Category: Food News

🌍 Strengthening Nutrition Efforts in Sidama Region! 🍎

The Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) held a regional platform strengthening workshop on July 3, 2025, at Rori Hotel, Hawassa. The event brought together over 20 civil society organizations (CSOs) working across nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions in the Sidama region. 🌱 Participants included local, international, and faith-based organizations, all committed to improving nutrition outcomes. Key highlights: ✅ ECSC-SUN status updates and roadmap presentations ✅ Food and nutrition advocacy strategy familiarization ✅ Introduction of the regional Terms of Reference (ToR) and membership guidelines ✅ Election of the regional steering committee members 📌 The workshop concluded with a joint commitment to develop and submit a organizational action plan within two weeks. 🤝 The Sidama regional platform is led by World Vision Ethiopia and co-led by Save the Children. #ECSCSUN #SidamaRegion #CivilSociety #ScalingUpNutrition #PartnershipForChange

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ECSC-SUN Afar Regional Platform Strengthened !

The Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) conducted a successful monitoring visit to the Afar Region. Led by Afar Health Bureau, interactive discussion held engaging key stakeholders from the Health, Agriculture, and Education Bureaus, the President’s Office, Amref Health Africa, and the ECSC-SUN Secretariat. 🔍 Key Highlights: ✅ Regional Food & Nutrition Council officially launched ✅ Strategy translated into local language for accessibility ✅ Technical committee established ✅ Multi-sector collaboration strengthened ✅ Mapping of civil society organizations working on nutrition ✅ Regular, timely coordination meetings held 🌟 Impact Achieved: 🥦 School gardening programs expanded 📈 Local capacity enhanced 🚫 Stunting averted through joint interventions Together, we’re making nutrition a priority in Afar! #NutritionMatters #ECSCSUN #AfarRegion #Amref #SaveTheChildren #GEP

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Monitoring Visit at Afar Region

👥 Monitoring Visit at Afar Region – Empowering Women for Better Nutrition 🌱 A team from ECSC-SUN Secretariat and Amref Health Africa visited Koredura Kebele, Asayita Woreda in the Afar Region to engage with women’s groups supported through the Women Economic Empowerment & Adolescent Initiative (WEE & AI). These groups have received skill training and agricultural inputs — including chickens, milking goats, and fruit & vegetable seeds — to improve household nutrition and promote diverse, nutrient-rich diets. 🍅🐐🌽 Through the Gender Model Family approach, positive change is happening: husbands are now actively supporting in household chores like fetching water, childcare, and food preparation. 💪👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Together, we’re working towards healthier families and empowered communities. #NutritionMatters #WEEAI #ECSCSUN #AmrefHealthAfrica #AfarRegion #GenderEquality #FoodSecurity

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School Gardening Visit

A joint delegation from Save the Children, Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) Secretariat and Mums for Mums paid a visit to a thriving school gardening project in Kilete Awlalo Woreda, located in the Tigray region. The school garden, flourishing with a variety of vegetables including spinach stands as a testament to the collaborative efforts of multiple stakeholders. Key contributors to the project’s success include the woreda’s development agents, agricultural experts, school clubs, and principals, all of whom played vital roles in driving the initiative forward.

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Tigray regional ECSC-SUN coordination platform

The Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) convened a Tigray Regional Coordination Platform workshop in Mekelle this week. The workshop brought together key stakeholders from across the region to foster collaboration, exchange experiences, and reinforce efforts aimed at combating malnutrition and improving nutrition outcomes. The event was organized in partnership with Mums for Mums, a local civil society organization serving as the regional lead for ECSC-SUN in Tigray. #ECSCSUN #Tigray #ScalingUpNutrition #MumsForMums #EndMalnutrition#NutritionMatters

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Global Nutrition Crisis Demands Immediate Action

We are thrilled to share that the Civil Society Declaration on the N4G Paris Summit 2025 – Call to Action has been endorsed by over 152 organizations, representing thousands of nutrition advocates, practitioners, frontline workers, and more. As a reminder, this declaration calls on world leaders to: Prioritize people, particularly women, girls, and marginalized communities. Protect and increase financing for nutrition, ensuring alignment with national priorities. Ensure accountability through transparent, well-funded mechanisms. Center nutrition in crisis response and long-term development. Regulate the private sector, prioritizing public health over profit.

