Export Performance of Linseed and Its Determinant in Ethiopia

This empirical study investigates the determinants of linseed export performance of Ethiopia over a period 1983-2017. The study identified four factors influencing export performance in terms of export earned like GDP, gross capital formation as a ratio of GDP, openness to trade and world price. As a first step unit root analysis was conducted to test the stationarity of the variables. The variables were non stationary at levels but stationary at their first difference. Second co integration test were employed to check the existence of long run relationship between non stationary variables and found that on co integrating relationship exists in the long run. As a last step vector error correction model was employed to describe the dynamic interrelationship between variables both in the short and long run. The results derived from this study suggest that all variables are significantly influencing on the export in the long run. In the long run, GDP and openness to trade are found to have a positive impact whereas; world price and capital formation had a negative impact.  In the short run capital formation and world price had significantly influencing export performance whereas: GDP and openness to trade was insignificant Keywords: export, vector error correction model DOI: 10.7176/DCS/9-12-03 Publication date: December 31st 201

Utilization and determinants of modern family planning among women of reproductive age group in Ethiopia: results from Integrated Family Health Program.

Background: Family planning improves community health and wellbeing by helping women to space and/or limit the number of children they want until they are physically and financially prepared.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess utilization and determinants of modern family planning among women of reproductive age in Ethiopia.Methods: A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in four major regions of Ethiopia (Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP)) from April 28 to May 30, 2013. 2,404 women of reproductive age were interviewed Samples were selected using a two-stage stratified sampling process. Descriptive and logistic regression methods of analysis were used to analyze utilization of modern family planning and the factors associated with it.Result: The mean age of respondents’ was 28.6 years (S.D=8.67). The most commonly used methods of family planning are injectable. Multivariable analysis showed that discussion with partner/husband about family planning practice in the last 6 months (AOR=6.1, 95%CI=4.73-7.81) and respondents knew health extension workers providing family planning services (AOR=1.57, 95% CI=1.23-2.01) were significantly associated with the use of modern family planning methods.Conclusion: Results of this study revealed that the number of respondents who have discussed with husband/partner about family planning and respondents who knew the family planning service providers were high utilizers of modern family planning methods. Our findings also indicated that current use of modern family planning increases with women’s education, and creating a conductive environment for women’s education is critical. Additional efforts are required to promote modern family planning utilization, partner participation, and couple counselling for join to decision making to improve modern family planning use. Key words: Family planning, Modern methods, Utilization, Reproductive age, Partner discussio

Leveraging maternity waiting homes to increase the uptake of immediate postpartum family planning in primary health care facilities in Ethiopia

AbstractBackground: Maternity waiting homes within primary health care facilities are ideal platforms to reach women with family planning education and counselling. Maternity waiting home users interact with health care providers on a regular basis throughout their waiting period and can prepare to initiate the family planning method of their choice immediately after childbirth. To date, there has been no clear evidence about the use of maternity waiting homes to increase the uptake of immediate postpartum family planning. The aim of this study is to assess the contribution of maternity waiting homes to increase the uptake of immediate postpartum family planning among women who deliver in primary health care facilities in Ethiopia. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study design was conducted to collect quantitative data from women who gave birth within 12 months prior to the study. Multi-stage random sampling procedures were employed to select 884 women. Descriptive summaries and logistic regressions with 95% confidence intervals were conducted using Stata version14 to analyze the data. Results: The prevalence of immediate postpartum family planning use among women who used maternity waiting homes was 44%, while among those who did not use maternity waiting homes it was 36%. The use of maternity waiting homes significantly contributed to an increase in the immediate uptake of postpartum family planning (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.51-0.95, p<0.022). Conclusions and recommendations: This study showed that maternity waiting homes significantly contributed to improved uptake of immediate postpartum family planning within 10 minute or 48 hours after delivery. Developing a comprehensive package of maternal care services in maternity waiting homes has the potential to improve the uptake of family planning among postpartum women. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(1):9-17] Key words: Ethiopia, family planning, immediate postpartum, maternity waiting home, primary health care facilitie

Sensor‐mediated granular sludge reactor for nitrogen removal and reduced aeration demand using a dilute wastewater

