Book Review on:“African History: A Very Short Introduction” and “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”

A book entitled by “African history: A very short introduction” which was written by John Park and Richard Rathbone generally highlights about the physical place and people; and about the past history of African. The authors in their book tried to argue that Africa is full of diverse and the site of early mankind. The history of Africa considered by some as insignificant, an ideological weapon by some other and lack precise definition. The true history of Africa was much debatable among historians. It was considered for a long period of time by European as no history, primitive, Barbaric and illiterate. However, this kind of nomenclature of African history seems flaw and intentionally done to hide and to justify and give legal ground the 19th century colonialism. There were however, evidences that shown Africa has had ancient history. It was inescapable fact that Africa had their own history and culture. A few African states (Ethiopia, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Burundi, Rwanda, Madagascar, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Botswana) have a meaningful pre-colonial identity and history.   For example, today nobody can question the fact that the great walls of Zimbabwe were erected by African hands; old age Axum obelisk, a wonderful rock hewn church of Lalibela, Fasiledes castle etc were made by the African themselves in general and the Ethiopian in particular (Asfaw, 2008; Davidson, 1994). The authors also tried to explain the environmental history of Africa and they argued that Africas’ ecological zones are too diverse and they have also changed and continue to change over time.  One of the notable examples of environmental change in Africa is the draying and an increment of drought and desertification in Sahara areas. Consequently the volume of rain fall began to decline and hence it in turn push people who resides around it to move to other places down in to the fertile Nile valley, which creates concentration of population. Again, John Park took middle Niger as a central place to the perception and understanding of African history. His historical interpretation seems flaw as he took merely Ghana, Mali and Songhay to determine the continents past history. We disagree his assumption of such interpretation because he misses other ancient civilized African countries like Ethiopia, Egypt, which has more than three million years of civilization. In this regard, historians like Alex Thomson and Asfaw Teferra argued in a detailed manner about the history and culture of Africa. In contrast to John Park, they stated that prior to Ghana, Mali and Songhay civilization, there were few  African countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Tunisia, Burundi, Rwanda and Swaziland  etc have their own pre-colonial identity history and state name prior the coming of European power to Africa ( Alex, 2004; Asfaw, 2008). Surprisingly, as Asfaw in his book Africa, past, present and future development briefly explained, the civilization of Africa has been a significant impact in Europe especially in Greek and Spain, and even in for American civilization. For example, Martin Bernard as cited in Asfaw (2008) has demonstrated well that the Greek and Spain civilization had African origin. In addition, Francis Bacon, the founder of modern European science, had to go to Morocco to learn Mathematics. Asfaw tried to justify his argument by stating two way or journeys of African civilization move to Europe. The first was by way of the Nile valley to Palestine and Persia and then to Greece and Italy. The second was by way of North Africa to Spain and Portugal. In spite of this fact, European used colonialism to deny the history of Africa to establish White domination (Asfaw, 2008). Another book written by the author Walter Rodney (1982) entitled “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” concluded that Africa had their own indigenous identity, culture, religion and civilization prior to the coming of Europe in Africa land. In fact there are African countries which have got their name and existence after the coming of Europe. Unlike John Park, Walter Rodney interperate African history in such a way that even few ancient African countries for instance, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nubian’s etc history was highly influenced and ruled by foreigners. Rodney in his sub title of his book rightly investigated the right era of European colonialism over Africa since the late 19th and early 20th century which was later than Latine America. It was true as Diedre L. in his book “Global organization: African union” tried to explained that Africa were not fully colonized by European until 1875. Both authors have similar interpretation about the pretext of European power to colonize Africa, that is, to civilize, to preach Bible and to expand infrastructure and other communication facilities on Africa since Africa considered by them as a dark continent. Moreover, European imperialists invade Africa on the pretext that Africans were incapable of properly governing themselves, they unable to govern without the active engagement of Africa alliance and the intermediaries’ one.  However, the pre-colonial African history told us that African states prior to the coming of Europe were stable, harmonious, strong institutional arrangement and had kinship attachment that helps them to administer themselves effectively (Asfaw, 2008; Betts, 1986). Conclusion As historical evidences and historians told to us, African states have their own history and ways of civilization earlier to the colonial period. However, after European come to African land, they made African underdeveloped through employing different techniques and their historical heritages were destroyed and vanished by colonizers. For example, exploiting natural resources such as (cocoa, Gold), and paying of miserable wage for African workers. Moreover, African farmers were compelled to produced certain cash crops such as Cocoa in Gold coast, ground nuts in Senegal and Gambia, cotton in Sudan; cotton and coffee in Uganda etc but the production of food for local consumption was retarded. This made African to consume what they did not produce and to produce what they did not consume. Food crops were to be imported. As a result, the economies of African countries are mainly dominated by one or two commodities of such kind and their indigenous cultures were dominated by oversees culture.   Reference Asfaw, Teferra (2008). Africa: Past, present and future development: A Panorama of historical evolution. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Betts, Raymnd (1986). The scramble for Africa. Portsmouth, Heinemann. Davidson, Basil (1994). The search for African history. Villers, London. Diedre, Bodejo (2007). Global organization: the African union. University of Michigan-Flint. Parker, John and Rathbone, Richard (2007). African History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press Inc., New York. Rodney, Walter (1982). How Europe Underdeveloped Africa Howard University Press.    Washington , D. C. Thomson, Alex (2004). An introduction to African politics. Routledge, New York

