Market-based Innovation for Nutrition in Ethiopia (MINE)

Malnutrition continues to be a major problem in Ethiopia, with childhood stunting prevalence of 37%. Ethiopian diet is primarily cereal based and consumption of animal source food is unaffordable to 70% of the population. Today, only 14% of children 6-23 months of age receive the minimum acceptable diet.

Compared to single-nutrient supplements, eggs are an excellent source of protein and deliver readily absorbed and metabolised nutrients. While philanthropic efforts to improve egg production through backyard poultry had potential, the model did not work due to low productivity, loss-making and ineffectiveness in increasing the availability of eggs and their consumption. On the other hand, efforts that ignored the poultry value chain and primarily focused on multisectoral coordination and behaviour change communication fell short of improving the availability of affordable nutritious food and its consumption. Today, only 9 eggs a year are available per person in Ethiopia, a figure amongst the lowest in Africa.

Against this backdrop, the Market-based Innovation for Nutrition in Ethiopia (MINE) project aims to ensure that there is an egg available for every child in Ethiopia through sustainable local production of eggs and improving consumption behaviour. MINE is a six-year project with two phases. The first three years constitute the piloting phase, running in Bishoftu and the surrounding areas of Oromia region, while the scale-up phase will expand to five more areas after the positive review of the piloting phase.

The MINE project is funded by Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and implemented by two parties, Sight and Life (SAL) - the creator of the egg hub model with the responsibility of the technical lead - and SNV -with an extensive experience working in the poultry value chain in Ethiopia with the responsibility of lead implementer.

Approach:

The project has three components that address critical bottlenecks in the production, distribution, and consumption of eggs:

• Component 1: The Egg Hub; which will improve the production of eggs by establishing six hubs that will support 1,275 farmers to achieve economies of scale through the aggregation of inputs, extension services, marketing, distribution, and sales.

• Component 2: Demand creation; primarily focusing on subsidized distribution of eggs to children from families living in poverty, and targeted interpersonal communication to address key sociocultural barriers to egg consumption. Leveraging health extension workers, we will reinforce disease prevention and health promotion behaviours critical to stunting reduction and improving wellbeing.

• Component 3: Innovation and customization; focusing on the continuous testing, innovation and building of farmers’ capacity to ensure the model is replicable in different agroecological zones.

Key project outcomes:

• Increased egg per capita from 13 to 53 in target districts.

• 88,000 children consume free/subsidised eggs (1 egg/day) for a year. 500k children and PLW (pregnant and lactating women) will consume eggs every other day.

• 2 million people will be aware of the benefits of eggs and quadruple their consumption.

• Improved MAD (minimum acceptable diet) for children by 50%.

• Improve dietary diversity for children by 50%.

• Six organisations supported to establish egg hub.