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Facilitation and communication skill training

Facilitation and communication skill are very important to conduct dialogue session effectively and efficiently. Cognizing this, Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) organized and conducted training from 2-6 April,2025 at Bishoftu. A total 26 (4 women) participants from three regions, Afar, Tigray and Somali, engaged in the training. Training participants were implementers and supporters of ECSC-SUN Women Economic Empowerment and Adolescent initiative (WEE& AI) intervention. The intervention focused on food production, consumption and practice change in the household feeding. The adolescent nutrition intervention is highly focused to reach out in and out school adolescent   groups. The intervention is under implementation  by using   existing  platforms within the schools  ( gender ,  health and  sanitation, Nutrition clubs…)   and  out of  school  adolescent  groups  established  by Save the Children Gender  Equality   Project (GEP) . Capacity building, school gardening, and Social and Behavioral Change Communications (SBCC) gender and nutrition are among the intervention component underway with detailed   activities. Gender Model Family (GMF) is an approach identified and employed with the objective to promote positive gender norms and address food taboos affecting adolescent groups  nutrition status . The social behavioral change intervention expected to be achieved through GMF approach demands to   employ multiple approaches including organizing regular dialogue session. The dialogue session is deemed to be managed through organizing subsequent discussion on different adolescent focused nutrition and gender message developed by ECSC-SUN secretariat team. The dialogue session is expected to facilitate by Woreda stakeholders and implementing partners in the regions: Mums for Mums for Tigray and Amref Health Africa for Afar. To enhance the stakeholders and implementing partners facilitation and communication skill, a three-day training was organized and conducted by ECSC-SUN secretariat. Basic communication skills, listening skills, message development Facilitator’s role, facilitation principles were among the contents of the training. The training was interactive, practical that enhance participants knowledge and skill on how to develop adolescent   

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Experience sharing visit

Ethiopian Civil Societies Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC SUN) has been implementing Women Economic Empowerment and Adolescent Initiative (WEE & AI) intervention in Tigray, Afar and Somali regions. This WEE & AI is intended to promote Gender equality through women empowerment for better nutrition outcome. That is why the project focused on women and provided vegetable seedlings, dairy goat/sheep and agricultural hand tools last year. Using the provided skill and input target groups are trying to produce nutritious food, to consume diversified food and to change feeding practice. There are differences in the agroecology of the regions, working culture of the community and commitment of the implementing partners. Accordingly, their performance varies among the intervention areas. To facilitate learning from one to another, experience sharing visit was arranged in Tigray region, Kelete Awlalo) woreda, Wukero area. During the visit, demonstration of school gardening was observed in Tahitay Hade Qesanded primary school. Then three of the project participants’ home gardening was visited. Target groups in Tigray produced vegetable using small plot of land and plastic bags for vertical farming methods. They used natural fertilizer to boost the productivity of fruit and vegetable.  Not only consume what they have produced, they also earned money by selling the execs product. Preparing diversified food and feeding their children nutritious food helped target groups to maintain their children’s health and growth. They have money saving mechanisms like Ekub that helps them to start poultry production by their own effort, using saved money.  Not only that, but they also used home grown technology to construct/build chicken coop. After the visit through discussion held and experience shared. According to the visiting team from Afar and Somali, they are inspired with what they have observed. They plan to transfer the knowledge and skill they got from the visit to their communities as get back home.  As to the visitors, social and behavioral change communication works are highly needed to use resources properly in their respective villages.  

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Ethiopian Scaling Up Nutrition Movement conducted Consultation Workshop.

The objective of the workshop is to validate the government of Ethiopia Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Paris 2025 Commitment among stakeholders. Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) is part of the consultation workshop held on January 15 – 16, 2025 at Hyatt Regency Hotel. Coalition members presented agendas of commitments. For instance, stunting (under five and under two) by Action Against Hunger (ACF) and CARE; exclusive breast-feeding by ECSC-SUN secretariat and anemia by Nutrition International (NI).  After the presentation, interactive session held among participants. The discussion yields valuable feedback and new insight. #ECSC-SUN # N4G #SUN GLOBAL

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Earning money from homestead garden

Project participant women living in Tigray Kelete Awlalo woreda are producing vegetable in homestead garden and consuming their product. Not only consume what they produced in small plot of land and vertical farming technique but also, they earn money by selling the excessive products. For instance, Nigisti Abrha is one of the target women earns more than 2 thousand Birrs within past 6 month by selling cabbage and vegetable seedling. Ethiopian Civil Society Coalition for Scaling Up Nutrition (ECSC-SUN) has a pilot project focused on women empowerment. Through women economic empowerment and adolescent initiative intervention, ECSC-SUN plans to improve household nutrition status in three regions: Tigray, Afar and Somali.  To assess the implementation progress of the project, ECSC-SUN secretariat conducted visit to project area Tigray, Kelete Awlalo. Project participant women conducted cocking and feeding demonstrations for visiting team. They used vegetable (cabbage, tomato), animal products(egg) and pulse to produce nutritious dense food for children and adults separately. The team consists of regional and woreda Food and Nutrition implementing sectors, ECSC-SUN secretariat, Mums for Mums (MfM) Save the children Tigray office. The team appreciate the progress and encourage the women’s effort. The woreda multi sectorial coordination is clearly seen in this project. Health, agriculture, water and women affair sectors collaborate to support the beneficiaries to produce, consume and to bring attitudinal change regarding women and children feeding practice. These coordination and commitment are best indicators for the sustainability of the piloted project.

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