ADAMA – May 16, 2025 (EPHI/NIPN) - The three-day quarterly Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research Steering Committee (MER-SC) meeting and training event that had in-depth deliberation on the implementation guideline for Food and Nutrition Multi-Sectoral Coordination was concluded here yesterday.
Participants drawn from senior researchers and nutrition experts expressed appreciation to the organizing bodies of the training and to those who took initiatives to instill invaluable concepts in the guideline for Food and Nutrition Multi-Sectoral (MS) implementation. Sources indicate that the training was offered with the objectives of enhancing Food and Nutrition Multi-Sectoral Coordination, ensuring effective implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Strategy (NFNS), and boosting the knowledge and capacity of the implementing ministerial sectors of NFNS and MER-SC members.
The training participants seized the opportunity to extend gratitude to Frezer Zewdu, Senior Nutrition Multi-Sectoral Coordination Advisor assigned to the Ministry of Health (MoH) by the National Information Platform for Nutrition (NIPN-Ethiopia); Hailu Duguma, Senior Expert at MoH, Seqota Declaration, and MS Desk; and Aman Urji, Senior Health and Nutrition Advisor at MoH.
Dr. Abebe Ayelign, Associate Professor of Food Science and Nutrition at Addis Ababa University (AAU), said that the training on the implementation guideline for food and nutrition Multi-sectoral coordination would inspire interest in further learning or reading. He appreciated the initiatives taken by the concerned body and trainers to organize the event.
Dr. Abebe stated that the academic sector, including AAU, should do a lot to join forces in supporting the implementation of FNS. “As an academic institute, it is our responsibility to teach, provide community services, and conduct research. The MER-SC is a good platform where we should provide training and conduct researches. We had a good start to accomplish activities in this regard, but the progress has not been as expected,” he said.
He raised budget constraints as an issue preventing experts from conducting research in this regard. Dr. Abebe has given service for the last 16 years in teaching, offering community services, and conducting researches on food science and nutrition.
Zinash Tadesse pursued her education in Chemical Engineering and has been serving the Ethiopian Food, Beverage, and Development Research Center (EFBDRC) as an expert for the past ten years. She stated that MER-SC is playing a decisive role in alleviating, along with other stakeholders, the malnutrition problems in the country. The performance reports presented by different multi-sectoral offices, the training, the entire discussions and ideas reflected here would motivate all participants to keep on striving hard in addressing challenges being faced in the sector, according to her.
“This is a very important platform for us all to share experiences and exchange ideas so that we can meet the objectives of FNS,” she said.
Presenting her report on the course of the MER-SC discussion, Zinash touched on the activities accomplished in the realms of FNS by EFBDRC over the last nine months. “I focused on the activities we have carried out as an industry to build capacity, in particular, on the production of fortified foods. We have also raised awareness among producers on the advantages of fortified foods production,” she said.
Zinash raised two key challenges. These are the delay in laboratory results for certification and the difficulty of enforcing industries to operate legally. EFBDRC closely follows up on the implementation of food fortification of edible oil, wheat flour, and iodized salt, according to Zinash.
Eyob Deressa had his education in Food Technology and Food Engineering. He has served the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority (EFDA) as an expert for six years. EFDA is an authorized body that regulates the quality, safety, and efficacy of medicines, foods, cosmetics, and medical devices.
Representing FFDA, Eyob briefed MER-SC meeting participants about the nine-month performance. He mentioned, among other things, the activities done by the authority in regulating imported confectioneries, various foods, medicines, and others at border spots.
Eyob stated that EFDA has taken steps against illegal food items in connection with adulterations, labeling, and issues with expiry dates. He also raised the activities achieved in raising community awareness about identifying product expiry dates, understanding labeling, and avoiding the use of expired products.
MER-SC is chaired by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) and co-chaired by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research. The general objective of MER-SC is to provide technical support for the implementation of the monitoring, evaluation, and research components of NFNS. EPHI organizes the regular MER-SC quarterly meetings with the major objective of monitoring and evaluating FNS implementation. NIPN-Ethiopia has been providing financial and technical support for the realization of this event.
Twenty-six participants from MoH, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI), Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE), Ministry of Education (MoE), Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA), EFDA, EPHI, EFBDRC, AAU, Haromaya University, Policy studies Institute, and Sidama and Amhara Public Health Institutes attended the MER-SC meeting and the training event held at Executive Hotel in Adama Town.(EPHI/NIPN).
