Do subsidies matter in food price stabilization? Evidences from Ethiopia in a computable general equilibrium framework

In the poorest countries like Ethiopia the spillover effects of a soaring food price is unbearable. To mitigate the recent rise in food prices and the burden on urban poor consumers, policy makers have considered various measures. A recent shift from subsidizing oil to grain to ease the spiraling cost of food is one attempt the Ethiopian government has made so far. To this end, the government has removed an $800m annual subsidy on petroleum products and used the money to combat rising grain prices. Using the standard GTAP model and the recent GTAP Africa database, this paper simulates the overall implication of 5 and 10 percent increase of subsidy on wheat. Regarding the impact on prices, the simulation result tells us that prices have indeed fall. At macro level, the result reveals subsidy on wheat leads to a decline in the overall trade balance. In terms of welfare, the intervention is likely to have a positive impact.Food policy; price policy; WTO; Ethiopia; GTAP

The impact of banning export of cereals in response to soaring food prices: Evidences from Ethiopia using the new GTAP African database

In the poorest countries like Ethiopia the spillover effects of a soaring food price is unbearable. To mitigate the recent rise in food prices and the burden on urban poor consumers, different measures have been considered by policy makers. Recently, Ethiopia banned the export of all grain products in a bid to stem huge price hikes. The export of indigenous grains, including the staple grains, like teff, maize, sorghum, and wheat are suspended indefinitely. Using the standard GTAP model and the recent GTAP Africa database, this paper simulates the overall implication of banning export of grains. Regarding the impact on prices, the simulation result tells us that prices are likely to fall. At macro level, the result reveals trade balance will not be decline following such actions. However, it has been shown that in terms of overall welfare the policy has a devastating impact as the country will likely to lose welfare equivalent of $ 148 million.Food price inflation;- export ban;- WTO:- Ethiopia;- GTAP

Magnitude of unintended pregnancy and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Durame Maternal and Child Health Center, Southern Ethiopia

Unintended pregnancy is the major sexual and reproductive health problem which carries a higher risk of morbidity and mortality for women, often due to unsafe abortion. Even though family planning services are effective and available than ever before, unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion are the major public health problems in the study area. Therefore, this study aims to assess the magnitude of unintended pregnancy and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Durame Maternal and Child Health center, Southern Ethiopia. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 385 participants. The results revealed that among the total participants, 26.8% with 95% CI (0.229-0.307) had unintended pregnancies.Mothers who were not knowledgeable about family planning methods (AOR=2.541, 95% CI=1.953, 6.101), family size of six or more (AOR=2.8, 95% CI=1.19, 6.60), a history of greater than six pregnancies (AOR=7.323, 95% CI=3.987, 10.056), and mothers who had a history of 3-4 pregnancies (AOR=3.210, 95% CI=1.678, 4.721) were among significantly associated factors with an unintended pregnancy. The magnitude of unintended pregnancy in Durame town was optimal compared to other studies. The number of pregnancies, knowledge about family planning methods, and family size were among the significantly associated factors with an unintended pregnancy. Therefore, special attention could be taken to these high-risk groups in terms of increasing accessibility and availability of maternal health services and counselling. By doing this, the chance of unintended pregnancy could be reduced

Comparative clinico-haematological analysis in young Zebu cattle experimentally infected with Trypanosoma vivax isolates from tsetse infested and non-tsetse infested areas of Northwest Ethiopia

Background: Ethiopia, particularly in the Northwest region, is affected by both tsetse and non-tsetse fly transmitted trypanosomosis, with significant impact on livestock productivity. The aim of this study was to determine and compare clinical findings and haematological values between experimental infections induced by Trypanosoma vivax isolates from areas of either transmission mode. Sixteen young (aged between 6 and 12 months) Zebu cattle (Bos indicus), purchased from a trypanosome-free area and confirmed to be trypanosome-negative, were randomly assigned into four groups of four animals. Groups 1, 2 and 3 were infected with an isolate from a tsetse infested or one of two isolates from a non-tsetse infested area, and group 4 was a non-infected control. All animals in the infected groups were inoculated intravenously with 2 × 106 trypanosomes from donor animals. The experimental animals were monitored for eight consecutive weeks post infection for clinical signs, parasitaemia and haematological changes in packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hgb), total red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts, differential WBC count and blood indices (mean corpuscular volume [MCV], mean corpuscular haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration).<p></p> Results: Infection was characterized by reduced feed intake, weakness, pyrexia, parasitaemia, rough hair coat, enlarged prescapular lymph nodes, lacrimation, weight loss, pallor mucus membrane and dehydration. Body weight loss in all infected groups was significantly higher than in the non-infected control. Similarly, body weight loss was higher (P < 0.001) in animals infected with the tsetse infested isolate than with the non-tsetse infested isolates. The mean PCV, Hgb, total RBC and WBC counts were lower (P < 0.001), and mean MCV was higher (P = 0.01) in all infected groups than in non-infected control animals at different time points during the study period. Except for minor variations in haematological values, the overall changes were similar in all infected groups.<p></p> Conclusion: Clinical signs and significant reduction in haematological values in the infected groups indicated the pathogenicity of the T. vivax parasites. Pathogenicity of T. vivax from the non-tsetse infested area can be considered as nearly as important as that of its counterpart derived from the tsetse infested area

