The role of customary institutions in managing conflict on grazing land: a case study from Mieso District, Eastern Ethiopia

"This paper examines interethnic conflict on grazing land previously accessed as common property. The study was undertaken in Mieso District of eastern Ethiopia where two ethnic groups experience different production systems – pastoral and agropastoral. Game theoretic approach and analytic narratives have been used as analytical tools. Results show that the historical change in land use by one of the ethnic groups, resource scarcity, violation of customary norms, power asymmetry and livestock raids are some of the factors that have contributed to the recurrence of the conflict. The role of raids in triggering conflict and restricting access to grazing area becomes particularly important. Socio-economic and political factors are responsible for power asymmetry and increasing scale of raids. The joint effect of an increase in trend of violence and a decline in capacity of customary authority in conflict management advances state role in establishing enforceable property rights institutions. This would be successful only if policies and intervention efforts are redirected at: 1) suppressing incentives for violence, 2) establishing new institutional structures, in consultation with clan elders of both parties and 3) building internal capacity to monitor conflict-escalating events." (author's abstract

Prevalence of, and risk factors for, malaria infection among patients visiting Goljota Health Center, Heben Arsi District, West Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia: A retrospective and an institution-based cross-sectional study

AbstractBackground: Malaria infections in Ethiopia are a significant health problem that varies across regions. Malaria’s public health and socio-economic impact is huge and contributes significantly to the country’s poverty and underdevelopment. The aim of this study was to determine the five-year trend of malaria (2012-2016), and to assess the prevalence and associated risk factors of malaria infection among patients visiting Goljota Health Center from September to December 2017. Methods: The present study is a retrospective and an institution-based cross-sectional study on the prevalence of malaria. For the cross-sectional study, blood samples collected from 422 patients were processed using thin and thick blood film methods. Also, five years of retrospective data were collected to determine the trend of malaria prevalence. Socio-demographic factors were assessed and logistic regression analyses were employed to determine the independent risk factors for malaria infection. Results: The prevalence of malaria was 14.8% in 2012, 21.4% in 2013, 14.2% in 2014, 12.9% in 2015 and 13.2% in 2016. The majority of malaria positives were male, with Plasmodium vivax accounting for most infections. The highest number of infections were in the ≤10-year-old age group. The overall prevalence of malaria infection in the cross-sectional study was 13% in Heben Arsi Woreda (District). Being male (AOR 1.5, 95% CI: 1.06-2.2, p<0.02), using bed nets when sleeping (AOR 0.36, 95% CI: 0.22-0.60, p<0.01), implementing indoor residual spraying in the past five months (AOR 0.06, 95% CI: 0.03-0.10, p<0.01), home not close to breeding site (AOR 0.54, 95% CI: 0.29-0.98, p<0.04), and the absence of an opening/hole in an external house wall (AOR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.27-0.92, p=0.026) showed a negative significant association with malaria infection. So, these factors are protective in relation to malaria infection. Using thatched roof material (AOR 1.64, 95% CI: 1.0-2.7, p<0.02) and having an income of <500 Ethiopian birr per month (AOR 3.1, 95% CI: 1.24-7.9, p=0.02) had a positive significant association with malaria infection. Conclusions: A strong relationship exists between malaria infection and socio-demographic risk factors. There was a decreasing malaria trend from 2013 to 2015, followed by a small increase in 2016. To further decrease the prevalence rate, intervention strategies should be designed and implemented to address current and local malaria-associated health problems that could help to reduce the problem of malaria among the population in the study area. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(1):50-57] Key words: Malaria, health, risk factors, prevalence, south central Ethiopi

The Dynamics of (Agro) Pastoral Conflicts in Eastern Ethiopia

Ethnic-based resource conflicts were common in eastern Ethiopia among the Afar, Ittu-Oromo and Issa-Somali pastoral groups. This research attempted to identify the trends and prevalence of violent conflicts and the factors encouraging the rival groups to instigate conflicts. Qualitative data were collected from community leaders, ordinary members of the communities, and government official at various levels through one-on-one interviews, focus group discussions and field observations. The quantitative data were collected through household survey from the 128 households randomly drawn from the three districts of Meiso-Mullu, Meiso and Amibara. The results revealed that the trend of violent conflicts is increasing because of increased resource scarcity, absence of property rights, and weak customary institutions. The new political and administrative arrangements following the introduction of ethnic based federalism gave the existing conflicts new a dimension. The research revealed that socio-political factors and competition over scarce natural resources, particularly on water and pasture land, were found to be among important causes for most (agro) pastoral conflicts in the study area.Keywords: Resource competition, ethnic conflict, property rights, and eastern Ethiopi

Transcriptome-wide identification and expression analysis of the NAC gene family in lowland bamboo [Oxytenanthera abyssinica (A.Rich) Munro] under abiotic stresses

