What Determines Exit from Aid-dependence?

At the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, the African Union stated that ?the post-Busan agenda for Africa is in essence a programme to reduce aid dependency and ultimately exit aid? (AU, 2011: 11). This One Pager sketches out the attributes of an aid exit strategy to inform such an agenda. We ranked 132 countries based on their aid-to-GDP ratio and grouped them into deciles for the past five decades. The Figure plots the deciles for the 1960s relative to the 2000s. The additional horizontal and vertical lines correspond to the 5th deciles as a threshold for higher and lower degrees of aid-dependence. The 45° line is the locus of countries that have experienced no change in their ranking of aid-dependence between the decades. (?)What Determines Exit from Aid-dependence?

The Dynamics of Job Creation and Job Destruction: Is Sub-Saharan Africa Different?

Agricultural production is an important source of income and employment for developing countries, yet it is the cause of serious environmental problems. Though ECO-labels appear as a promising alternative to control the negative effects of agriculture on the environment and to increase the income of rural poor, the proportion of agricultural land and exports certified as is quite small. We investigate the factors that affect the adoption of certified organic coffee in Colombia and in particular study the effect of economic incentives on adoption. We find that those who have lower cost of adoption are more likely to be certified as organic. Correcting for sample selection, we find that certified organic production is 40% less productive and 31% less costly than non-certified production. Given the price premium in 2007, certified organic production is 15% less profitable than non-organic production. We find that in order to make organic production attractive, the price premium of certified organic coffee should be about 5 times higher than in 2007. --Job Creation,Job Destruction,Job Reallocation,Firm Dynamics,Africa,Ethiopia

Firm Heterogeneity and Market Selection in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Does It Spur Industrial Progress?

This article investigates the processes of market selection and industry dynamics in a sub‐Saharan Africa context. Using census‐based longitudinal data, it examines the distribution of productivity within an industry to determine whether patterns of firm entry, exit, and survival are driven by underlying efficiency differences. It also estimates the contributions to industry‐level productivity growth of producer turnover and the reallocation of resources from less efficient producers to more efficient ones. The article shows that markets in sub‐Saharan Africa, as represented by Ethiopia, are at least as strong as those in other regions in selecting efficient firms. Tolerance of inefficient firms also declines with the degree of exposure to international competition. While reallocation of resources played a positive and significant role for industry‐level productivity growth, it only managed to offset the declining trend in intrafirm productivity. The article concludes that although markets have played the expected disciplinary role, long‐term industrial growth requires more than functional markets, particularly in addressing firm‐level innovation

Effect of Deficit Irrigation on Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Under Conventional, Fixed and Alternate Furrow Irrigation Systems at West Wellega, Ethiopia

Improving water use efficiency is one important strategy for addressing future water scarcity, which is driven particularly by increasing human population. Enhancing agricultural water productivity is a critical response as it is by far the main consumer of global fresh water. This study investigated the response of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to moisture deficit under conventional, alternate and fixed furrow irrigation system over a three years period.  A field experiment was conducted at Haru Agricultural Research sub-center. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was used. nine treatments which combined and imposed at all growth stages were used. The three years combined result indicated that there were a highly significant (P<0.01) variation among treatments for grain yield, above ground dry biomass yield, plant height and water productivity. The grain yield of common bean was significantly (P<0.01) affected due to moisture deficit and irrigation methods. Accordingly, the highest grain yield was obtained from conventional furrow 100% ETc irrigating all growth stage treatment followed by conventional furrow 75% ETc and 50% ETc. The highest water productivity of 0.84 kg m-3 was obtained from alternate irrigation system at 75% ETc but the yield loss is not tolerable. conventional furrow 75% ETc and conventional furrow 50% ETc gave a better yield with a moderate water productivity. Therefore, for better water productivity without a significant yield loss, it is recommended to use conventional furrow irrigation with 75% ETc and conventional furrow irrigation 50% ETc. In addition, if the water resource is not scarce in the area, it is recommended to use conventional furrow irrigation with 100% ETc throughout the whole growth stage to obtain optimum yield. Keywords; Water productivity, Deficit irrigation, ETc, Furrow irrigation system, common bean DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-1-0

Finding the Dimension Which Minimize Material Cost of Industrial Plastic Products in Ethiopia

The purpose of this study focused on identifying and verifying an effective and reliable dimension of plastic products for minimize the material cost. As the costs of manufacturing product decrease, the way that consumers interact with producers may change. To specify the best optimal dimension, two criteria’s, that has been done using numerical and graphical techniques, were in order to compare and contracts the cost of material. During estimation of non-linear system of equations MATLAB (R2015a) software are used. In many instances, the cost of producing a product using traditional methods exceeds that of mathematical optimization methods. The material cost difference between mathematical optimization and traditional method was presented graphically. Keywords: Mathematical cost optimization, material cost difference, products dimension DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/11-13-03 Publication date:July 31st 202

Barriers to Males Involvement in Family Planning Services in Arba Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia: Qualitative Case Study

