Freedom of expression and the Ethiopian anti-terrorism proclamation: a comparative analysis

The Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of Ethiopia has a far-reaching effect on human rights, such as freedom of expression. The provisions of this law that impact freedom of expression are discussed in this article. The law gives leeway to criminalize innocent acts of individuals who are critical of government policies. It criminalizes in/direct encouragement to the preparation, instigation and commission of terrorism through the publication of statements. The law falls short of international standards that require only the criminalization of a speech intended and likely to incite terrorist acts. The Proclamation demands everyone including the media and journalists provide terrorism-related information to law enforcement agencies. The only way to be relieved of this obligation is showing the existence of a ‘reasonable cause’, a phrase that is not defined by the law. Moreover, the journalistic privilege of confidentiality of information and the protection of sources is not stipulated as an exception to the obligation of disclosure of information. Nor does the law provides the circumstances in which a journalist may be forced to divulge her information. Though surveillance and interception undermine democracy, a mere suspicion of terrorism gives the National Intelligence and Security Service a power to conduct surveillance or intercept any type of communications. The Proclamation failed to provide circumstances that a court should consider before permitting surveillance or interception. Surveillance and interception invade privacy and chill freedom of expression. However, the Proclamation failed to provide any safeguards that limit the misuse of executive power against freedom of expression. The legal ambiguity together with the nascent jurisprudence pose problems on freedom of expression. Hence, domestic courts should draw upon or transplant principles and their interpretations from jurisdictions like South Africa and Council of Europe to fill legal loopholes. Moreover, the “jurisprudential dearth” could be filled and the impact of the Proclamation on freedom of expression may be assuaged by incorporating the three-part test (prescribed by law, legitimate aims and necessary in a democratic society) from the well-developed jurisprudences of human rights bodies and regional courts, notably the European Court of Human Rights, which stands at the heart of the Council of Europe system.Keywords: encouragement of terrorism, freedom of expression, human rights, interception, journalistic privilege, terrorism, surveillanc

Individual Trade Balance in Some Major Agricultural Products: Evidence from Ethiopia

As an agrarian economy it is little to expect for one nation to import more agricultural products than it exports. However, the ever-increasing total trade deficit in Ethiopia comes from both agricultural and industrial sector.  The country reported a huge individual trade deficit in some agricultural product where it has potential to narrow the ever increasing aggregate trade deficit. The country had recorded a huge individual trade deficit in some major agricultural products like soya bean, Malt Not Roasted, Spelt,Common Wheat and Meslin, Durum Wheat, Grain Sorghum ,Dried Peas, Shelled And Wheat/Meslin Flour. Import and export values of each agricultural product  were used to calculate individual trade deficit. Data were analyzed using descriptive method. This huge difference could also be reflected through the quantity measure. In both value and volume measures it seems as there is no promising figure to close such difference. Thus the agricultural sector even is contributing for ever-increasing trade deficit in Ethiopia. Keywords: Individual Trade Balance, Agricultural Products, Individual Trade Defici

Exchange Rate and Trade Balance; J Curve Effect in Ethiopia

More recent   studies   have   used   bilateral   data   in   testing   the J curve    phenomenon. However, The  paper  has  attempted  to  estimate  the  J-curve  phenomenon  for  Ethiopia  using  a yearly data ,aggregate data  over the period 1974-2010 in a  multilateral trade model  basis. A  recent   technique   in  co integration, ARDL approach , more importantly the Hendry’s general to specific approach   has  been  employed,  which  allowed  for  a  simultaneous  short-run  and  long-run  analysis  of  the  trade  balance  model.  Empirical  results  suggest  there  is  strong evidence for the fulfillment of the Marshall-Lerner condition, as the trade balance improves  in the  long  run  in  response  to  a  currency  devaluation, while giving rise to a J-curve effect in the short   run.      Both   Johansen’s   and   autoregressive   distributed    lag approach     are respectively     used.    Co integration  test results  showing   that   LREERI ,LTB LRGDP and LIPI move all together in long run.   Corresponding   error- correction models as well as impulse response functions indicate that, following currency devaluation trade balance first deteriorates before it later improves, i.e. exhibiting the J-curve pattern. These results are relevant for policy making instruments in Ethiopia. It is likely that such policy may be able to produce the desired outcome—i.e., the trade balance could improve. The       policy   issue   that arises from    these observations is the usefulness of the real exchange rate as a tool for correcting trade imbalance. The Granger Causality test suggests that REER, LRGDP, LIPI does Granger causes trade   balance. As the research works comprise two regimes, the stability analysis was checked. Key words: Trade Balance, Real Exchange Rate, Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL), Error Correction (ECM