A sensor‐mediated strategy was applied to a laboratory‐scale granular sludge reactor (GSR) to demonstrate that energy‐efficient inorganic nitrogen removal is possible with a dilute mainstream wastewater. The GSR was fed a dilute wastewater designed to simulate an A‐stage mainstream anaerobic treatment process. DO, pH, and ammonia/nitrate sensors measured water quality as part of a real‐time control strategy that resulted in low‐energy nitrogen removal. At a low COD (0.2 kg m−3 day−1) and ammonia (0.1 kg‐N m−3 day−1) load, the average degree of ammonia oxidation was 86.2 ± 3.2% and total inorganic nitrogen removal was 56.7 ± 2.9% over the entire reactor operation. Aeration was controlled using a DO setpoint, with and without residual ammonia control. Under both strategies, maintaining a low bulk oxygen level (0.5 mg/L) and alternating aerobic/anoxic cycles resulted in a higher level of nitrite accumulation and supported shortcut inorganic nitrogen removal by suppressing nitrite oxidizing bacteria. Furthermore, coupling a DO setpoint aeration strategy with residual ammonia control resulted in more stable nitritation and improved aeration efficiency. The results show that sensor‐mediated controls, especially coupled with a DO setpoint and residual ammonia controls, are beneficial for maintaining stable aerobic granular sludge.Practitioner pointsTight sensor‐mediated aeration control is need for better PN/A.Low DO intermittent aeration with minimum ammonium residual results in a stable N removal.Low DO aeration results in a stable NOB suppression.Using sensor‐mediated aeration control in a granular sludge reactor reduces aeration cost.Multiple metabolic pathways and competition for nitrite exist in the treatment of anaerobically pretreated mainstream wastewater using a granular sludge reactor.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155879/1/wer1296_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155879/2/wer1296.pd

Household Readiness to Care for Mild and Asymptomatic COVID-19 Cases at Home, Southwest Ethiopia: A Community-based Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Corona virus disease (COVID-19) continued with its notorious effects overwhelming health institutions. Thus, home-based identification and care for asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19 has been recommended. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the level of household readiness for caring asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19 at home.  METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March-June 2021 on randomly selected 778 households. Data entry and analysis were carried out using EpiData and SPSS version 25, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression was modeled to identify independent predictors of community readiness.  RESULTS: Overall readiness of the community was very low (43.8%). Factors positively affecting household readiness were male household heads (AOR = 1.6; 95%CI: 1.05, 2.45), primary (AOR=2.0; CI:.62, 1.59) and higher (AOR = 1.90; 95%CI: 1.04, 3.45) educational level of the respondents, number of rooms within household (AOR = 1.22; CI: 1.03, 1.46), having additionally house (AOR = 2.61; CI: 1.35, 5.03), availability of single use eating utensils (AOR = 2.76; 95%CI: 1.66, 4.56), availability of community water supply (AOR = 8.21; 95% CI: 5.02, 13.43), and community participation and engagement (AOR = 2.81; 95% CI: 1.93, 4.08) in accessing transport, water and sanitation. CONCLUSIONS: The community was less prepared in terms of housing, infection prevention, water and sanitation. Considering alternative options including universal coverage of vaccine is important; designed behavioral change communications can enhance community participation and engagement in improving access to transport, water and sanitation to reduce risk of infections

Seed-Business Oriented Demonstration Trials: An Efficient Option to Promote Tef (Eragrostis tef ) Varieties