Effective utilization of family planning services are major contributors of improved maternal health. This, in turn, needs adequate involvement of male partners through direct uptake the services and approval of the spouses’ usage. Yet the family planning method utilization as well as male involvement is indicated to be low in Ethiopia. Qualitative case study was conducted in August 2015 in Arba Minch town to identify barriers to male involvement in uptake of family planning services. Open ended, semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview the participants. Four men and four women are purposively selected. Interviews were conducted in audibly private location after verbal consent was obtained from the recruited individuals. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The narratives were then translated to English and the responses are aggregated in to nine concepts. The final aggregated data were analyzed using OpenCode 3.4 software based on thematic framework analysis. Total of eight participants (four men and four women) were interviewed where seven are married and one is single. Participants identified that, Perception (or opinion) towards family planning as women’s issue, Sex preference for inheritance and considering children as measure of blessing of and Fear of partner sexual promiscuity and to reduce women’s attractiveness were barriers for male involvement in modern family  planning method. Future interventions aimed at improving family planning services and methods utilization in Arba Minch town and similar settings need to consider these bottlenecks for male involvement

Evaluation of Geotechnical Properties of Sub-Grade Material Used in Road Construction

The aim of this research is evaluation of geotechnical properties of sub grade material used in Bukur-Setera road construction. Tests conducted in laboratory for gravel material are grain size analysis, atterberg limit, free swell, maximum dry density and optimum moisture content. The material strength test was conducted interms of California bearing ratio. Because of less finer materials, the percentage of swelling is low. Gravel materials involved in this investigation have taken a larger CBR value of 21% for 5mm penetration. According to ERA 2013 manual, the materials having good to excellent subgrade materials, having CBR value greater than or equal to 30%. But the actual values are less than 30%.  Accordingly, it has a limitation of using the material as sub grade materials. Keywords: Laboratory test, Sub grade, California Bearing Ratio DOI: 10.7176/CER/11-1-0

The Prevalence of Intestinal Parasitic Infection and Associated Factors Among Primary School Children in Gurage Zone, South Ethiopia

Background: Intestinal parasites are either helminths or protozoan that inhabit in gastrointestinal tract. Intestinal parasites cause considerable morbidity and mortality in the world, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. Both urban and rural inhabitants are vulnerable to infection with intestinal parasites in developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) and associated factors among primary school in Meskan District, Gurage Zone, EthiopiaResult: Of 496 selected school children, 463 participated in the study with full information for analysis. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitosis was 195 (42.1%). Protozoa infections (59.5%) were more prevalent than soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) infections (40.5%). The predominant parasites were Giardia lamblia (47.7%) followed by A. lumbricoides(18.9%), and E.histolytica/dispar (11.8%). Being female with Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR), 1.3, 95%CI, 1.02-2.26), Residence of school being rural (AOR, 0.63, 95%CI, 0.42-0.96), infrequent use of latrine (AOR ,1.31, 95%CI 0.86-2.00), not hand washing after defecation (AOR, 1.48, 95%CI, 0.37-5.88), hand washing sometimes or not at all before meal (AOR, 1.97, 95%CI, 1.25-3.09)⃰, infrequent wearing of shoes (AOR, 1.49, 95%CI 0.96-2.32)  and finger nail not trimmed (AOR,  0.99 95%CI, 0.66-1.51) were the predictors of intestinal parasitic infection in the study population. The study revealed that the presence of Intestinal Parasitic Infections (IPIs) has shown statistically significant association with frequency of hand washing before meal, sex and school location (p < 0.05).Conclusion:Intestinal parasititic infections (IPIs) are major public health problem in primary school children in the study area. Being female, attending urban and infrequent handwashing before meals increase the risk of parasitic infections. Health education to school children is recommended to improve hand washing practice before meals. Keywords: intestinal parasitic infection, school children, risk factors, Meskane distric

Growth Response of Hararghie Coffee Accessions to Soil Moisture Stress at Seedling Stage at Jimma, South West Ethiopia

Changes in climatic conditions and, thus, frequent occurrence of dry weathers are increasingly affecting coffee cultivation in Ethiopia through high seedling mortality, poor plant growth and development especially in drier coffee growing areas like Hararghie. However, very limited research has been conducted to identify the response of different coffee accession to water deficit in general and that of Hararghie genotypes in particular. This study was, therefore, conducted to determine growth responses of seedlings of fifteen Coffea arabica accessions collected from Hararghie areas. The experiment was conducted under a controlled condition in a rain shelter at Jimma Agricultural Research Center. Eight month old seedlings grown on potted nursery media were subjected to water deficit stress by withholding irrigation for 30 days followed by 21 days of re-watering.  It was laid down in a RCBD with three replications. Growth responses were assessed by measuring morphological characteristics and growth rates during the stress period and rate of recovery after re-watering. Beside, the rate of stress development was visually assessed by scoring the extent of wilting early in the morning and at noon hours every other day during the stress period. Analysis of variance for repeated measurements showed that there was a significant difference among genotypes for rate of stress development, rate of recovery, root to shoot ratio and leaf thickness. Among tested accession H-981 and H-857 showed significantly lesser extent of wilting at green house and higher rate of recovery after re-watering despite their lower total dry matter yield and root to shoot ratios, whereas as, lowest rate of recovery from the stress  was observed for accession H-915. Therefore, among the evaluated Hararghie coffee genotypes, accession H-981 and H-857 were found to be relatively tolerant to drought at seedling stage. Keywords: Coffea arabica, Drought Tolerance, Hararghie, Morphological traits, Stress Scor