Farmers' Post-Harvest Grain Management Choices under Liquidity Constraints and Impending Risks: Implications for Achieving Food Security Objectives in Ethiopia

The purpose of this paper is to explore into the relationships between farmers' post-harvest grain management practices/capacities on the one hand, and liquidity constraints and impending risks on the other, in the context of achieving food security objective at household and national levels. The findings are primarily based on a household survey data from 300 randomly selected major food grain producing peasant households in three rural districts of Ethiopia. Results indicate that farmers perceived post-harvest grain loss as an imminent risk, and that instant sales of grains after harvest are triggered by temporary but immediate liquidity preferences to meet various obligations in the absence of or limited sources of cash other than crops sales, and by an impending risk of post-harvest grain loss and the limited capacity to prevent it. While specific considerations are essential, the general policy implication is that post-harvest grain management needs to be taken on board as a matter of strategic policy concern, not just from the perspective of reducing losses but also from the view point of considering it as a viable and dynamic economic activity in terms of generation of employment, value addition and income linkages.post-harvest, liquidity, risk, grain loss, grain sales, price fluctuations, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Q12, Q13, Q18,

Consumption of vitamin a rich foods and dark adaptation threshold of pregnant women at Damot Sore District, Wolayita, southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: More than 7.2 million pregnant women in developing countries suffer from vitamin A deficiency. The objective of this study was to assess dark adaptation threshold of pregnant women and related socio-demographic factors in Damot Sore District, Wolayita Zone, Southern Ethiopia.METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was employed to collect data from 104 pregnant women selected by a two stage cluster sampling. A Dietary Diversity Score was calculated by counting the number of food groups consumed by the women in 24 hour period prior to the study. Scotopic Sensitivity Tester-1 was used to test participant’s pupillary response to graded amounts of light in a dark tent. RESULTS: Half of the pregnant women in this study had dietary diversity score less than three. The majority of participants (87.5%) had consumed either animal or plant source vitamin A rich foods less than three times a week. For a unit increase in individual dietary diversity score, there was a decrease in dark adaptation measurement by 0.29 log cd/m2 (p=0.001). For a unit increase in gestational week of pregnancy, there was an increase in dark adaptation measurement by 0.19 log cd/m2 (P=0.027). CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study indicated that the pregnant women had low consumption of vitamin A rich foods, and their dark adaptation threshold increases with gestational age indicating that their vitamin A status is getting worse. There is a need to design appropriate intervention and target this group of population.KEYWORDS: Vitamin A deficiency, pregnant women, dark adaptation threshold, Southern Ethiopi

Using Search Queries to Understand Health Information Needs in Africa

The lack of comprehensive, high-quality health data in developing nations creates a roadblock for combating the impacts of disease. One key challenge is understanding the health information needs of people in these nations. Without understanding people's everyday needs, concerns, and misconceptions, health organizations and policymakers lack the ability to effectively target education and programming efforts. In this paper, we propose a bottom-up approach that uses search data from individuals to uncover and gain insight into health information needs in Africa. We analyze Bing searches related to HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis from all 54 African nations. For each disease, we automatically derive a set of common search themes or topics, revealing a wide-spread interest in various types of information, including disease symptoms, drugs, concerns about breastfeeding, as well as stigma, beliefs in natural cures, and other topics that may be hard to uncover through traditional surveys. We expose the different patterns that emerge in health information needs by demographic groups (age and sex) and country. We also uncover discrepancies in the quality of content returned by search engines to users by topic. Combined, our results suggest that search data can help illuminate health information needs in Africa and inform discussions on health policy and targeted education efforts both on- and offline.Comment: Extended version of an ICWSM 2019 pape

A cross-sectional study on bovine trypanosomosis in Jawi district of Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was carried out from December 2008 to March 2009 in Jawi district of Amhara Regional State northwest Ethiopia to assess the prevalence of bovine trypanosomosis. Blood sample was collected randomly from a total of 300 cattle through piercing of the marginal ear vein to determine the prevalence and measure PCV values for the assessment of anemia. During sampling age, sex and body condition of the animals were recorded to infer risk factors for the occurrence of the disease. The buffy coat technique was em ployed for the detection of trypanosome and to measure PCV values. Thin blood smear was made from positive samples for species identification of the parasite. The prevalence of trypanosomosis was found to be 11.33% (95% CI: 0.08 - 0.15%) in Jawi district of which higher prevalence with species of trypanosome was detected to be for T. congolense (65%) than T. vivax (35%). The prevalence showed no significant difference in susceptibility between sex categories and in age groups. The infection rate between body condition score in parasitaemic and aparasitaemic animals was significantly different (P< 0.05) that poor body conditioned animals were more affected by trypanosomes than good conditioned animals. The mean PCV values in parasitaemic animals was 24.29% +5.58SD while in aparasitaemic animals 27.46% +5.67SD with a statistical significant difference (

Psychological distress and its predictors in AIDS orphan adolescents in Addis Ababa city: A comparative survey