Trade Balance and Exchange Rate Evidence from Ethiopia: Impulse Response Function (IRFs) and The Forecast Error Variance Decompositions (VDCs) based on VAR and VECM

The paper attempted to analyze trade balance and exchange rate based on impulse response function and the forecast error variance decompositions. The short run effect of devaluation can be captured by the impulse response functions. Impulse response results show that trade balance in Ethiopia after real depreciation of currency follows J-curve patter .More importantly the obtained estimates suggest that upon real depreciation in the first three years trade balance deteriorates (‘short run’) and subsequently improves. The forecast error variance decomposition for each variable reveals the proportion of the movement in this variable due to its own shocks versus the shocks in other variables. Further information on the linkages between the trade balance and its determinants can be obtained from variance decompositions, which measure the proportion of forecast error variance in a variable that is explained by innovations (impulses) in itself and the other variables. Discussion was conducted on analyzing trade balance variance decomposition over a period of 10 years. The variance decomposition of trade balance reveals that changes in its own shock, trade balance is the predominant source of variation in the logarithm of trade balance. The result showed own series shock of trade balance explain most of the forecast error variance of the series in both based on VAR and VECM. The change in the real effective exchange rate represents the second source of variation in trade balance with a percentage of 1.4%, and 1.28% in the second and third year forecast horizons based on VAR respectively. Finally, the results also prove the relative ineffectiveness of the industrial production index in affecting trade balance in Ethiopia based on both in VAR and VECM Keywords: Trade Balance, Real Exchange Rate, impulse response function (IRFs), The Forecast Error Variance Decompositions (VDCs),

Comparative Study of Production and Reproductive Performance of Various Strains of Chicken Parent Layers Raised in Floor Pens

