Seasonality and household diets in Ethiopia

Kalle Hirvonen 1, Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse 1, Ibrahim Worku Hassen 1

1 IFPRI, Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (ESSP)

15 June 2015

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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ETHIOPIAN DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Why seasonality?

• Considerable research attention on seasonality two decades ago• consumption, poverty, wages (e.g. Dercon et al, 2000, for rural Ethiopia)

• anthropometrics, health outcomes, calories (e.g. Ferro-Luzzi et al, 2001, for south central Ethiopia)

Why seasonality?

• Considerable research attention on seasonality two decades ago• consumption, poverty, wages (e.g. Dercon et al, 2000, for rural Ethiopia)

• anthropometrics, health outcomes, calories (e.g. Ferro-Luzzi et al, 2001, for south central Ethiopia)

• But still little knowledge on how seasonality shapes diet quality (diet diversity) • Exception; Savy et al. (2006) & Becquey et al. (2012) for Burkina Faso

Why seasonality?

• Considerable research attention on seasonality two decades ago• consumption, poverty, wages (e.g. Dercon et al, 2000, for rural Ethiopia)

• anthropometrics, health outcomes, calories (e.g. Ferro-Luzzi et al, 2001, for south central Ethiopia)

• But still little knowledge on how seasonality shapes diet quality (diet diversity) • Exception; Savy et al. (2006) & Becquey et al. (2012) for Burkina Faso

• Also: not too much research attention since 2000s• Because local food markets are now well-integrated in much of the

developing world? (Kaminski, Christiaensen, and Gilbert, 2014)

The purpose of this research

• Revisit seasonality in the Ethiopian context• Is it still an issue – or are food markets sufficiently integrated

Ethiopia?

• Focus on both diet quantity (calories) and quality (dietary diversity)?

• This presentation: focus on rural households’ diets

Data

• Household, Consumption and Expenditure Survey (HCES) of Ethiopia

• The Ethiopian HCES data are collected by the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (CSA).

• 2010/11 HCES round collected nationally representative data for each calendar month over one year period.

• Total of 27,835 households so about 2,300 households per month

• Caveats: • 1) Only national level analysis possible

• 2) Only household level analysis possible (intra-hh issues may be important)

Two Diet Measures

•Daily per capita calorie intake• The mean daily calorie consumption is 2,444 kilocalories per capita

•Diet quality: Household Diet Diversity Score (HDDS)(FANTA / Swindale and Bilinsky, 2006)

• 12 food groups: 1) cereals; 2) root and tubers; 3) vegetables; 4) fruits; 5) meat, poultry and offal; 6) eggs;

7) fish and seafood; 8) pulses, legumes and nuts; 9) milk and milk products;

10) Oil and fats; 11) sugar and honey; and 12) miscellaneous foods

• The mean HDDS for rural households is 6.4 food groups

The Ethiopian Context

• Agriculture: largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Seasonal cycles of food production and food availability.

• Religion• Two main Orthodox fasting periods: December & March.

• + Ramadan affecting the timing of the meals.

Seasonal patterns in household calorie intake

Vertical axis: % deviations from the monthly mean.

Rural households only.

The mean daily calorie consumption for rural households is 2,444 kilocalories per capita.

Seasonal patterns in household diet diversity

Vertical axis: % deviations from the monthly mean.

Rural households only.

The mean number of HDDS for rural households is 6.4

% share of per capita calorie intake from non-cereal sources

Conclusions

• Households’ food consumption remain subject to significant intra-annual variations in Ethiopia in 2010s.• Interestingly diet diversity increases towards the end of the lean season.

• Poor availability of food in the lean season is likely to affect children’s physical development, mothers’ health, etc.

• Potential policy options (with a call for more research):

1) Expansion of irrigation Increase output + allows food to be produced in off-seasons

2) Deepen market integration and improve market accessSo that households’ consumption becomes less dependent on the local food production

Amharic proverb summarizing our findings

ሰኔን በዘራዘር

ሐምሌን በጎመንዘር

ነሐሴን በስንት ባላ

ይሻገሩሻላ?