EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "This assessment of the rural Dry Zone reveals the nutrition situation to be a concern, with high rates of wasting and medium rates of stunting, high rates of low birth weight and high rates of undernutrition among mothers; particularly those who are pregnant and/or lactating. The pattern of indicators suggests that flood plains and irrigated areas are best off, and the highlands may be worst, but the situation is far from acceptable in the Dry Zone as a whole. A wide range of likely causes of undernutrition needs addressing. Acute and chronic malnutrition have shared determinants and there is a need to tackle one to tackle the other. Children?s and mother?s nutrition status are associated, and a child?s birth weight is an important determinant of their later nutrition status. This reminds us of the imortance of the 1000 day window of opportunity between a child?s conception and their second birthday, and the need to take a life-cycle approach; paying p articular attention to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Dietary factors and their determinants seem likely to be particularly important drivers of undernutrition as do deficiencies in water, sanitation, hygiene and the public health environment. An absence of consistent associations between household economic status and nutrition indicators is likely in part because of widespread poverty as well as the focus on data from the current situation. However, analysis of associations revealed only small contributions of any specific explanatory variable to the variance of any of the nutrition outcomes (including indicators of food security) which together with analysis of risk factors reinforces that there is not just two or three important causes of undernutrition in the Dry Zone. Rather,a multi-sector approach is required for malnutrition prevention and nutrition status improvement."