Strategies For Sustainable Food Programs In Ethiopia: Creating A Space For Sustainable Food Systems

Food security is the ability to obtain consistent access to food needed for a healthy life. Access to food deeply affects the standard of living for countries, households, and individuals, and needs to be viewed as an important element of the geographical, economic, and political landscape of both the developed and the developing world. In Ethiopia, Addis Ababa represents an urban environment where issues of food security and sovereignty often surface in the debates around social development and urban renewal. While examining the case study of food security, this paper suggests that Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) represents a powerful tool to understand, and overcome food insecurity. However, will the current discourse around sustainable food and ESE recognise the power of organising communities to take control of their own development and take ownership of the process in a concerted effort to create a sustainable food system for all? This paper explores issues behind persisting food insecurity and foreign aid dependency in Ethiopia, and in the developing countries at large. It begins by examining the links between poverty and food insecurity in today’s globalized world, in the local context of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It then discusses the state of sustainable development and environmental education, community engagement and issues of power and social justice. The analysis focuses on the activities of one non-governmental organization (NGO) as a case study, namely the International Fund for Africa’s (IFA) Sustainable School Health and Nutrition program, and its plant-based school feeding program. It highlights the IFA’s efforts to strengthen a community’s ability to overcome poverty and achieve food security through its capacity building trainings. The paper demonstrates how community development and sustainable food production are practiced in urban agriculture, and where ESE fits into this process. It concludes with reflections on what can be done when trusting and lasting relationships are built, especially with local leadership in the NGO.