Fault control on patterns of Quaternary monogenetic vents in the Ethiopian Rift between Omo and Tendaho

Field and remote sensing data are used to examine the distribution of volcanism and fault geometry in the Ethiopian Rift between Omo-Chew Bahir rift and Tendaho graben during the Quaternary and evaluate their influence on the location and shape of individual vents as well as the development of alignments. The results of remote sensing, and field study of the total (2214) cone populations reveal that monogenetic vent alignments and the long axes of elongate cones are parallel to and spatially linked with mapped normal faults. This is consistent with the overall sub- latitudinal extension direction in the Quaternary deduced from fault slip analysis and earthquake focal mechanism solutions. Out of the rift axis, pre-existing faults were apparently reactivated and acted as conduits for magmatism to reach the surface, and hence vent clustering. On regional scales, vent clusters are located in Quaternary volcanic fields along the rift axis and in zones of reactivation of pre-Tertiary structures. Sixty two percent of the vents in the study area are part of nine regional vent alignments that vary in length from 48 to 68 km. On sub-regional scales, twelve clusters ranging in length from 10 to 30 km have been mapped. Locally, field structural data show that individual vents and short vent alignments, up to 10 km in length, occur along and adjacent to faults, particularly along fault segments, intersections, and bifurcations. The long axes of elongate volcanic cones also have trends generally parallel to the local faults

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,

The Impact of Soil and Water Conservation Program on the Income and Productivity of Farm Households in Adama District, Ethiopia

Land degradation due to soil erosion and nutrient depletion is one of the main problems constraining the development of the agricultural sector in Ethiopia. As part of intervention activities a number of soil and water conservation (SWC) practices have been promoted to smallholder farmers living in highly degraded and drought prone areas of the country. This study was conducted to assess the impact of SWC intervention on the livelihood of smallholder farm households in terms household income and productivity. To meet this objective primary data was gathered in 2012 from 101 SWC program participants and 115 non-participants that were randomly selected from 3 intervention area and 3 counterfactual villages respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics and propensity score matching (PSM) models were used to address the stated objectives. Results of the descriptive statistics showed that before matching there was statistically significant difference between program participants and their counterfactual households in terms of sex and age of household head, family size and farm size generally in favor of program participants. Results of the PSM model revealed that SWC intervention did not result in significant difference between program participant and nonparticipant households in terms of total crop and household income, and crop yield. However it was to be noted that there were positive trends which all together should guide SWC policy makers to identify important factors influencing the contribution of such a program and reconsider the design and implementation of the interventionsKeywords: Soil and water, Conservation practices, Impact, Oromia regio

Vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change in the central rift valley of Ethiopia: a gender disaggregated approach

In Ethiopia agriculture is the dominant sector and a large majority of the population make their living out of it. It is dominated by smallholder production under rain-fed system.Climate change is projected to be a major threat for the sector resulting in variability in smallholder farmers’ productivity and income. The impact of climate change is expected to vary greatly among regions, sectors and social groups and communities. It is also expected to vary between gender groups. Therefore, this study will try to address gender differentiated vulnerabilities to climate change in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia where moisture stress is relevant. Field data was collected from 290 randomly selected farm households in the representative districts of Adama and Adamitulu-Jidokombolcha. We adopted Vulnerability as expected poverty (VEP)approach was where an individual’s vulnerability is the prospect of a smallholder household considering poor and non-poor scenarios. Results of the analysis indicated that men and women headed households vary interms of their vulnerability to climate change infavor of the latter. It was also found out that the two gender categories vary in terms of the different socio-economic characteristics to face the threat of climate change. Therefore, emphasis is required to reduce vulnerability through gender disaggregated interventions and policy makers need ensure that development policies include gender oriented adaptation options to create resilience to the impacts of climate change

