Gender, food and nutrition security: Introducing a strategic gender framework for improving household wellbeing in Southern Ethiopia based on a Canada-Ethiopia Project

Nigatu R. Geda, Hawassa University and University of Saskatchwan
Carol Henry, University of Saskatchewan
Patience Elabor-Idemudia, University of Saskatchewan

This study examined the links between gender, food and nutrition security, and then, introduced a strategic gender framework for improving the wellbeing of most vulnerable household members in Southern Ethiopia. A framework was developed based on baseline data collected from 665 households randomly drawn from four districts of Southern Ethiopia. The descriptive analysis show that female-headed households owned significantly lesser land, livestock and other important strategic resources compared to male-headed households. Findings further revealed that complementary feeding practices are unacceptably poor in all the districts considered ( i.e about 75 percent households falling in Diet Diversity Score < 4). All the study zones had low wealth index and high household food insecurity and hunger, which were reflected in very high levels of stunting and underweight among infants and young children. Finally, the gender framework proposed five key gendered pillars for improving food and nutrition security at household level especially among infants and young children.