 አህፅሮትጥናቱ የሚያተኩረው አምስት ወላጅ ዶሮዎች በአውሮፓ የተዳቀሉ እና አንድ ከሀገር ውስጥ ለንፅፅር ተወስደው ለምርትና እና ምርታማነት በኢትዮጵያ ሁኔታ ተገመገሙ፡፡ ወላጅ ዶሮዎቹም ዶሚናነት ቀይ፣ ዶሚናነት ሰሴክስ፣ ኮኮክ፣ ሎህማን ብራውን እና ሎህማን ጥምር ነበሩ፡፡ ስራው የተሰራው በአንድ ክፍል በወል ላይ ሲሆን፣ አነኚህ ዶሮዎቸ የተገመገሙበት መስፈርት፡ በምግብ አወሳሰድ፣ በክብደት፣ በዕንቁላል ምርት፣ በዕንቁላል ይዘት፣ በዕንቁላል መዳበር፣ በዕንቁላል መፈልፈል እና በሌሎችም ከነባራዊ ሁኔታ ጋር ተላምዶ መኖር ወይም መሞት ነበር፡፡ በአጠቃላይ ለዚህ ስራ 600 ሴት እና 75 ወንድ ወላጅ ዶሮዎች በሶስት ጊዜ ድግግሞሽ በዝርያ በአንድ ቤት ውስጥ በcompletely randomized design መሰረት ተሰራጩ፡፡ ይህ ስራ ከፍተኛ የሆነ በዝርያ፣ በዕድሜ እና በሁለቱም ማለትም በዝርያና ዕድሜ ላይ ልዩነቶች የታየው በአመጋገብ፣ በክብደት፣ በዕንቁላል ምርት፣ በዕንቁላል ይዘት፣ በዕንቁላል መዳበር፣ በዕንቁላል መፈልፈል እና በሌሎችም መመዘኛ ነበር፡፡ በዚህ ሙከራ በአማካይ ከፍተኛ የሴት ክብደት በዶሚናነት ቀይ፣ በመቀጠልም በዶሚናነት ሰሴክስ እና በኮኮክ ላይ ተመዝግቧል፡፡ ዝቅተኛ ክብደት ደግሞ በሎህማን ብራውን እና በሎህማን ጥምር ላይ ነበረ፡፡ በወንዶች ላይ ደግሞ በሎህማን ጥምር ላይ ከፍተኛ ክብደት ሲመዘገብ በመቀጠል ደግሞ በዶሚናነት ቀይ፣ በኮኮክ፣ ዶሚናነት ሰሴክስ ሲሆን፣ ዝቅተኛ ክብደት ደግሞ በሎህማን ብራውን ተመዝግቧል፡፡ ይህ በሎህማን ጥምር ወንድ ወላጅ ዶሮ ላይ የታየው ከፍተኛ ክብደት የስጋ ዶሮ ደም ስላለበት ሲሆን ለሌሎቹ ከዝቅተኛ ክብደት ግን ከሎህማን ጥምር ጋር ሲነፃፀር የተመዘገበበት ምክንያት መደበኛ የዕንቁላል ጣይ ዶሮ ደም ስላላቸው ነበር፡፡ በአማካይ ከፍተኛ የዕለታዊ የምግብ አወሳሰድ የተመዘገበው በዶሚናነት ቀይ እና ዶሚናነት ሰሴክስ በተለይ ከ17 እስከ 24 እና ከ25 እስከ 32 የሳምንት ዕድሜ ክልል ሲሆን በመቀጠልም በኮኮክ ላይ ተመዝግቧል፡፡ ነገር ግን በሎህማን ብራውን እና በሎህማን ጥምር ላይ ዝቅተኛ የዕለታዊ የምግብ አወሳሰድ ተመዝቧል፡፡  በአማካይ ከፍተኛ የዕንቁላል ምርት በሎህማን ብራውን እና በሎህማን ጥምር ላይ ሲታይ በመቀጠል ከፍተኛ ምርት የተመዘገበው በዶሚናነት ቀይ፣ ዶሚናነት ሰሴክስ እና በኮኮክ ላይ ነበር፡፡ በአማካይ ከፍተኛ የዕንቁላል የመዳበር እና የመፈልፈል በኢንኩቤተር ከታቀፈው ዕንቁላል የተመዘገበው በዶሚናነት ቀይ፣ ዶሚናነት ሰሴክስ፣ በኮኮክ እና በሎህማን ብራውን በመቀጠልም የዕንቁላል የመዳበር እና የመፈልፈል በኢንኩቤተር ከታቀፈው ዕንቁላል ሲታይ ዝቅተኛው ሆኖ የተመዘገበው በሎህማን ጥምር ላይ ነበር፡፡ ይህ ዝቅተኛ የመዳበር እና የመፈልፈል በኢንኩቤተር ከታቀፈው ዕንቁላል በሎህማን ጥምር ላይ የታየው ሙከራው በተካሄደበት ወቅት በሙሉ ነበር፡፡ በአጠቃላይ በዚህ  በደቡብ ኢትዮጲያ ክልል ላይ በተካሄደው የምርምር ሙከራ ጊዜ በተወሰደው የመገምገሚያ መስፈርት ማለትም በአመጋገብ፣ በክብደት፣ በዕንቁላል ምርት፣ በዕንቁላል ይዘት፣ በዕንቁላል መዳበር፣ በዕንቁላል መፈልፈል እና በሌሎችም መሰረት ከከፍተኛ ወደ ዝቅተኛ ምርትና ምርታማነት ሲቀመጡ፡ ሎህማን ብራውን፣ ኮኮክ፣ ዶሚናነት ቀይ፣ ዶሚናነት ሰሴክስ እና ሎህማን ጥምር ነበሩ፡፡           AbstractFive Parent Stocks (PS) bred by European companies, and one local PS, were evaluated for their production and reproductive performance under typical conditions in Ethiopia. The PSs were Dominant red Barred (DR), Dominant Sussex (DS), Koekoek (KK), Lohmann Brown (LB) Lohmann-Dual (LD), and reared in floor pensup to 60 weeks of age, were evaluated for feed intake, body weight, egg production, egg quality, fertility, hatchability, and mortality. A total of 600 females and 75 males were kept in three replicated pens per strain and distributed in a house using completely randomized design. There were significant (P<0.05) effects of strain, age and strain by age interactions at all stages of the laying phases in terms of feed intake, fertility, hatchability, body weight of females and  males, and egg production. Significantly, highest average female body weight was recorded in DR, followed by DS and KK. The lowest average female body weights were recorded in LD and LB at all ages of the laying phases.Among the average male body weight of LD was significantly higher than other strains, followed by DR, KK and DS, the lowest average male body weights were recorded in LB during laying phase. This (LD) superiority was from the dwarf (homozygous dw/dw) meat-type line of LD. The other male strains were from the layer-types and hence lowest in body weight during the laying stages compared to that of LD male.Significantly higher average daily feed intakes were recorded in DR and DS than other PS in week 17 to 24 and 25 to 32, followed by the KK, while the lower average feed intakes were recorded in LB and LD. The average egg production of LB and LD were significantly higher than the rest, followed by KK, DS and DR. DR, DS, KK and LB were higher in egg fertility and hatchability per set eggs, followed by LD. The present result clearly indicated that the LD was poor in fertility (%) and hatchability (%) per set eggs at all stages of the laying phases. Therefore, LB, KK, DR, DS and LD were ranked 1 to 5, respectively, top to lowest in feed consumption, body weight, egg production, and reproductive performance when raised in floor pens management in Southern part of Ethiopia