Soil Fertility and Crop Management Research on Cool-season Food Legumes in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

 አህፅሮት የአፈር ሇምነት መመናመንና አስፈላጊ የሆኑ የዕጽዋት ንጥረ ነገሮች በከፍተኛ ደረጃ መሟጠጥ በሀገሪቱ በስፋት ሰብል በሚመረትባቸዉ ከፍተኛ ቦታዎች ላይ ሇዘላቂ እርሻ ልማት ቁልፍ ችግር መሆኑ የሚታወቅ ነዉ፡፡ ይህ ጽሁፍ እስከአሁን በማዕከላዊ የሀገሪቱ ከፍተኛ ቦታዎች በደጋ ጥራጥሬ ሰብሎች ላይ የተከናወኑ የአፈር ሇምነት፣ የዕፅዋት ሥነ-ምግብና የሰብል አያያዝ ምርምር ዋና ዋና ግኝቶችን በማጠናቀር ያቀርባል፡፡ ተገቢ ያልሆነ የሰብል አያያዝ፣ ኋላቀር የውኃ ማጥፈፍ ዘዴ፣ የአፈር አሲዳማነትና እንደዚሁም ከዚሁ ጋር በተያያዘ ሰብሎች በተሇያየ የዕድገት ደረጃቸው ወቅት አጥጋቢ የሆነ የፎስፎረስ ንጥረ ነገር ማግኘት ያሇመቻል ሇሰብል ዝቅተኛ ምርታማነት ዋና መንስዔዎች መሆናቸው በጥናት ሇማረጋገጥ ተችሏል፡፡ የደጋ ጥራጥሬ አመራረት ዘዴ በሀገሪቱ ከቦታ ቦታ ይሇያያል፡፡ የምርምር ግኝቶች እንደሚያመሇክቱት ከዘር በፊት ሁሇት ጊዜ መሬትን ማረስና በትክክሇኛው የሰብል ዕድገት ወቅት አንድ ጊዜ ማረም የባቄላና የአተር ምርታማነትን በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ሇመጨመር ያስችላል፡፡ እንደዚሁም ውኃ የመቋጠር ችሎታቸው ከፍተኛ በሆነ ከባድ ሸክሇማ የአፈር ዓይነቶች ላይ ዘመናዊ ውኃ የማጥፈፊያ ዘዴዎችን፣ ትክክሇኛ የዘር ወቅትና ምርታማ የሆኑ የሰብል ዝርያዎችን በማቀናጀትና በመጠቀም የባቄላና የሽምብራ ምርታማነትን በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ሇማሳደግ ተችሏል፡፡ የአሲዳማ አፈርን ምርታማነት ሇመጨመር 1፣ 3 እና 5 ቶን ኖራ በአንድ ሄክታር ማሳ ላይ በመጨመር የባቄላ ምርታማነትን በ45፣ በ77 እና 81 በመቶ በቅደም ተከተል ከፍ ሇማድረግ ተችሏል፡፡ በተመሳሳይ በቀይ አፈር ላይ ከ20 እስከ 30 ኪ.ግ. የፎስፈረስ ንጥረ-ነገር መጨመር በባቄላና አተር ከፍተኛ ገቢ ማግኘት እንደሚቻልና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ጠቀሜታ እንዳሇዉ ሇማረጋገጥ ተችሏል፡፡ እንደዚሁም የፎስፈረስ ንጥረ-ነገር መጠን በዝቅተኛና መካከሇኛ ሇምነት ደረጃ በሚገኝ አፈር ላይ ሲጨምር የአተር ምርታማነትም በተማሳሳይ ሁኔታ ይጨምራል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ፍግና የፎስፈረስ ንጥረ-ነገርን በቅንጅት መጠቀም የባቄላን ምርታማነት በአመርቂ ሁኔታ ከመጨመሩም በላይ የአፈርን ምርተማነት በዘላቂነት ያሻሽላል፡፡ በመጨረሻም የደጋ ጥራጥሬዎችን ምርተማነት በስፋትና በዘላቂነት ሇማሻሻል ከምርምር ሥራው ጎን ሇጎን የቴክኖሎጂ ማስፋፋት ሥራም ተጠናክሮ መቀጠል ይኖርበታል፡፡ AbstractLand degradation and depletion of soil fertility is the critical challenge for sustainable crop production in the highlands of Ethiopia. This paper reviews advances in the major activities and achievements of soil fertility, crop and land management research on the highland pulses, which have been done for the last two decades in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Inappropriate agronomic practices, poor internal drainage, soil acidity and associated low phosphorus (P) availability are major constraints affecting productivity of highland food legumes. Production practices differ across the major highland pulse growing areas of the country. Research findings showed that twice tillage before planting and one properly timed hand weeding resulted in optimum yields of faba bean and field pea. Substantial increments in seed and biomass outputs of faba bean and chickpea were recorded on Vertisols due to the integrated application of improved surface drainage, sowing date and genotypes. At Holetta, the application of lime as calcium carbonate at the rate of 1, 3 and 5 t ha-1 on Nitisols increased mean seed yield of faba bean by 45, 77 and 81%, respectively over non-treated plots. Similarly, application of 23/20-32/30 kg N/P ha-1 on Nitisols resulted in the highest net benefit for faba bean and field pea production. Phosphorus by farmyard manure interaction significantly increased faba bean seed yield. Field pea seed yield also increased at the low and medium soil fertility levels with increasing rates of P application. In conclusion, a concerted effort is necessary to extend the available technologies in order to improve the productivity of highland food legumes

