An Overview of the Development of the Applied Human Nutrition Program

This paper will address issues of food insecurity, poverty in Ethiopia and the role of the newly designed graduate program –Masters in Applied Human Nutrition Program in strengthening the capacity of Hawassa University to address these issues.  To address this, Hawassa University established the Masters program in Applied Human Nutrition (APHN), in  2007, with several partners including the University of Saskatchewan (UofS). The program, which began with 10 students, has expanded to include both and fulltime and part-time cohorts annually and is administered through the School of Food Science, Technology and Human Nutrition. This has provided the first opportunity for health professionals to explore the science of human nutrition as a field of study in higher learning in Ethiopia. Development of this applied nutrition graduate program was justified by the increasing need of governmental and non-governmental organizations for nutrition professionals, as reported in a needs assessment conducted prior to initiation of the program. The needs analysis identified three important reasons for the program: reducing the high under-five and maternal malnutrition rates, alleviating the shortage of nutrition professionals, and satisfying the need for increased knowledge about nutrition within local communities. This paper will present problems and challenges in instituting the first graduate nutrition program in Ethiopia. Specifically, the challenges of instituting a nutrition program where none was before, the challenges of instituting a nutrition program as it relates to society, culture and politics and where the problems of malnutrition are severe and pervasive.