggling world is Ethiopia. The Country's most recent poverty analysis report indicates that the national absolute poverty head count index is reduced from 38.7 percent in 2004/05 to 29.6 percent in 2010/11. For the same period, rural poverty has declined to 30.4 percent from 39.3 percent and urban poverty declined from 35.1 percent to 25.7 percent. The Millennium Development Goals progress report also assessed Ethiopia as one of Africa's best performers in reducing hunger. Accordingly, between 1990 and 2013 the country's hunger index was reduced by 39 percent.

The second most populated country in Africa after Nigeria, according to the 2016 African Economic Outlook, having registered high economic growth since 2005 at an average growth rate of 10.8 percent per annum, stands out as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In 2014/15, real GDP grew by 10.2 percent, keeping the momentum of the 10.3 percent growth rate of the 2013/14.

In 2016, Ethiopia faced one of the worst droughts in 50 years caused by the El Niño climate conditions, leading to failed harvests and shortages of livestock forage. Some 10.2 million people were affected by the drought to be in need of relief food assistance. The 2017 Humanitarian Requirements Document assessment now concluded that the country is facing a new drought affecting lowland areas in southern and eastern parts of the country and some 5.6 million people will be in need of assistance in the course of 2017. Climate change is a major threat to the sustainability of country's growth due to its negative impact on agricultural output that remains the leading sector in terms of contribution to country's overall economy (73 percent of employment and supplies 70 percent of the raw-material requirements of local industries), but also to the additional cost of climate-resilient infrastructure.

By Kiram Tadesse

Credit: www.allafrica.com