Hosaina Nutrition Emergency Response Project SNNP Region is the third largest region in Ethiopia following Oromia and Amhara and represents some 10% of the land surface area.  SNNP Region is however home to 20.4% of the national population (CSA Population and Housing Census, 2007). The region’s economy is predominantly agriculture – including agro-pastoralist and pastoralist in the extreme south-west.  Smallholder agriculture contributes an estimated 73% of regional GDP and 90 % of regional employment.  SNNP Region accounts for 9% of Ethiopia’s grain production (CSA, 2010/11).  

While food production and income varies between Ethiopia’s different livelihood zones, poor and very poor smallholder farmers produce only between 40% and 60% of their own food.  The remainder is either purchased or received in the form of food aid.  Poorer households typically generate 40 to 45 percent of their annual income from off-farm labour.  

An estimated 25 percent of poor and very poor smallholder farmer households are women-headed and the number is known to be rising.  Women-headed households are known to find it more difficult to access inputs – including credit – and training/exposure to modern agricultural methods.  
The planned operational areas lie within Ethiopia’s bimodal rainfall receiving belt that stretches from Tigray in the north, through Amhara, Oromiya and ends in SNNP Region. What is common with farmers throughout this belt, is that smallholders plant short-cycle crops including barley, wheat, Teff and long-cycle crops such as maize, sorghum, millet. The belg season contributes up to 40% of the annual production in the belg benefiting parts of the Region (Ethiopia Food Security Update, March 2009).  A recent report issued by FEWSNET confirms changing seasonal weather trends including an estimated 15 to 20% reduction in belg rains since the 1970s.  

The project will be implemented in 4 belg and kiremt rain receiving woredas of Kamabata Tambaro and Hadiya zones in SNNP Region. The targeted woredas have been identified as woredas where the belg rains of 2011 and 2012 either failed or were well below normal, where estimated meher harvest losses are significant the result of kiremt rains 2013 early cessation and were identified in September 2012 as ENCU’s Nutrition Hot spot Woredas.   The recent March 2013s report of each woreda’s task forces on the nutrition status of their respective areas shows the situation to be even worse than previously. 
 
 
The project areas are one of the most drought prone Woredas in SNNPRS. The communities in the project Administration Units has been receiving food aid for more than three decades. Most of the households in the project area depend on own production which lasts one to six months of the year. The problem analysis during need identification indicated that low crop and animal productivity are their priority problems that lead target community to chronic food insecurity.  The basic causes for low crop productivity are limited farm land, reduced soil fertility, poor productivity of locally available seeds, limited access to improved agricultural inputs like irrigation facilities and limited extension services. Similarly the cause for low animal productivity is that most vulnerable people have no any animal asset. The worse scenario in the community is that significant number of the people have no land or their land is only enough to build their house.

Most youth are jobless. The result of unemployment is increasing each day. Youth are pulled by the false hope of having a better life if they migrate to other destinations like South Africa where they believe they can do better.  

The migration is both outside and inside. Many migrate to destinations within the country where they work as daily laborers in agro-industries such as Sugar Estates. Many people also migrate abroad.  The worst phenomenon is that migration to the Diaspora destinations requires huge financial resources which cannot be afforded by the common people. They have to raise this amount by either borrowing or at the expenses of selling all their property. Eventually their families are left behind without anything as most frequently they sell their traditional land. Other times families sell livestock and to send one of their sons or the father to South Africa or Middle East. 
 
The problem of HIV/AIDS is another threat to the community in targeted project areas due to active migration. During high  labor seasons, new construction of roads and concentration of commercial sex workers is associated is with this, lack of accurate information about HIV/AIDS for the youth makes them more vulnerable. The people living with HIV/AIDS have still significant levels of stigma and discrimination in families, communities, social service centers and workplaces. Poverty and unemployment is aggravating the epidemic as youth migrate and come back infected and or get involved in commercial sex work as an option of coping with poverty.  


 Apart from acute emergency cases as a result of rain failure other problems that contribute to chronic malnutrition in the area include: 
 
Small land holding: The average land holding in the area is 0.25 hectare which is sometimes hilly and exposed to erosion thus making it difficult to get significant harvest. According to community groups contacted in the assessment they can produce crops which can feed the family for only 2-4 months of the year. 

