Nutrition mini-series: November 2021
Exploring traditional foods in Ethiopia
Part of our focus on nutrition in our comprehensive cleft care programme, includes delivering training workshops to Government Health and Social Workers. As well as covering breast feeding information, the workshops raise awareness about the importance of a varied, nutrient rich diet. It is really important that nutrition and health is optimised before and after an infant or a child receives cleft lip or palate surgery, to ensure they are healthy and strong enough to receive the surgery — and then make a fast recovery afterwards.
The traditional Ethiopian diet — although products range from region to region — is rich in nutrients, however, in rural areas there are often environmental, social and economic factors, that cause food insecurity. For example, flooding and drought can lead to crop destruction and although a large portion of the populations lively hoods are built on agriculture, families who are experiencing economic hardships are sometimes inclined to sell the majority of their produce on, meaning their diets can become scarce and limited.
We encourage Government heath and Social Workers to pass on information to families about foods that are easily accessible to them that are rich in nutrients, for example, teff, pulses and certain vegetables. Read about other areas of nutritional support that we provide here.
In November of 2021 Ababo and Saron, interns at Project Harar, delved into some of the different types of produce that is available in Ethiopia and looked into the nutritional values of these foods.
Nutrition in Ethiopia: Vegetables
21st November 2021
Nutrition is an integral part to providing comprehensive cleft care in Ethiopia. As well as delivering immediate vital support to children with cleft who are at risk from malnutrition, we raise awareness about the importance of a varied and nutritious diet, through our year round Government Health and Social Worker training workshops.
Last in our mini-series about nutrition in Ethiopia we have vegetables.
We visited some market places in and around Addis Ababa, to document the different types of vegetables that were available and also researched about their availability in other areas of the country.
Collard Greens
Collard greens are traditionally eaten across many regions of Ethiopia. In some regions it is featured in a dish often referred to as gomen. It is hearty yet light and is a good side dish option. Collard greens are the same species as broccoli, spinach, kale and cabbage. In Ethiopia they normally feature in harvests between October and January — which the main harvest season in the country. Agricultural workers pick only the outer leaves that have not harden to allow the inner ones develop further.
There is a lot of way to make collard greens in Ethiopia we will try to show you one way which is simple and we found it delicious and this is to chop the collard and potato.
A quick recipe for collard greens:
In a large pan, add oil, garlic and onion.
Add tomato and mix the spices together with a heat for 5 minuets.
Add the chopped collards and continue cooking for another 10-15minutes until flavours blend and greens are cooked.
Add seasonings – salt, lemon and pepper, turn of the heat and let it cool. Then we can serve it as a side dish with injera or bread
Nutrition in Ethiopia: Pulses
15th November 2021
Nutrition is an integral part to providing comprehensive cleft care in Ethiopia. As well as delivering immediate vital support to children with cleft who are at risk from malnutrition, we raise awareness about the importance of a varied and nutritious diet, through our year round Government Health and Social Worker training workshops.
Second in our mini-series about nutrition in Ethiopia we have pulses.
We visited some market places in and around Addis Ababa, to document the different types of pulses that were available and also researched about their availability in other areas of the country.
Lentils
Lentils grow on vines sometimes referred to as a lentil flower, in Ethiopia they mainly are grown in the highlands, where rainfall is usually high.
Lentils can be consumed in the form of stew — sometimes called 'Wot' in local communities, which is eaten with Injera.
Lentils are a really good source of fibre, folic acid and potassium and can come in a variety of different colours.
Folic acid is especially important for mothers during pregnancy — and is proven to reduce the risk of problems in the baby's development in the early weeks of pregnancy. Other foods that contain folic acid, includes dark leafy greens, such as spinach, peanuts and eggs.
Chickpeas
Chick peas are used to make one of Ethiopia's staple vegetarian dishes called Shiro. The chick peas are prepared in the form of flour and cooked in to a stew, simmered slowly and served over Injera. Sometimes broad beans are used and often prepared with the addition of minced onions, garlic and, depending upon regional variation. Chick peas are also high in protein and fibre.
Nutrition in Ethiopia: Teff
8th November 2021
First in the series, we're delving into the Teff production industry...
Teff
This week we were able to visit market places in and around Addis Ababa to write about traditional food in Ethiopia. Though the traditional foods vary from region to region there are many common foods that are consumed across the country. First up, we looked at Teff, its nutritional value and how it is produced.
When we think about traditional Ethiopian food the first thing that comes to our mind is Teff. Teff (Eragrostis tef) is an ancient tropical cereal that has its center of origin and diversity in the northern Ethiopian highlands from where it is believed to have been domesticated (Ketema 1997; Demissie 2001).
According to Ethiopia, CSA (2013). Agricultural Sample Survey 2012/2013: Report on Area and Production of Major Crops. Teff cereal crops grown on 71% of the total area cultivated and about 61% of total agricultural production shared.
(Picture of teff crop before harvest in Addis Ababa)
Teff is mainly used to make injera, a traditional fermented Ethiopian pancake that is consumed by majority of the population daily. Other food items that are made from teff are porridge, bread - such as anebabiro and other local cultural foods such as chechebsa - which is very common in the Oromia Region. Chechebsa is a lightly fried injera or other bread cooked in berbere sauce and is sometimes served with honey.
There are different types of Teff depending on the color of the grains varying from white (ivory) to dark brown (black).
Various studies have confirmed the excellent nutrient composition of Teff and according to the Washington post (Elaine Gordon 2014) One serving of dry teff (a quarter-cup) offers 7 grams of protein, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 25 percent of our daily recommended magnesium, 20 percent of our daily iron and 10 percent of our daily calcium, Vitamin B6 and zinc. Also a research done by (Kaleab Belay; 2014) mentions health benefits of Teff consumption on the management and prevention of diabetes, iron deficiency and celiac disease.
Teff is mainly used in making injera, injera is made by mixing cereal flour with water to make dough and then triggering the fermentation process by inoculating with ersho, a starter obtained from previous fermentations. The fermentation lasts on average 2-3 days, after which the dough is thinned into a batter before steam baking.
The process of making Injera from Teff
As mentioned earlier injera is made by mixing cereal flour with water to make dough and then triggering the fermentation process by inoculating with yeast, a starter obtained from previous fermentations. The fermentation lasts on average 2-3 days, after which the dough is thinned into a batter before steam baking.
Before the process of making the injera the teff grains are purchased at the local markets. Here the grains will be purchased, cleaned and converted to a flour form to make injera.
