The nutrition transition in urban Ethiopia during rapid economic growth (2000-2016)

Abstract

This study sought to examine the patterns and drivers of the nutrition transition in urban Ethiopia between 2000 and 2016, which coincided with a period of rapid economic expansion and urbanisation. A mixed-methods research approach combined quantitative data from nationally representative, repeated, cross-sectional surveys with qualitative data gathered through focus-group discussions. It revealed that during the last two decades, urban Ethiopia has been through a nuanced nutrition transition. The transition is underpinned by factors, such as a demographic transition (the composition of the population in terms of age, gender, household size, marital status, and level of education), an economic transition (income, real price, and affordability of food), an epidemiologic transition (perceived causes and consequences of diseases), food-market changes (government subsidy and supply), and an agricultural transformation. The past two decades saw the double burden of malnutrition (with decreasing levels of undernutrition) and growing levels of overnutrition.