አህፅሮት ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ጤፍ (Eragrostis tef) ከ6.5 ሚሊዮን በሚበልጡ አነስተኛ አርሶ አደሮች ይመረታል፡፡ ሆኖም ግን የተሻሻሉ ቴክኖሎጂዎችና የምርጥ ዘር ተጠቃሚነት ውስን በመሆኑ የሰብሉ ምርታማነት ዝቅተኛ እንደሆነ ቀጥሏል፡፡ ስለሆነም አነስተኛ አርሶ አደሮች ጥራቱን ለጠበቀ የጤፍ አራቢ ዘር ያላቸውን ተደራሽነት ለመጨመር ዓላማ ያደረገ ጥናት በ254 መሪ አርሶ አደሮች ማሳ ላይ ተካሂዷል፡፡ በጥናቱም በቅርብ ጊዜ የተለቀቁ ሦስት አዳዲስ ዝርያዎች እና አንድ ቀደም ብሎ የተለቀቀ ዝርያ (ቦሰት) ተካተው ተገምግመዋል፡፡ ለእያንዳንዱ መሪ-አርሶ አደር የአራቱም ዝርያዎች ማለትም የኮራ፣ የተስፋ፣ የዳግም እና የቦሰት አራቢ ዘር  ተሰጥቷል፡፡ የአራቱ ዝርያዎች የዘር ምርት ተቀራራቢ (ኮራ = 1.94፣ ተስፋ = 2.31፣ ዳግም = 2.24 እና ቦሰት = 2.36 ቶን በሄክታር) ነበር፡፡ ጥናቱ በተካሄደባቸው ወረዳዎች ያለውን የግብዓት ዋጋ እና የምርት ዋጋ እሳቤ ውስጥ ሲገባ የተገኘው አማካይ ያልተጣራ ገቢ 65,355.90 ብር በሄክታር ሲሆን አማካይ የማምረቻ ወጪው ደግሞ 26,355.52 ብር በሄክታር ነበር፡፡ ከማምረቻ ወጪዎች መካከል ለጉልበት የወጣው ወጪ ትልቁን ድርሻ ሲይዝ ከጠቅላላው ወጪ 58 በመቶ ድርሻ ነበረው፡፡ በአጠቃላይ የገቢ-ወጪ ምጣኔ 1.5 በመሆኑ የተሻሻለ የጤፍ ዝርያ ቴክኖሎጂ መጠቀም በጣም ትርፋማ እንደሆነ ጥናቱ ያመልክታል፡፡ ይህም በመሆኑ አዳዲስ የሚወጡ የጤፍ ዝርያዎችን ዘር አባዝቶ ለገብያ ማቅረብን ትኩረት ያደረገ የሰርቶ ማሳያ ስራ ቢሰራ ለአርሶ አደሮች ሳቢና አዋጭ ሆኖ ተገኝትዋል፡፡   ጠቋሚ ቃላት፡ መሪ አርሶ አደሮች፤ የጤፍ ዝርያዎች፤ የምርጥ ዘር ምርት፤ የጤፍ ጭድ፤ የምርት ዋጋ       Abstract Tef (Eragrostis tef) is extensively cultivated by over 6.5 million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. However, the productivity of the crop remains low mainly due to the limited use of improved technologies including seeds. In this study, three recently released and one old (as a check) tef varieties were evaluated on 254 lead farmers’ fields with the main aim of increasing farmers’ access to quality breed seeds.Each lead farmer was provided with breeder seeds of four improved tef varieties, namely Kora, Tesfa, Dagim, and Boset.The seed yield from the four tef varieties were comparable (Kora = 1.94, Tesfa = 2.31, Dagim =2.24 and Boset = 2.36 t ha-1). Given the input and output prices that prevail in the selected districts, the mean revenue was 65,355.90 Birr ha-1 while the mean production cost was 26,355.52 Birr ha-1. Among production costs, labor took for the lion’s share as it contributed to 58% of the total cost.   In general, with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.5, our technology is highly profitable and attractive to farmers if newly released tef varieties are disseminated in the seed-business-oriented method. &nbsp

Elimination of Guinea Worm Disease in Ethiopia; current status of the diseases, eradication strategies and challenges to the endgame

Background: Dracunculiasis, also named Guinea Worm Disease (GWD), is one of the diseases listed under Neglected Tropical Diseases caused by a parasitic nematode known as Dracunculus medinensis. Given, its feasibility for eradication, the Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP) was launched in 1980 with the aim of eradicating the disease. This paper reviews the current status of the global Guinea worm eradication in Ethiopia and intervention strategies. Methods: Published papers related to infectious diseases elimination, particularly of GWD were extracted from PubMed, WHO, CDC, and Google Scholar. Of these, the CDC website, WHO online atlas (GW data store) and recent data from EDEP were extensively used. Results: In Ethiopia, the Ethiopian EDEP which was established in 1993 has made remarkable move towards interruption of disease transmission and now the endgame is fast approaching. The EDEP with support mainly from partners has reduced GWD by more than 99% from 1994 to 2015. In 2016, 3 human cases, 14 dogs and 2 baboon infections were reported. Refugee influx from the Republic of South Sudan, increased animal infections with unknown role in transmission of Dracunculiasis, the presence of hard to reach communities and lack of safe water sources in remote non-village areas remain among important challenges at this final stage of GWD eradication in Ethiopia. Conclusion: Eradication strategies encompassing community education for behavioral change including raising awareness towards cash reward for reporting Guniea Worm Disease (GWD) and animal infection, case containment, surveillance systems, provision of safe water supply, and ABATE chemical application are discussed

Tef (Eragrostis tef) Variety ‘Tesfa’