Shortage of agricultural input: Agricultural inputs used to increase production in the area are too expensive for poor families to afford. As a result food production gained from limited farm land remains limited. 
 
Root crop disease: Main food sources in the area are root crops such as sweet potato, Irish potato, cassava, and inset... in recent year different plant diseases are affecting the production of it. Some root crops like sweet potato are disappearing from the area. 
 
Lack of social protection/credit facility: Repeated Households have a problem of lack of food and health. This means that the family has to sell their production assets such livestock, fruit trees, land to cover their immediate needs. There are no credit facilities in the area even to cover critical problems and hence the families are obliged to take loans from individual with a very huge interest rate. Some interests as high as 80%.
 
Lack of alternative income source: household asset depletion and lack of credit facility meant that the alternative income sources available in the area are not available to the poor.
 
Inadequate humanitarian assistance: Humanitarian assistance provided (GFD) by government and non government organizations do not meet requirements of needy populations. And because the root causes are not being addresses plus with the addition of aggravating factors, numbers of malnutrition keep rising every year. In addition, food given in supplementary feeding projects is commonly shared with the rest of the family thus causing the registered child to remain malnourished.  

Due to the above listed basic problem, most of the coping mechanism practices are negative. Most often poor households sell assets (livestock, land, fruit tree) and work for labour. These will deplete household asset and increase future vulnerability.  
 
This project will target 3,000 families and 510 under 5 children. The prior target group of this intervention are families who are frequently affected by food shortage and will also target children admitted into OTP or SC services. Targeted populations will be treated in Health Center SC or OTP programs and the project will further support these same  families to support their children not to relapse every year especially during hunger gap. 
 
This project will also support livelihoods of targeted populations. The project will also consider other vulnerable families in the same village for grouping purpose to have economic support group as livelihood option. However, the number of non OTP and SC families should not exceed 20% of the targeted groups’ members. 80% should be those who fall in the criteria for nutrition feeding projects. 
 
Criteria for selection for admission into OTP and SC will follow National protocol and international WHO standards. Those who meet this requirements as per the cut-off points of the national protocol. The Catholic institutions state that they should be accessible for all in need. All targeted populations whether they are catholic or not will be treated.  In the case of OTP and SC children with Severe malnutrition with complication will be admitted in stabilization centres. 
 
In summary criteria to be followed are as follows:  
1. Stabilization Centre- severely malnourished children (Weight/Height less than 70% or MUAC less than 11cm) between the ages of 6 to 59 months will be targeted. With Oedema (+, ++, +++), or those with complications requiring medical attention/ close monitoring.
2. Mother Support Groups- mothers with children less than five or pregnant/lactating mothers.
3. Agricultural support: families that are affected by malnutrition and have a potential to secure their nutrition through agricultural production. 
4. Income generating activities- those with current/previously had children/mothers admitted in nutrition projects addressing moderate/severe malnutrition and do not have a capacity to engage on agriculture. A small percentage of very poor families as identified by communities’ way of wealth ranking will also be targeted as a preventive measure. 
 
Although the criterion of targeting is malnutrition history, all beneficiaries of the project tend to be the lowest section of the society in terms of wealth. The wider community living in the same Kebele will be the indirect beneficiaries of the project as they are will benefit from several agricultural interventions and new livelihood alternatives created by the project.
 
Clinic records will be used to select those who will benefit for targeting in livelihood support interventions. These clinical records will be confirmed from the catchments kebele health extension workers records. However, this does not mean that every family whose child was admitted in the OTP of SC from the catchments Kebele will be targeted for livelihood support. There will be further screening at village level be kebele government development workers. 
 
 
The project will further ensure that the nutritional problem of each family selected is due to shortage of food and not other aggravating factors. If the problem is not shortage of food, and probably poor feeding practices, they will be addressed in the awareness or IYCF through mother support groups.
 
The type of the livelihood support for targeted Households further will depend on household capacities e.g if they have access to land or pasture. The final list of beneficiaries will be validated by the community and kebele development committees in mass meetings.