Goitre in a Teaching Hospital in North Western Ethiopia

Back ground: The endemicity of goitre in Ethiopian high lands has been well established. There are however few studies done in the country, especially the study area, on the pattern and surgical management of goitres. This study was aimed at determining the pattern and surgical management of goitres in patient seen at Gondar College of Medical Sciences (GCMS), a teaching and referral Hospital, North Western Ethiopia.Methods: A prospective study of 80 patients with goitres was done between December 2003 and August 2004. The patients’ history, physical findings and relevant laboratory results were recorded using a standard uniform format. Operative findings, postoperative course and follow up information were noted. The results were compiled and analyzed using computer statistical software.Results: The male to female ratio was 1: 4.7. The mean duration of illness was 8.8 years. A total of 78.8% of the patients had a Grade III goitre. Cosmetic disfigurement and respiratory symptoms were the leading reasons for hospital visit. Simple goitres, thyroid carcinoma and toxic goitres occurred in 80%, 11.3% and 6.25% of the patients respectively. The incidence of thyroid carcinoma was found to be higher compared to other studies in Ethiopia, Africa and Asia. Clinical evaluation was found to be valuable in identifying patients with toxic goitres. Seventy-five (93.8%) of the cases were treated surgically. The weight of thyroid tissue removed ranged between 20-1200 grams (Mean=320 grams). Blood transfusion was required in twelve patients for significant intra operative bleeding and four patients required tracheostomy post operatively. Three patients died. Blood group O+ was found to be frequently associated with goitre.Conclusion: Most of our patients know very little about the cause and treatment options of goitre. FNAC examination of the thyroid gland is found to be a very useful, cost effective and reasonably accurate diagnostic tool and we recommend its routine use. However, we discourage the routine determination of thyroid function tests in all patients, unless indicated by a suggestive clinical index score for thyrotoxicosis, especially in health facilities where these tests are scarcely available. We recommend further clinical and community based studies to assess reasons for the high incidence of thyroid carcinoma

Surgery of traumatic peripheral arterial injury with delayed transfer during the Ethio-Eritrean War - 1997-2000

Background: The traditional approach to severe vascular injuries in Ethiopia has been ligation. This paper presents the results of an alternative approach in which Ethiopian surgeons with some basics of vascular reconstruction techniques used vein patch-repair, whenever possible, during the Ethio-Eritrean war between 1997-2000.Patients and methods: The population study consisted of 13 military and 7 civilian patients with vascular injuries. The superficial femoral and the brachial arteries were involved each in eight patients respectively. Four victims each sustained injury to the deep femoral, radial, ulnar and anterior tibial arteries respectively. Intra operative findings revealed arteriovenous fistulae and false aneurysms each in nine patients.Results: Vein Patch reconstruction was undertaken in 12 patients. In eighteen Patients, a perfect or near perfect functional result was achieved. Surgery failed in two cases. The two failures may have been due to extraordinarily concomitant injury or late presentation.Conclusion: Our result suggests that; repair rather than ligation represents the "gold-standard" and that it can be achieved in the absence of "high tech"  vascular facilities. This is because viability of the limb has been maintained by the development of an A-V fistula, false aneurysm, or through an alternative arterial source on those whose limb survives during the several days required to transport them to an appropriate facility.

Laparotomy for Abdominal Injury Indication & Outcome of patients at a Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Abdominal injury is among the major causes of trauma admissions. The aim was to determine etiology, commonly injured organs, indication and outcome of patients with abdominal injuries requiring laparotomy.METHODS: A retrospective study of all adult patients who underwent laparotomy for abdominal injury at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College was conducted from January 2014 to December 2016. The factors associated with outcome were identified with bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions.RESULTS: Laparotomy for abdominal injury was performed for 145 patients. Of these, 129 (89%) case records were retrieved. The male to female ratio was 6.2:1. The mean age was 29 years, and most of them were unemployed. Penetrating trauma was the commonest injury, stab (46, 35.7%) and Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) (27, 20.9%) being the leading causes. Extra-abdominal injuries were seen in 33.3% (46) of the cases. Hollow organs were commonly injured than solid organs. Small intestine (35, 43.8%) and Spleen (17, 34.7%) were the leading injured organs in penetrating and blunt respectively. The main procedure performed was repair of hollow and solid organ laceration/perforation (70,54.3%). The negative laparotomy rate was 4.6% (6). Complications were seen in 23(17.8%) patients, the commonest being irreversible shock (7,30.4%). The mortality rate was 8.5 %(11), and it was significantly associated with blunt abdominal injury (AOR=7.25; 95% CI 1.09-48.37; p=0.041) and systolic blood pressure<90mmHg (AOR=8.66; 95% CI 1.1-68.41; p=0.041).CONCLUSION: Stab and RTA were the commonest indications of laparotomy. The mortality was significantly associated with blunt abdominal injury and hypotension (SBP<90mmHg)