The magnitude of episiotomy among women who gave birth in Ethiopia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Episiotomy is one of the most common obstetric procedures done by health providers putting the client at high risk of developing complications and lacerations. These days, episiotomy has been done at an alarming rate in Ethiopia as compared to the slant set by World Health Organization. Be that as it may, there is a need for nationally representative data. This study aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of episiotomy practice among women who gave birth at public health institutions in Ethiopia. We accessed PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EMBASE, and manual search was used to retrieve articles. The extractions of the data were done by using Microsoft Excel and analyzed by STATA version 11 statistical software. The publication bias was checked by funnel plot visually and Egger's test and Begg’s test, with P < 0.05 considered indicating potential publication bias. I2 was used to check the presence of heterogeneity of the studies. Overall estimated analysis was done. Subgroup analysis was done by region. We carried out a leave-one-out sensitivity analysis. The Joanna Briggs Institute risk of bias assessment tool was used. Out of 254 articles retrieved, 9 studies met the eligibility criteria and are thus included in this study. The overall episiotomy practice in Ethiopia was 45.01% (95% CI: 36.288, 53.741). Based on the sub-group analysis, prevalence of episiotomy practice was 49.32% (95%CI: 12.67, 85.97), 46.92% (95%CI: 29.47, 64.37), 44.23% (95%CI: 37.77, 50.99) and 38.29 (95%CI: 32.38, 44.20) among South region, Addis Ababa, Amhara region and Tigray region respectively. The findings revealed that the prevalence of episiotomy practice in Ethiopia was high (45.01%). Therefore, it is better to have periodic training for birth attendants on the indication of episiotomy and the appropriate use of guidelines to reduce the rate of episiotomy

Honey production systems (Apis mellifera L.) in Kaffa, Sheka and Bench-Maji zones of Ethiopia

Southwest parts of Ethiopia particularly Kaffa, Sheka and Bench-Maji zones are endowed with very diverse and dense natural forests. This favours for the existence of dense honeybee population and production of large volume of honey. However, detail information on honey production systems of the area was lacking. In this study five representative districts were selected and data on beekeeping practice and its major constraints were collected. Traditional beekeeping system is practiced by more than 99% of beekeepers. The average traditional hives owned/household in Masha and Gesha were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than Gimbo, Chena and Sheko districts. Honey yield per traditional hive/harvest in Masha and Gesha were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than Gimbo and Chena districts. In the study areas honey contributes 50% of the total household incomes. The major proportion of the honey comes from forest beekeeping. In Kaffa and Sheka Zones, honey harvesting is done by removing all the content of the hive by discarding the colony while, in Bench-Maji Zone, harvesting is done by leaving all brood and some honey to maintain the colony. Prevalence of ant attacks, less adoption of improved beekeeping technologies and management practices, lack of practical skill training, under utilization of apicultural resources are the major constraints which require attention to be intervene