Phosphate fertilizer and weed control effects on growth and yield of field pea on Nitisols of central highlands of Ethiopia

Soil acidity and the associated low phosphorus availability and poor crop management practices are among the major factors constraining field pea productivity in the highlands of Ethiopia. The effect of phosphate fertilizer and weed control on yield and yield components of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) were studied on acidic Nitisols of farmers’ fields of Welmera Woreda, West Shoa. Factorial combinations of four levels of phosphate fertilizer (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg P ha-1) as triple super-phosphate (TSP) and two levels of weeding (w0 = no weeding and w1 = hand weeding once) were laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications. Results indicated that a highly significant positive response of plant height, number of pods per plant, total biomass and grain yields of field pea were noted to phosphate fertilizer and weeding treatments. Application of phosphate fertilizer at the rates of 10, 20 and 30 kg P ha-1 increased mean grain yields of field pea by 36, 67 and 57%, respectively compared to the control. Weeding once by hand increased mean grain yield of field pea by 15% compared to the unweeded check. The interaction between applied phosphate fertilizer and weed control (P×W) significantly affected field pea grain yield and total biomass. Grain yield was very significantly and positively correlated with plant height, number of pods per plant and total biomass (r = 0.59**, 0.68*** and 0.94***, respectively). The results of economic analysis indicated that the treatment with application of 20 kg P ha-1 and weeding once during the 4th week after sowing by hand was identified to be the best option with a marginal rate of return of 277%, well above the minimum acceptable rate of return of 100%, which is economically the most feasible alternative.