Hydatid disease of the liver: A 12 year experience of surgical management

Objective: Information about hydatid cyst disease in Ethiopia is scarce. This study was aimed at reviewing the clinical presentations, modes of surgical management and post-operative course of patients with hepatic hydatidosis in Tikur Anbessa hospital,Methods: This was a retrospective study of 137 patients seen with hepatic hydatidosis at Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Department of Surgery, Medical Faculty, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Results: The male: female ratio was 1.2:1. Patients’ age ranged from 13 to 67 years with a mean of 33.5 years. The majority (65%) of the patients came from the rural Ethiopia and 40% of the patients had been in frequent contact with domestic animals such as dogs. Abdominal pain and abdominal mass were the commonest symptoms. A palpable mass or hepatomegaly was found in 89.8% of cases, Ultrasonography and computed tomography were the main diagnostic procedures. The cysts were located in the right lobe of the liver in 76 patients (55.5%) and in the left lobe in 38(27.7 %); the other 23 patients (16.8%) had bilobar involvement. Most patients (78.1%) had a solitary cyst. Twenty-three patients had hydatid cystic lesions in other organs in addition to hepatic hydatidosis. The surgical approach was abdominal in 122(89.1%) patients, one- stage thoracoabdominal in 8(5.8%), and laparotomy and thoracotomy at interval in 7(5.1%) patients. Operative management consisted of conservative procedure in 126(92%) patients, namely evacuation in 93(67.9%), cystotomy in 21(15.3%), enucleation of intact cyst in 12(8.8%) patients. Radical procedure was done in 11(8%) patients, wedge resection in 10(5.8) patients, and lobectomy in only 1(0.7%) patient Twenty-seven (19.7%) patients developed Postoperative complication.Conclusion: Complete excision of hydatid cyst(s) and procedures that conserve liver tissue are appropriate for most patients with hepatic hydatid cysts

Retrospective Study on the Occurrence of Reportable Priority Cattle Diseases in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State, Southern Ethiopia

A retrospective study was conducted between October 2016 and March 2017 in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) to identify major reportable cattle disease outbreaks. The retrospective study was based on a nine years (2007-2015) cattle disease outbreak report data retrieved from the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF) data bases. The retrospective study revealed that of the 15,840 disease outbreak reports expected from SNNPRS, only 1,578 (11%) reports were submitted to MoLF during the nine years’ time. According to the data retrieved from MoLF, a total of 1,496 cattle disease outbreaks with 44,646 morbidity cases and 4,709 mortalities were recorded in SNNPRS over the nine years period. The outbreaks were caused by blackleg (40.6%), hemorrhagic septicemia (HS) (26.3%), lumpy skin disease (LSD) (16%), anthrax (11.4%), foot and mouth disease (FMD) (4.7%), contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) (0.8%) and rabies (0.3%) in decreasing order of their proportion. LSD was responsible for the highest proportion of morbidity cases (35.9%) followed by FMD (26.2%) while blackleg and LSD were the leading causes of cattle mortalities, which accounted for 31% and 30.2% of the deaths recorded, respectively. In contrast, the lowest number of outbreaks, morbidity and mortality of cattle was caused by rabies. Disease outbreaks were occurred in all the seasons of the year; however, relatively higher number of outbreaks (30.7%) was recorded in early dry season (September to November). In conclusion, the retrospective study has shown a very low level of disease outbreak reporting rate in SNNPRS, which may be due to misreporting or no outbreak of diseases

Landslide hazard zonation around Gilgel Gibe-II Hydroelectric project, Southwestern Ethiopia

The present study was carried out along the newly constructed road from Fofa town to Gilgel Gibe-II powerhouse in South western Ethiopia. In this study, an attempt has been made to provide information on the landslide hazard zones present along the new road. In order to delineate the hazardous zones the landslide hazard evaluation factor rating scheme (LHEF) proposed by Anbalagan (1992) has been utilized. The LHEF rating scheme is based on an empirical approach which combines past experience gained from the study of causative factors and their impact on landslides with conditions anticipated in the area of study. For LHEF rating scheme data on major inherent causative factors of slope instability such as geology, slope morphometry, relative relief, land use and land cover and ground water conditions has been collected. Based on the evaluation values, the slopes in the study area have been classified for landslide potential as; High Hazard, Moderate Hazard and Low Hazard. The results of the present study indicate that 54% of the slopes in the study area fall in High Hazard, 34% in the Moderate Hazard and 12% in the Low Hazard zones. Thus, the Landslide  Hazard Zonation shows that chances of slope failures are high in the study area