In July 2015, the Government of Ethiopia renewed its commitment to nutrition when it unveiled the Seqota Declaration – named after a town at the epicenter of the famine that claimed more than 700,000 Ethiopian lives in the 1980s. The declaration promises to end child undernutrition in Ethiopia by 2030 by implementing a three-phased multisectoral plan. The declaration aims to “to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” in order to enhance development. This will be achieved by integrating climate- and nutrition-smart agriculture into program interventions to achieve the goals of the Seqota Declaration and promote nutrition security in food insecure areas of Ethiopia.

Specific objectives are:

1) To end hunger and ensure food security for the Tekeze River Basin.

2) To end all forms of malnutrition in the Tekeze River Basin.

3) To increase agricultural production, productivity and incomes of small landholder farmers, especially female headed households, indigenous peoples, and pastoralists.

4) To promote economic empowerment enabled by agricultural transformation and behavioral change.

5) To increase the dietary nutritional value of small landholder farmers, especially female headed households and provide agricultural support for nutrition interventions.

6) To ensure sustainable food production systems and promote environmentally sustainable land management practices.

7) To promote post-harvest technologies.