Mathematical Model of Catalytic Chemical Reactor

This study concerns mathematical modeling, analyzing and simulation aspect of a catalytic reaction kinetics. The paper has the form a feasibility study, and is not referring to actual industrial chemical reactors. The catalytic reaction equations are modeled in the form of non-linear ordinary differential equations. These equations are composed of kinetic parameters such as kinetic rate constants, concentration of substances and the initial concentrations. The modeling consists of establishing the model and discuss variations and simplifications by applying generic modeling tools like scaling, perturbation analysis and numerical experiments. Numerical simulations help corroborate theoretical results. The analysis here considers a revised model with permanent poisoning of the catalyst with no reversibility. To show that the numerical solution and the perturbation solution give approximate or identical results and to observe the actual functional behavior over the interval of interest, the equations of solutions are implemented, evaluated, and plotted using MatlabTM. The perturbation solutions are compared to numerical solutions obtained by the MatlabTM ODE solver ODE45. Key Words: Chemical reactor, Modeling, Scaling, Regular and Singular perturbation, Numerical experiments

Applications of Large Eddy Simulation to Study Flow and Sediment Transport in Open Channel Flows

The motivation of this study is to extend applications of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) for typical open channel flows to elucidate the time dependent three dimensional flow and sediment transport features which are usually difficult to measure in experiments. Detailed investigations are performed on the unsteady features and, in particular, turbulent structures of the flow to demonstrate the great potential of eddy resolving methods. The instantaneous flow and sediment transport fields are investigated together with the existence of coherent structures. These structures together with ejection events (u\u27 \u3c 0, w\u27 \u3e 0), are responsible for the vertical and lateral transport of suspended sediment from the near bed region. Stronger velocity perturbation vectors are also observed around the coherent structures, demonstrating that these areas are highly dynamic zones of flow and sediment transport. As a result of the enhanced viscosity, sediment induced stratification, and particle pressure effects, a reduction on the peak turbulence levels is shown for both the wall normal and Reynolds shear stress components in the sediment concentrated recirculation and near-bed regions. These phenomena can potentially decrease the vertical mixing and turbulent suspension of sediment particles in the flow field. Three dimensional hydrodynamic simulations are also conducted for ~10 meter section of the Expanded Small Scale Physical Model (ESSPM) of the Lower Mississippi River to gain insights on the effects of model distortion on various hydrodynamic variables. Analysis and comparisons are carried out at two distortion scales (i.e., 15, the design distortion and 7.5) using turbulence resolving simulations. Overall, the difference in horizontal mean velocity profiles and velocity fluctuations from the two distortion levels is small, supporting the ability of a distorted models to replicate bulk 1-D sediment transport rates. The work presented in this dissertation demonstrates that LES is advantageous for solving the complex flow and sediment transport dynamics by resolving the large scale eddies of the turbulent motion and that, when coupled with a sediment transport model, will provide valuable insights into three dimensional turbulence-sediment interactions

Mathematical Model of Ethiopia’s Population Growth

The purpose of this paper is to use mathematical models to predict the population growth of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is an overpopulated country in Africa next to Nigeria. It shares a border with Eritrea to the North and Northeast, Djibouti and Somalia to the East, Sudan and South Sudan to the West, and Kenya to the South. The Malthus’s and the logistic growth models are applied to model the population growth of Ethiopia using data from...

Principals’ Leadership Practice and Students Academic Achievement in the Case of General Primary Schools of Enjibara Adminstrive Town, Ethiopia

The objective of the study was generally to investigate the leader ship practice with the relation to students’ academic achievement in Enjibara administrative town government primary schools and to provide possible ways of improving the practices and students out come Descriptive survey research design was used and data was primarily collected through questionnaire interview and document analysis from primary schools. Out of 7 government primary schools, 4 schools were selected through simple random sampling technique. From these schools 91 teachers were selected through stratified random sampling technique and data also analyzed by using one-sample t-test by using SPSS 20 version.The findings of the study showed that the school leadership practice reported mean was lower than expected results and as the result the students’ achievements was above average and nearest to the expected mean. Consequently, to improve the school leadership practice and students achievement the major recommendations forwarded which were; woreda education officials, cluster supervisors and all stake holders should consider a special leadership and management programs to be exercised to build the capacity of school principals towards managing  and leading school activities All levels of education offices should consider in improving the capacity of the school principals and on building positive working atmosphere to enhance students’ achievement. The training policy of principals should consider improving the principal leadership quality which contribute for increased students’ achievement Keywords: Principals’ leadership practice, students’ academic achievement, general primary school

