Accelerate SD intervention expansion (pace) combined with the introduction of new non-SD inter ventions (e.g., Zn supplementation) could result in a closer estimate to the target and promising stunting reduction rates. - If SD interventions can be rapidly expanded with strong financial investment and fully scaled, there is a chance that stunting will be reduced to the point that it is no longer a public health concern in Ethi opia.

SBCC interventions were found to be effective in improving IYCF practices in Ethiopia when im plemented at scale. These interventions were more effective compared to traditional nutrition education interventions that only focus on individual behavior change.

Economic growth and urbanization have increased demand for edible oil, wheat flour and sugar in Ethiopia1. An assessment of consumption patterns of these commodities across regions and by resi dence can reflect demand. This information can also inform policy and planning to forecast future needs. Thus, this analysis aims to present the coverage of edible oil and wheat flour use. Additionally, it shows the annual household and per capita consumption of edible oil, wheat flour, and sugar between 2011 and 2016.

131 documents reviewed of which 73 docu ments included policy outputs (policies, strate gies, plans, programs etc.,) • Most policy outputs were from the health sec tor (18), followed by multisectoral outputs (10) issued by the federal government and the Min istry of Agriculture

Although stunting in children is declining, Ethiopia is not on track to achieve the NNP II target of re ducing stunting rates to 26% by 2020. Stunting de cline stagnated between 2016 and 2019, with large differences in stunting rates across regions, residence, and wealth status. Stunting remains a public health concern in Ethiopia and more interventions are need ed to accelerate its reduction.

Another unique advantage of biofortification is sus tainability. After an initial investment in developing biofortified varieties, the seeds fortify themselves BIOFORTIFICATION DOES NOT CHANGE FOOD CONSUMPTION PATTERNS Foods biofortified with iron and zinc have no noticea ble change in color, taste, odor, texture, or cooking qualities. Thus, no modification in food consumption

Nationally, the prevalence of overweight/obesity among WRA showed a 5% increase between 2000 and 2016. The increase was larger amongst urban WRA, increasing by 10%. The prevalence of hyper tension and prediabetes/diabetes were 17% and 11%, respectively. The difference in the prevalence of overweight/obesity between the poorest and thewealthiest women increased from 1.5% in 2000 to 17% in 2016

The review identified various bottlenecks for cover age and utilization of fortified foods, including the co-existence of fortified and non-fortified products in the market; weak regulatory and monitoring frameworks; limited capacity to follow the stand ards due to added costs of fortification programs, unable to monitor the level of diversified and forti fied food intake periodically; reaching out to a non targeted population instead of the most in need; poor integration of laws and regulations into exist ing legal frameworks and/or reluctance to enforce the regulations. In addition, during production, pro ducers may have limited resources and be unable to implement the targeted program; thus, they are not carefully maintaining the necessary safety and quali ty control procedures as their priority.

Though it is too early to unveil all the potential benefits and outcomes, SFP in Ethiopia has been repeatedly reported to have improved the academic performance, nutritional status, and social interactions of schoolchildren. In addition to creating, a better and conducive teaching learning environment, children enrolled in SFP were seen to have better school enrollment and academic scores, while low dropout rates and absenteeism. Participation in SFP has also been linked to improved nutritional status as reflected in improved weight, BMI, and height for age Z score (HAZ) index in school children. It has been also strongly reduced hunger in schools. Furthermore, SFP resulted several unanticipated benefits such as heled to the creation of over 15,000 new jobs that particularly benefited women and youth; strengthened student to student and student to teacher interactions; increased community participation in school activities and made school gardening to be a pinpoint of school activities.

Our findings show that the first six months after birth are critical time points to prevent wasting. Specific interven tions that can be implemented at this stage include in creased coverage of iron/folic acid supplementation dur ing pregnancy and targeted supplementary feeding for vulnerable pregnant women.