 አህፅሮት ጤፍ በኢትዮጵያ ከሚመረቱ የብርዕና አገዳ ሰብሎች ዋናው ሲሆን በየዓመቱ ቁጥር ከ6.5 ሚሊዮን የማያንስ አርሶ አደር ያመርተዋል፡፡ ይህም አጠቃላይ በብርዕና አገዳ ሰብሎች ከሚሸፈነው ማሳ 30% ድርሻ አለው፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ ከሌሎች ሰብሎች ጋር ሲነፃፀር ምርታማነቱ አነስተኛ ነው፡፡ ለዚህም ምክንያቱ በከፊል አርሶ አደሩ ያልተሻሻሉ የአካባቢ ዝርያዎችን በመጠቀሙና፣ የሰብሉ ተፈጥሯዊ የመጋሸብ ባህሪ ናቸው፡፡  የዚህ ጥናት ዓላማ በተለየ ምርምር አሰራር የተገኘን የጤፍ ዝርያን በመፈተሸ የተሻለ ምርት፤ የአገዳ ጥንካሬን አንዲሁም የዘር ቀለም ያለውና በአርሶ አደሩ ተመራጭ ዝርያ ማፍለቅ ነበር፡፡ በጥናቱ በቅርቡ የተለቀቀ አንድ ዝርያና አንድ የአካባቢ ዝርያን ጨምሮ 10 የተለያዩ የጤፍ አይነቴዎችን በማካተት በስድስት ወካይ ጤፍ አብቃይ ቦታዎች ላይ ተፈትሸው ተስፋ (ደዘ-ክሮስ-457) ተብሎ የተሰየመውና የተለያዩ የጤፍ አይነቴዎች ተዳቅለው የተገኘው ዝርያ ከሌሎች ማወዳደሪያ ተፈታሽ ዝርያዎች የተሻለ ውጤት በማስመዝገቡ በብሄራዊ የዝርያ አፅዳቂ ኮሚቴ ተገምግሞ ለምርት እንዲለቀቅ ተወስኗል፡፡ ይህ ዝርያ ከሌሎች ዝርያዎች በንፅፅር መጋሸብን በመቋቋሙ፤ የተሻለ ምርት በመስጠቱ በአርሶአደሩ ተፈላጊ ከመሆኑም በሻገር ከዝርያው ባህሪ የተነሳ ለመስኖ እርሻና በሰብል መድረሻ ጊዜ የማጨጃ የእርሻ መሳሪያ መጠቀም ያስችላል፡፡ Abstract Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] is extensively cultivated cereal crop in Ethiopia where it is annually grown by about 6.5 million smallholder farmers on about 30% of the total area allocated to cereal crops.However, the productivity of tef is very low compared to other cereals mainly due to lack of high yielding and lodging tolerant cultivars. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the recently released tef variety called Tesfaand to provide unique morphological and agronomic descriptions of this new variety. Ten genotypes which were derived from three independent crosses and bred for at least eight generations plus a local and standard check varieties were tested at six tef growing sites in Ethiopia (namely, Adet, Chafe Donsa,DebreZeit black soil, DebreZeit light soil,Ginchiand Holetta) using RandomizedCompleteBlock Design with three replications. The study found that Tesfa(DZ-Cr-457 RIL-181) which was obtained from a cross between kinde (a semi-dwarf mutant line developed at the University of Bern, Switzerland) and Kay Murri(a landrace) outperformed other genotypes and approved for release by the Ethiopian National Variety Release Committee in March 2017.The main advantages of Tesfa over other tested lines were its higher grain yield and higher lodging tolerance. In addition, Tesfa possesses unique properties for which high acceptance by growers is expected. These are its compact panicle, lack of shattering, and thick and strong culm which makes it potentially cultivated under irrigation and also mechanically harvested

Technology generation to dissemination:lessons learned from the tef improvement project

Indigenous crops also known as orphan crops are key contributors to food security, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable with the current trend of population growth and climate change. They have the major advantage that they fit well into the general socio-economic and ecological context of developing world agriculture. However, most indigenous crops did not benefit from the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased the yield of major crops such as wheat and rice. Here, we describe the Tef Improvement Project, which employs both conventional- and molecular-breeding techniques to improve tef\u2014an orphan crop important to the food security in the Horn of Africa, a region of the world with recurring devastating famines. We have established an efficient pipeline to bring improved tef lines from the laboratory to the farmers of Ethiopia. Of critical importance to the long-term success of this project is the cooperation among participants in Ethiopia and Switzerland, including donors, policy makers, research institutions, and farmers. Together, European and African scientists have developed a pipeline using breeding and genomic tools to improve the orphan crop tef and bring new cultivars to the farmers in Ethiopia. We highlight a new variety, Tesfa, developed in this pipeline and possessing a novel and desirable combination of traits. Tesfa\u2019s recent approval for release illustrates the success of the project and marks a milestone as it is the first variety (of many in the pipeline) to be released