Ethiopia's ongoing efforts to combat child malnutrition are showing steady progress, with recent data highlighting the government's and humanitarian partners' strides in saving young lives and building stronger nutrition systems nationwide.
In the latest updates from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), more than 100,000 Ethiopian children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) received treatment within just two months, an encouraging sign that life-saving interventions are reaching those most in need. Between July and August 2025 alone, 104,891 children were treated for severe wasting across the country, achieving a 94% recovery rate, a remarkable success amid complex humanitarian and economic challenges.
These figures reflect the tangible impact of years of concerted efforts by Ethiopia's Ministry of Health, regional authorities, and international partners like UNICEF and the Global Nutrition Cluster. While the challenge of malnutrition remains widespread, the results demonstrate that targeted community-based nutrition programs can deliver measurable outcomes even in fragile contexts.
Ethiopia's vast geography and regional disparities have made tackling malnutrition an intricate task. Yet, local responses are proving increasingly effective.
In Oromia, Ethiopia's largest region, nearly 40,000 children under five were treated for severe acute malnutrition through both outpatient and stabilisation centres. The Afar Region followed with over 7,000 children receiving treatment, many in remote communities accessed only by mobile health teams. The area recorded a 94.4% cure rate and a mortality rate of just 0.1%, illustrating how community outreach and mobile health services are transforming access to care in hard-to-reach zones.
In Amhara, more than 16,000 children were treated during the same period, despite ongoing conflict in certain districts. Humanitarian workers there continue to deliver nutrition supplies under difficult conditions, while local campaigns promote maternal education and awareness on child feeding practices.
Similarly, in Tigray, 7,582 children received treatment for severe wasting, and a large-scale "Find and Treat" campaign screened over 53,000 children, identifying hundreds of new cases for immediate care. In addition, about 80% of over 15,000 pregnant and lactating women screened were found to be acutely malnourished, an alarming statistic that continues to inform Ethiopia's maternal nutrition interventions.
Progress is also visible in the Somali, Sidama, and Southwest Ethiopia regions, where integrated nutrition campaigns, including measles vaccination drives, have boosted outreach and early detection. In Gambella, a combined measles and nutrition campaign screened over 120,000 children under five, identifying new cases of severe wasting and linking them to care.
Ethiopia's war against child malnutrition is now being anchored in a five-year multisectoral strategy, launched in August 2025, to reduce child wasting and strengthen long-term food and nutrition security. The plan brings together the ministries of health, agriculture, education, and women's affairs, alongside partners such as UNICEF, WFP, and WHO.
The initiative reflects Ethiopia's renewed determination to address one of its most persistent public health challenges. According to UNICEF, child wasting affects more than 11% of Ethiopian children under five, up from 7.7% in 2019, underscoring the urgency of scaling up prevention as much as treatment.
Experts say that addressing malnutrition in Ethiopia goes beyond emergency feeding programs. It requires tackling systemic issues such as low maternal education, limited access to antenatal care, poor dietary diversity, and poverty-driven household food insecurity. By integrating nutrition into broader health and development policies, Ethiopia aims to not only save lives but also safeguard the nation's human capital for generations to come.
Despite the impressive cure rates and coverage, UNICEF and partners warn that continued insecurity, supply shortages, and funding gaps threaten to slow the momentum. As of 2025, only a fraction of the Nutrition Cluster's Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan has been funded, limiting expansion into areas where needs remain highest.
The Global Nutrition Cluster, a coalition of over 30 organisations, has cautioned that in some regions, acute malnutrition rates have surpassed the critical threshold of 15%, with stabilisation centres in Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Southwest Ethiopia still recording the highest mortality rates.
Nevertheless, the successes achieved so far high recovery rates, improved community screening, and strengthened coordination, show that Ethiopia is moving in the right direction. With stronger investments in nutrition-sensitive programs, from agriculture to education, the country can build on its achievements and ensure that no child suffers from preventable malnutrition.