Life expectancy and agricultural environmental impacts in Addis Ababa can be improved through optimized plant and animal protein consumption

Abstract

In Ethiopia, children and adults face a double burden of malnutrition, with coexisting undernutrition, stunting, and non-communicable diseases. Here, we use a framework of comparative risk assessment, local dietary surveys, and relative risks from large observational studies to quantify the health and environmental impacts of meeting adult and child recommended daily protein intakes in urban Addis Ababa. We find that plant-based foods, especially legumes, would have the lowest environmental impact and substantially increase life expectancy in adults, whilst animal-sourced proteins could be beneficial for children. This context-specific approach – accounting for regional constraints and trade-offs – can aid policy makers in developing culturally appropriate, nutritionally adequate and sustainable dietary recommendations.