The Public Health Problem in Ethiopia

There has been many significant events of the 20th century that helped shaped what Ethiopia is today. Through imperialism, wars about boarding issues and the death of many great ruler this nation has been standing strong.Today Ethiopia is the second most populated country in Africa, it's the home to over 80 ethnic groups. The largest being the Oromo tribe that makes up over 34% of the population. Not only are they a big ethnic group in Ethiopia but also the neighboring countries such as Kenya and Somalia. Another big ethnic group is Ahmera who are taking up most of the politics and economy in Ethiopia. The rest is the minorities and have a smaller percentage of people or are other people who are are nationally from bordering countries such as Somali and reside in ethiopia. There are around 6.7% of Somalis who live in Ethiopia and adapted to their culture as well.

Despite the vast research on nutrition and health, malnutrition is still a major fatality in this present day. Policymakers, social scientist and medical experts have expressed alarm about the growing problem. While most agree that the issue deserves attention, consensus dissolves around how to respond and resolve the problem. Malnourishment continues to be a primary health liability in developing nations such as Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. It is globally the most significant risk factor for illness and death, predominantly with hundreds of millions of pregnant women

The effects that malnutrition has on the Democratic Republic of Congo are fairly severe. Not only is malnutrition affecting the countrywide health, but it also heavily impacts the economy. Because citizens are undernourished, they are at a higher risk of infections and diseases. This is due to a lack of a balanced diet which

Many countries around the world have developed food deficiency and food insecurity issues. Deficiency is the lack or shortage of something, so food deficiency is the shortage of food; and food insecurity is when people in an area do not have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food at all times to meet their dietary needs. There are five main factors that contribute to a country having food deficiency and food insecurity issues, these being: environmental, demographic, political, social, and economic factors. All of these factors have influenced Ethiopia to having food deficiency and food insecurity problems. Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa and is home to about 85 million people, and has been suffering from food deficiency and insecurity problems for quite a while. These five factors have contributed to Ethiopia’s current state, in regard to food.

The location and geography of the country has caused the people to experience famine after famine, leaving many to die from starvation. A famine is in definition, “A great shortage or an extreme scarcity of food over an extended period of time” (Webster). There are several different types of famine that occur in different types of the world. The type that Ethiopia generally goes through is called a Ravallion. During a Ravallion famine, there are unusually large amounts of causalities with extreme shortages of food in certain parts of the population. There are many things that cause famine, whether it’s draught, plague, or civil disrupt. Right now, Ethiopia is experiencing a draught that has killed almost all of their crops. Because of the famines that Ethiopia experiences most every year, there is usually an increase in the amount of people malnourished. This year, 11to 14 million people are expected to go hungry leaving many to starve to death. Ethiopia has experienced many draughts like these, the worst however, being in 1983. This draught lasted two years and the draught alone killed over 400,000 people in one year, this doesn’t include the deaths that were due to starvation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983%E2%80%931985_famine_in_Ethiopia).

Every nation has a responsibility to its citizens to improve the economic, political and social well-being of its people. However, in the film Blood Diamond it is made clear that there is an exploitation of the people in Sierra Leone. This economic problem is fueled by three main concepts; poverty, production/resources and demand/supply. Through the analysis of the three main concepts it will be shown how the economic problem was the result of each sub-concept.

References Shashidhar, H. (2016, March 10). Malnutrition. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from

This paper contains a marketing plan of a small production company that is earmarked to be established in Gardnerville, the suburb of Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa, my country of origin. The business which is to be named “Hunger Solution & Training Company” derived its name from the decade-long civil war that existed in Liberia that resulted into most of the citizens and other nationals of this country being internally displaced. These people which comprise of men, women, children, and other nationals,

Like any country, there are a variety of health concerns. About 50 percent of the children are malnourished-phsycially and mentally. When people experience malnourishment, often times it can stunt people’s growth as such a young age. Some illnesses are heart disease, kidney damage, and anemia, which can lead into adulthood.

The lack of growth and development begin to occur when the body does not take in enough calcium. Calcium is very important part for the body to function because it has the function to keep bones strong and without calcium the bones will become weak and break easily. Also, it will lead to stunted growth in the body and the person will not be able to grow properly. In addition, malnutrition can occur when children or the poor community does not get enough to eat and is requiring the need of nutritions and other minerals. Suffering from malnutrition will cause extensive amount of disease to manifest in the human body. Also, it will be harder for the body to fight off disease and people will become more vulnerable to catching different type of diseases. Pedro A Sanchez stated, “The death rate from diseases such as lower respiratory infection, malaria, and measles…Undernourished people infected with HIV/AIDS develop the full symptoms” (1). The poor population is longing for the access to healthy food in order to prevent terrible disease like this from occurring. It is very hard to treat and prevent these different variety of disease from happening without having the money to get the proper care and medical attention.

Poverty plays a huge role in how much a country gets to eat. Here in the United States, five percent of households experienced very low food security, according to the organization of Feeding America. Although that number should really be zero, it as actually relatively low compared to countries like Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries. One of the biggest issues in this country is food insecurity, leaving 33 percent of the population without a guarantee of food. Another example can be given by the organization World Information Transfer. They said that Ethiopia has been food deficient since at least the year of

2. the vast majority collects most of its basic foods needs either by food or cash transfers. In comparison in Somalia, Ethiopia is also experiencing the worst drought within these past thirty years. Save the Children in January 2015 projected that roughly 2.9 million people were suffering from food security and has risen to over 10 million within a course of a year. Similarly to Somalia, Ethiopia’s main source of income is livestock and agriculture; however, due to the lack of rain it has left millions with no source of food (leads to malnutrition) or income. Ethiopia’s government allocated 297 million dollars in assistance to relieve efforts within the country . However, the 297 million dollars in assistance is not enough and it’s projected that an approximation of 1.4 billion dollars is needed to provide adequate food, shelter, and other resources to relieve efforts in Ethiopia.

The last but not the least, high food prices make the situation even worse. According to FAO ' s data, the population of undernourishment increased by 75 million, which is higher than it in 2003 to 2005. The scientists analyzed it is caused by the rising food price (FAO, 2008). Additionally, in some countries in African, South American and Asia where average income is very low, to achieve the food security is almost impossible. For instance, Afghanistan is one of the most food-insecure countries. In Afghanistan, with 80% of the population living in rural place, the agricultural industry is most significant to this country. However, the households in Afghanistan still need to spend over 60 percent of their budgets on food. In 2008, it can be easily found in the chart, the wheat flour price experienced a sharp increase from 15 per kg to 45 per kg, which greatly increased the burden of the inhabitants (D’Souza, 2011). When the flour price rises, the local people will certainly spend more percentage of their incomes on wheat flour rather than some high-quality vegetables and meat. Unreasonable diet structure can directly contribute to lacking nutrition and influence their healthy. As a result, a vicious circle is created and makes the

There is an estimate of about 233 million Africans who are famished from undernourishment.The sub-Saharan Africans have the second largest amount of people who are living in world hunger.A lot of this starts from job instability, wage shortages, wars ,and

I went to a country where the first coffee plant was ever found located on the horn of Africa. I do not remember much about the trip, but I still remember enough to make this essay. Ethiopia is the birthplace of my sweet mom and the place I first saw my grandparents. The main reason I went was to see my extraordinary family that was in Ethiopia. During the trip I had a great time, especially when I went to the beach for the first time (with my family).