Differences in Factors Contributing to Child Undernutrition between Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Communities in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional study compared factors associated with childhood undernutrition in a pastoral community (PC) and an agro-pastoral community (APC) in Ethiopia. Results showed that APC had lower rates of child wasting and underweight, milder levels of food insecurity, and better environmental sanitation and handwashing practices than PC. In PC, stunting was associated with severe food insecurity (p = .049), while underweight was associated with unimproved sources of drinking water and inadequate practices of purifying drinking water (p < .001). Policies to improve environmental sanitation and food security seem to be protective against child undernutrition.

KEYWORDS:

• Child undernutrition
• pastoral
• agro-pastoral
• WASH
• food insecurity

Acknowledgments

The authors are particularly grateful to the participants of the survey and to the data collectors. In addition, the authors would like to acknowledge Ruhul Amin, Bong Nguyen, Alemneh Kebeta, Kebede Abegaz, Dejene Kassa, and Jijiga University. Ruhul Amin and Bong Nguyen for collaborating in the development of the questionnaire. Dr. Kebeta Abegaz, Dr. Dejene Kassa, and Alemneh Kebeta for collaborating in the data collection in Dale district. Jijiga University for collaborating in the data collection in Gode and Addadle. The financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Food Security under agreement #AID-OAA-L-15-00003 as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems and the Office of International Affairs at Texas Tech University are acknowledged.

Declaration Statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Office of International Affairs at Texas Tech University; USAID Bureau for Food Security as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems [AID-OAA-L-15-00003-LSIL-01].