Honey production systems (Apis mellifera L.) in Kaffa, Sheka and Bench-Maji zones of Ethiopia

Southwest parts of Ethiopia particularly Kaffa, Sheka and Bench-Maji zones are endowed with very diverse and dense natural forests. This favours for the existence of dense honeybee population and production of large volume of honey. However, detail information on honey production systems of the area was lacking. In this study five representative districts were selected and data on beekeeping practice and its major constraints were collected. Traditional beekeeping system is practiced by more than 99% of beekeepers. The average traditional hives owned/household in Masha and Gesha were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than Gimbo, Chena and Sheko districts. Honey yield per traditional hive/harvest in Masha and Gesha were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than Gimbo and Chena districts. In the study areas honey contributes 50% of the total household incomes. The major proportion of the honey comes from forest beekeeping. In Kaffa and Sheka Zones, honey harvesting is done by removing all the content of the hive by discarding the colony while, in Bench-Maji Zone, harvesting is done by leaving all brood and some honey to maintain the colony. Prevalence of ant attacks, less adoption of improved beekeeping technologies and management practices, lack of practical skill training, under utilization of apicultural resources are the major constraints which require attention to be intervene

Indoor air bacterial load and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of isolates at Adare General Hospital in Hawassa, Ethiopia

BackgroundAir is the agent of pathogenic microbes that cause significant problems in the hospital environment. Multidrug resistance poses a major therapeutic challenge to these airborne microorganisms in hospital indoor environments.Method and materialsThis study was conducted at Adare General Hospital in Hawassa City, Sidama, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted. The proportional allocation method was used to select the sampled 50 rooms from the total available rooms in each category of wards and staff offices. A total of 100 indoor air samples were collected using settle plates in all units twice a day, morning (9:00–4:00 a.m.) and afternoon (3:00–4:00 p.m.). The types and number of colonies were determined in the laboratory, and the pathogenic bacteria were isolated by appropriate bacteriological techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed on Mueller-Hinton agar for each potentially pathogenic bacterium isolated. For each bacterium, a total of 12 antibiotics were tested using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The test organism was adjusted to McFarland turbidity standards of 0.5. Data were entered and analyzed using the SPSS version 25 window. Descriptive analysis and one-way analysis of variance were performed.ResultsThe indoor air bacterial load of Adare General Hospital was found in the range between 210 and 3,224 CFU/m3. The highest indoor air bacterial load was identified from the gynecology ward with a mean of 2,542.5CFU/m3 at p &lt; 0.05. From 100 indoor air samples, a total of 116 bacterial pathogen isolates were obtained. Gram-positive isolates predominated at 72.4%, of which 37.1% were Staphylococcus aureus, 26.7% were coagulase-negative Staphylococci, and the rest 8.6% were Streptococcus pyogenes. The isolation of pathogenic bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative Staphylococci showed a high level of resistance to ampicillin.ConclusionA high bacterial load was found in the study area as compared to different indoor air biological standards. Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative Staphylococci were the isolated predominant bacteria. Attention should be given to preventing and minimizing those environmental factors that favor the multiplication of bacteria in the indoor environment of a hospital for the safe health of patients, visitors, and staff

Quality assessment of health management information system (HMIS) data for maternal and child health in Jimma zone, Ethiopia

Health management information system (HMIS) data underpin attainment of health targets in low- and middle-income countries. However, the quality of HMIS data is often poor. The study appraised the completeness, timeliness, and internal consistency of eight key maternal and child health (MCH) indicators collected for all the primary health care units (PHCUs) located within three districts of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. Results show that the HMIS may over-report the coverage of key MCH services, namely, antenatal care, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care. The quality of data at the zonal level could be improved to inform MCH research and programmatic efforts.Global Affairs Canada (GAC)Canadian institutes of Health Research (CIHR