Multisectoral approaches for sustainable food and nutrition security actions in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has demonstrated a commitment to tackling the high burden of Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) challenges by developing and implementing various policies, strategies, and programs. Despite the efforts, the current FNS situation is of significant public health concern observed by various nutrition indices. The narrative review aimed to appraise multisectoral policy, strategic and programmatic initiatives aimed at addressing FNS challenges and identify entry points for enhancing coherent and integrated FNS approaches. The review involved broad literature research using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 1,086 articles and grey literature were identified. Out of this, 47 full-text articles and documents met the selection criteria and were included in this review. Evidence was synthesized in themes to characterize the successes and challenges of key FNS policies, strategies, and programs and identify potential areas of improvement to enhance multisectoral actions and address FNS challenges. Overall, Ethiopia has made considerable progress in enhancing FNS through the implementation of a range of FNS policies, strategies, and programs such as the National Nutrition Program (NNP), Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), and Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) among others. These efforts have resulted in notable achievements, such as the reduction of the prevalence of undernourishment from 47.0% in 2000 to 24.9% in 2020 and the reduction of stunting among children under five years from 57.4% to 35.2% over the same period. Nonetheless, the pace of progress has been hindered by various contextual and programmatic challenges such as climatic shocks, poverty, high inflation, political instability, limited access to production resources, inadequate coverage of FNS interventions, inadequate financing, and inadequate multisectoral coherence and integration. A comprehensive and integrated multisectoral FNS approach focusing on enhancing commitment, planning, coordination, financing, capacity building, and accountability across sectors and levels is imperative. Strengthening coherence across various sectors, alongside the operationalization of robust multisectoral monitoring and evaluation systems highlighted in the National Food and Nutrition Strategy, constitutes the most suitable entry points for ensuring sustainable advancement in mitigating the prevailing FNS challenges in Ethiopia. Key words: Food and nutrition security, policy and program, multisectoral approaches, Integration, Ethiopia