Back ground: In developing countries the number of children orphaned by AIDS is growing rapidly. Consequently, the psychological well-being of these children has become a serious concern.Objectives: To assess the psychological distress of AIDS orphans as compared to non-AIDS orphan adolescents and factors related to it, in Addis Ababa.Methods: Comparative cross-sectional design combining both quantitative and qualitative methods was used. An equal number of 438 subjects were included in this study with each group of AIDS and non-AIDS orphan adolescents between 11-18 age groups. Structured interviewer administered questionnaire and scales including HAD, Rosenberg&rsquo;s and MPSS scales were used to measure the orphans&rsquo; level of depression, anxiety, self-esteem and their perceived social support.Result: Among the study participants, 279 (34.7%) orphan adolescents where 157 (39.1%) of AIDS and 122 (30.3 %) of non-AIDS orphan adolescents were depressed in the week before the survey. Moreover, 301(37.4%) orphan adolescents where 164 (40.8%) of AIDS and 137 (34.1%) of non-AID once were anxious. However, the difference observed in depression and anxiety [OR (95% CI) =1.164(0.733, 1.754) &amp; 0.88(0.57, 1.33)] was not statistically significant. The main predicator variables of depression and anxiety in both study groups were their perceived social support and self-esteem. Factors such as discrimination, school enrollment, physical abuse, child labor were also identified as predicators.Conclusion : A large proportion of orphan adolescents are having psychological problems that can affect their present and future life. Thus, a more focused and concerted effort is needed to improve their mental health. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2011;25(2):135-142

Concurrent Infection of Hydatidosis and Fasciolosis in Cattle Slaughtered at Mekelle Municipal Abattoir, Tigray Region

An abattoir survey was carried out in Mekelle municipal abattoir, Ethiopia to determine the prevalence of concurrent infections of hydatidosis and fasciolosis in cattle. A total of 4,481 slaughtered cattle were studied by ante- and post-mortem examinations. From the total 4,481 slaughtered cattle examined at Mekelle municipality abattoir, 357 (8%) were found to harbor mixed infection of hydatidosis and fasciolosis. While the individual prevalence of hydatidosis and fasciolosis was 32.11% and 24.32%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that among the factors considered in the current study, origin of animals had statistically significant ffect on the prevalence of concurrent infection (OR = 1.418, 95% CI = 1.108 - 1.814, p = 0.005), whereas breed and body condition of animals didn’t have significant effect on prevalence of the co-infection. Moreover, month had no statistically significant effect on prevalence of hydatidosis and fasciolosis co-infection (OR= 1.0029, 95% CI = 0.9758 - 1.0306, p = 0.867). Generally this study showed that hydatidosis and fasciolosis are important disease problems in cattle in the study area. The relatively higher prevalence in the occurrence of the concurrent infection of hydatidosis and fasciolosis in this study may suggest that ecological factors that determine the occurrence of the two diseases might be similar. On the other hand, the higher prevalence of the individual or concurrent infection may imply that these diseases have the potential to cause considerable economic and public health problems. Keywords: Coinfection, Fasciolosis, Hydatidosis, Mekelle, Prevalence

Solar Radiation Estimation Using Data Mining Techniques for Remote Areas-A Case Study in Ethiopia

High quality of solar radiation data is essential for solar resource assessment. For remote areas this is a challenge, as often only satellite data with low spatial resolution are available. This paper presents an interpolation method based on topographic data in digital elevation model format to improve the resolution of solar radiation maps. The refinement is performed with a data mining method based on first-order Sugeno type Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System. The training set contains topographic characteristics such as terrain aspect, slope and elevation which may influence the solar radiation distribution. An efficient sampling method is proposed to obtain representative training sets from digital elevation model data. The proposed geographic information system based approach makes this method reproducible and adaptable for any region. A case study is presented on the remote Amhara region in North Shewa, Ethiopia. Results are shown for interpolation of solar radiation data from 10 km x 10 km to a resolution of 1 km x 1 km and are validated with data from the PVGIS and SWERA projects

Ultrasound Prediction Model for % Intramuscular Fat in Beef Cattle

Real-time ultrasound technology offers producers an opportunity to measure compositional traits in beef cattle. A recent research project focused on the development of a prediction model for the Classic Scanner 200. The accuracy of this model has been previously reported and can be found in the Journal of Animal Science 2000, Volume 78, pages 11-18

Estimating Heritability of Percentage of Intramuscular Fat and Ribeye Area Measures By Scan Session in Angus Bulls and Heifers

The present study included 3,066 ultrasound-predicted percentage of intramuscular fat (UPFAT) and 4,502 ultrasound ribeye area (UREA) measures of bulls and heifers from the Iowa State University beef cattle breeding project. Data were collected over a four-year period between 1998 and 2001. The objective of the current study was to estimate variance components and heritability of UPFAT and UREA. Data were analyzed based on single- and multiple-trait animal models. Heritability of UPFAT increased from a minimum of 0.36 at a mean age of 37 weeks to a maximum of 0.54 at a mean age of 54 weeks. Heritability of UREA ranged from 0.30 at a mean age of 35 weeks to a maximum of 0.48 at a mean age of 50 weeks. Heritability of yearling UPFAT and UREA were 0.50 and 0.45, respectively. For the range of ages included in the present study the results suggest optimum heritability of UPFAT and UREA starting at about one year of age