Perceived features of practicum effectiveness and acquired professional competences among graduate class students in Dilla University

Background: Even though practicum is required to integrate and apply acquired theories, skills, and knowledge recently, there is a huge disparity between types of skills and knowledge, taught in pre-service programs and the realities of work place practice.Objective: The objective of the study was to examine perceived features of practicum effectiveness and acquired professional competence of graduate class students.Methods: The quantitative research approach with descriptive design was employed. Total of 169 graduate class students of Dilla University were selected through multistage sampling. Questionnaires were used as tools of data collection. Mean, standard deviation, person correlation and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data.Result: The result revealed that the readiness for future work was (M=2.0809, SD=58024), creativity enhancement (M=1.7678, SD=.61876), and practice of the learned concept (M=2.1302, SD=.42897) respectively. With regard to graduate students, acquired the professional competence: student’s knowledge, skills and ethics that students, gained from the field trip, were (M=2.0000, SD=.48659), (M=2.1550, SD=.43300), and (M=1.9172, SD=.48428) respectively. Further, person correlation analysis showed that perceived features of practicum effectiveness and acquired professional competence were moderately positively correlated r (169) = 0.367, p < 0.05. Besides the result, demonstrated by one-way ANOVA, there was a statistically significant difference in students’ satisfaction with practicum education host organization services, in that Psychology students (F(11,11) = 3.477, p = .025), and Journalism students(F(8,5) = 5.747, p = .035) respectively.Conclusion: Practicum is/was less effective in enhancing student’s creativity and ethics. Thus, Universities, and host organizations have to work to promote students’ professional competenceНавіть незважаючи на те, що практикум має інтегрувати та використовувати щойно набуті теорії, навички та знання, існує величезна несумірність між типами навичок та знань, наданих освітніми програмами, та реаліями робочої практики.  Мета дослідження – вивчити наочні особливості ефективності практикуму та набутої професіональної компетентності студентів-випускників. Методи: було використано кількісний дослідний підхід та описовий дизайн. Усі 169 студенти-випускники університету Dilla були обрані за допомогою багатоступінчастої вибірки. Анкети було використано як засіб збору даних. Середнє, стандартне відхилення, особистісна кореляція та однобічний аналіз дисперсії було використано для аналізу даних. Результат: Результат демонструє готовність до майбутньої роботи на рівні (M=2,0809, SD=0,58024), творчий ріст (M=1,7678, SD=0,61876), та рівень практики вивчених теорій (M=2,1302, SD=0,42897) відповідно. Для випускників що набули професіональної компетентності: знання, навички та етика, отримані підчас професійного навчання, були (M=2,0000, SD=0,48659), (M=2,1550, SD=0,43300), та (M=1,9172, SD=0,48428) відповідно. Далі аналіз особистісної кореляції продемонстрував що відчутні особливості ефективності практикуму та набутої професіональної компетентності корелюють помірно позитивно r (169)=0,367, p<0,05. Поряд з результатом, продемонстрованим однобічним дисперсійним аналізом, існує статистично значима різниця між рівнями студентського задоволення приймаючими організаціями практичної освіти, (F(11,11)=3,477, p=0,025) – для студентів-психологів та (F(8,5)=5,747, p=0,035) – для студентів-журналістів.Висновок: Практикум був та залишається менш ефективним для росту рівня студентської креативності та етики. То ж університети та приймаючі організації мають працювати заради покращенні студентської професіональної компетентності

Evaluation of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) genotypes for resistance to late blight at Sinana Southeastern Ethiopia

Late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, is one of the most significant constraints to potato production in Bale high lands and other regions of Ethiopia. Hence, this requires to develop high yielding and late blight resistant varieties. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine host resistance of potato against Phytophthora infestans in order to develop late blight resistant/tolerant genotypes. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications at Sinana Agricultural Research Center during 2014 main cropping season. The genotypes showed highly significant (P<0.01) differences for all the characters studied. Genotypes exhibited wide ranges of mean values for all characters. The highest total tuber yield (46.1 t ha-1) was obtained from the advanced clone, CIP-392640.524 followed by Belete (41 t ha-1). Late blight appeared early on farmer's cultivar Kellacho (48 days after planting) and late on advanced clones CIP- 399062.102(74 days after planting). Percent severity index (PSI) and area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) ranged from 33.91 to 91.67% and 105 to 2370, respectively. Eleven newly introduced clones and the released variety "Belete" recorded PSI 33 to 39.7% and AUDPC 105 to 264.1. Hence, these genotypes can be categorized as moderately resistant. The study revealed the presence of considerable variability in tested genotypes for economically important traits and the higher chance of selecting genotypes with high yield and moderately resistant to late blight. However, it appears that further evaluation of genotypes across seasons and locations to identify genotypes that could be released as varieties seem to be quite pertinent.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 6 (1): 21-25, June, 201

Bio-efficacy of selected long-lasting insecticidal nets against pyrethroid resistant Anopheles arabiensis from South-Western Ethiopia.