Principals’ Leadership Practice, School Culture and Students Academic Achievement in the Case of General Primary Schools of Enjibara Adminstrive Town

The objective of the study was generally to investigate the leader ship practice, school culture and  students’ academic achievement in Enjibara administrative town government primary schools and to provide possible ways of improving the practices and students out come Descriptive survey research design was used and data was primarily collected through questionnaire, interview and document analysis from primary schools. Out of 7 government primary schools, 4 schools were selected through simple random sampling technique. From these schools 91 teachers were selected through stratified random sampling technique and data also analyzed by using one-sample t-test by using SPSS 20 version.The findings of the study showed that the school leadership practice and school culture practices reported mean was lower than expected results and as the result the students achievements was above average and nearest to the expected mean.  There is strong significant relationship between the school leadership practice and school culture practice and also students’ achievements have positive but very weak relationship with leadership practice and school culture. The conclusion drawn from this study showed that the school leadership practice and school culture practices were lower than expected mean but the result of the students’ achievements was at average level.Consequently, to improve the school leadership practice, school culture and students achievement the major recommendations forwarded which were; woreda education officials, cluster supervisors and all stake holders should consider a special leadership and management programs to be exercised to build positive school culture and building the capacity of school principals towards managing  and leading school activities All levels of education offices should consider in improving the capacity of the school principals and on building positive working atmosphere to enhance students’ achievement. The training policy of principals should consider improving the principal leadership quality which contribute for increased students’ achievement. Keywords: School  Principals, leadership practice, school culture, students’ academic achievement, general primary school

The Role of Instructional Supervision on Students’ Academic Performance in Injibara Administrative Town General Primary Schools

The purpose of the study was to assess the role of instructional supervision on students’ academic performance in Injibara administrative town general primary schools. This study would provide to some insight to improve the role of instructional supervision on students’ academic performance in Injibara administrative town general primary schools. The study was mainly focused and delaminated on the role of instructional supervision on students’ academic performance in Injibara administrative town general primary schools. Different literatures related to the issue were used to strength the study. Descriptive survey research design was used and data was primarily collected through questionnaire interview and document analysis from primary schools. Out of 7 government primary schools, 5 schools were selected through simple random sampling technique. From these schools 107 teachers were selected through stratified random sampling technique and supervisors and principals of sample schools were taken by using comprehensive sampling technique. The findings of the study showed that the role of instructional supervision  practice reported mean was lower than expected results and as the result the students achievements was above average and nearest to the expected mean. Negative and insignificant relationship was observed between school supervisors’ practices and students’ academic achievement in Injibara administrative town general primary schools (-.029). The conclusion drawn from this study showed that the school supervisors’ practice was lower than expected mean but the result of the students’ achievements was at average level. Keywords: Supervision, Instructional supervision, Students’ performance, General primary-school DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-19-03 Publication date:July 31st 202

Principals’ Leadership Practice and Students Academic Achievement in the Case of General Primary Schools of Enjibara Adminstrive Town, Ethiopia

The objective of the study was generally to investigate the leader ship practice with the relation to students’ academic achievement in Enjibara administrative town government primary schools and to provide possible ways of improving the practices and students out come .Descriptive survey research design was used and data was primarily collected through questionnaire interview and document analysis from primary schools. Out of 7 government primary schools, 4 schools were selected through simple random sampling technique. From these schools 91 teachers were selected through stratified random sampling technique and data also analyzed by using one-sample t-test by using SPSS 20 version.The findings of the study showed that the school leadership practice reported mean was lower than expected results and as the result the students’ achievements was above average and nearest to the expected mean. Consequently, to improve the school leadership practice and students achievement the major recommendations forwarded which were; woreda education officials, cluster supervisors and all stake holders should consider a special leadership and management programs to be exercised to build the capacity of school principals towards managing  and leading school activities All levels of education offices should consider in improving the capacity of the school principals and on building positive working atmosphere to enhance students’ achievement. The training policy of principals should consider improving the principal leadership quality which contribute for increased students’ achievement Keywords: Principals’ leadership practice, students’ academic achievement, general primary school