The emergence and spread of insecticide resistance in the major African malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Anopheles arabiensis may compromise control initiatives based on insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) or indoor residual spraying (IRS), and thus threaten the global malaria elimination strategy. We investigated pyrethroid resistance in four populations of An. arabiensis from south-western Ethiopia and then assessed the bio-efficacy of six World Health Organization recommended long lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) using these populations. For all four populations of An. arabiensis, bottle bioassays indicated low to moderate susceptibility to deltamethrin (mortality at 30 minutes ranged between 43 and 80%) and permethrin (mortality ranged between 16 and 76%). Pre-exposure to the synergist piperonylbutoxide (PBO) significantly increased the susceptibility of all four populations to both deltamethrin (mortality increased between 15.3 and 56.8%) and permethrin (mortality increased between 11.6 and 58.1%), indicating the possible involvement of metabolic resistance in addition to the previously identified kdr mutations. There was reduced susceptibility of all four An. arabiensis populations to the five standard LLINs tested (maximum mortality 81.1%; minimum mortality 13.9%). Bio-efficacy against the four populations varied by net type, with the largest margin of difference observed with the Jimma population (67.2% difference). Moreover, there were differences in the bio-efficacy of each individual standard LLIN against the four mosquito populations; for example there was a difference of 40% in mortality of Yorkool against two populations. Results from standard LLINs indicated reduced susceptibility to new, unused nets that was likely due to observed pyrethroid resistance. The roof of the combination LLIN performed optimally (100% mortality) against all the four populations of An. arabiensis, indicating that observed reductions in susceptibility could be ameliorated with the combination of PBO with deltamethrin, as used in PermaNet® 3.0. Our results suggest that bio-efficacy evaluations using local mosquito populations should be conducted where possible to make evidence-based decisions on the most suitable control products, and that those combining multiple chemicals such as PBO and deltamethrin should be considered for maintaining a high level of efficacy in vector control programmes

Sugar crystal size characterization using digital image processing.

Thesis (PhD)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.The measurement of the crystal size distribution is a key prerequisite in optimising the growth of sugar crystals in crystalisation pans or for quality control of the final product. Traditionally, crystal size measurements are carried out by inspection or using mechanical sieves. Apart from being time consuming, these techniques can only provide limited quantitative information. For this reason, a more quantitative automatic system is required. In our project, software routines for the automated measurement of crystal size using classical image analysis techniques were developed. A digital imaging technique involves automatically analyzing a captured image of a representative sample of ~ 100 crystals for the automated measurement of crystal size has been developed. The main problem of crystals size measurements using image processing is the lack of an efficient algorithm to identify and separate overlapping and touching crystals which otherwise compromise the accuracy of size measurement. This problem of overlapping and touching crystals was addressed in two ways. First, 5 algorithms which identify and separate overlapping and touching crystals, using mathematical morphology as a tool, were evaluated. The accuracy of the algorithms depends on the technique used to mark every crystal in the image. Secondly, another algorithm which used convexity measures of the crystals based on area and perimeter, to identify and reject overlapping and touching crystals, have been developed. Finally, the two crystal sizing algorithms, the one applies ultimate erosion followed by a distance transformation and the second uses convexity measures to identify overlapping crystals, were compared with well established mechanical sieving technique. Using samples obtained from a sugar refinery, the parameters of interest, including mean aperture (MA) and coefficient of variance (CV), were calculated and compared with those obtained from the sieving method. The imaging technique is faster, more reliable than sieving and can be used to measure the full crystal size distributions of both massecuite and dry product

Sugar crystal size characterization using digital image processing.

Thesis (PhD)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.The measurement of the crystal size distribution is a key prerequisite in optimising the growth of sugar crystals in crystalisation pans or for quality control of the final product. Traditionally, crystal size measurements are carried out by inspection or using mechanical sieves. Apart from being time consuming, these techniques can only provide limited quantitative information. For this reason, a more quantitative automatic system is required. In our project, software routines for the automated measurement of crystal size using classical image analysis techniques were developed. A digital imaging technique involves automatically analyzing a captured image of a representative sample of ~ 100 crystals for the automated measurement of crystal size has been developed. The main problem of crystals size measurements using image processing is the lack of an efficient algorithm to identify and separate overlapping and touching crystals which otherwise compromise the accuracy of size measurement. This problem of overlapping and touching crystals was addressed in two ways. First, 5 algorithms which identify and separate overlapping and touching crystals, using mathematical morphology as a tool, were evaluated. The accuracy of the algorithms depends on the technique used to mark every crystal in the image. Secondly, another algorithm which used convexity measures of the crystals based on area and perimeter, to identify and reject overlapping and touching crystals, have been developed. Finally, the two crystal sizing algorithms, the one applies ultimate erosion followed by a distance transformation and the second uses convexity measures to identify overlapping crystals, were compared with well established mechanical sieving technique. Using samples obtained from a sugar refinery, the parameters of interest, including mean aperture (MA) and coefficient of variance (CV), were calculated and compared with those obtained from the sieving method. The imaging technique is faster, more reliable than sieving and can be used to measure the full crystal size distributions of both massecuite and dry product