NAC (NAM, no apical meristem, ATAF and CUC) is one of the largest gene families of the plant-specific transcription factors (TF). NAC TFs have immense involvement in plant growth and developmental processes and have particular importance in enhancing plant resistance to multiple abiotic stresses. NAC members have unique structural makeup and a range of biological activities. Despite their enormous roles in plants, comprehensive study on identification, characterization and expression profiling of NACs under abiotic stress is lacking in Lowland bamboo [Oxytenanthera abyssinica (A.Rich) Munro]. Thus, this study aimed to identify NAC members, characterize their protein properties, construct their phylogenetic relationships and more importantly, establish their expression profiling under abiotic stress. From this abiotic stress-induced transcriptome, 220 lowland bamboo TFs with intact and complete NAC DNA binding domains (PF01849) were identified. Following their identification, analysis of functional annotation, protein characterization, phylogenetic relationships and expression profiling were conducted. The analysis presented up-regulation of 142 unigenes in response to abiotic stress, the association of 26 unigenes directly to stress response and the involvement of 92 unigenes in genetic information processing and 29 in environmental information processing according to KEGG analysis. These results suggest the most likely involvement of NACs in lowland bamboo stress response and adaptation. As a species best survived in a moisture-stressed environment, this study has provided valuable information that could shed light on further functional analysis research efforts aiming to exploit NACs in developing stress-resilient bamboo and related plants

Farmers’ Perception of the Impact of Land Degradation and Soil and Water Conservation Measures in West Harerghe Zone of Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia.

This study was conducted to assess the farmers’ perception of the impact of land degradation and its’ conservation measures on crop productivity and income in West Harerghe Zone of Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia. The study was based on the data obtained from 398 sample households using pre-tested structured interview schedule. The data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics with the appropriate statistical tests. The result of the analysis revealed that out of the total sampled households, 82.7 percent were perceptive about the problem of soil erosion and majority of these households (54.5 percent) perceived erosion on their land as severe. The perceived fertility decline on their farm was, 28.1 percent less severe, 57.9 percent sever and 13.9 percent very severe. More than 55 percent of sampled respondents also believe that the impact of land degradation on yield/productivity decline of their lands was severe. Likewise, majority (98.9 percent) of the total households were perceptive about the impact of soil and water conservation in improving soil fertility and yield/production. However, significant proportion farmers who perceived the impact of land degradation and the conservation measures on crop productivity and income were using traditional measures. Therefore, to encourage adoption of improved conservation measures extension, institutional support programs and projects which promote soil and water conservation technologies should have strategies which focus on enhancing the willingness of farm households. Keywords: Land degradation, soil and water conservation, perception, Ethiopia

Women’s Access to and Utilization of Sanitation and their Determinant Factors in Some Selected Rural Areas of East Gojjam Zone, North West Ethiopia

This study aimed to examine women’s sanitation access and utilization level and their determinants in some selected rural areas of East Gojjam Zone. The research employed cross sectional study design and data was collected from 380 women selected through multistage cluster sampling technique. Proportional odds model and partial proportional odds model were used to estimate the association between different factors and women’s sanitation access and utilization level. The result indicated that out of 380 sampled women, about 42.6% have high sanitation access compared with 34.7% medium and 22.6% low respectively. Despite this however; about 50.9% respondents have low sanitation utilization suggesting a mismatch between sanitation access at household level and women’s utilization status. Household size, access to sanitation facilities, and knowledge about the benefit of latrine utilization were found to be statistically significant determinants of women’s sanitation utilization while marital status, district, household income, participation in women health development team, and dependency ratio were found to be determinants of sanitation access. The study suggests that besides promotions to increase sanitation facility availability, monitoring on the utilization of the facilities need to be strengthened. Income creation capacity of women and their households should be strengthened as well

Assessment of Nutritional Practices of Pregnant Mothers on Maternal Nutrition and Associated Factors in Guto Gida Woreda, East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia

Nutrition is a fundamental pillar of human life, health and development throughout the entire life span. The nutrition requirement varies with respect to age, gender and during physiological changes such as pregnancy. Pregnancy is a critical phase in a woman's life, when the  expectant mother needs optimal nutrients of superior food qualities tosupport the developing fetus. The aim of this study was to assess the practices of pregnant mothers on maternal nutrition and associated factors in Guto Gida Woreda, East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia. The study was  conducted during January to June of the year 2013, using quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study on a sample of 422 pregnant women and supplemented by qualitative study (focus group discussion).The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS for windows version (16.0). Multiple logistic regression was run to assess factors that were associated with the dependent variable at P<0.05 and to control the confounders. Finally, the result of the study was presented using narratives and tables. This research showed only 33.9% of the respondents were found to have good nutritional practices during their pregnancy. There was a positive significant relation between information about nutrition and family size and nutritional practices of mothers during pregnancy (P<0.001). The practices of pregnant mothers about maternal nutrition were relatively low in this study. Information about nutrition and family size of mothers had a  positive significant relation with mothers’ nutrition practices in the study area. Hence, the government in collaboration with concerned bodies should focus on nutritional education and information about nutrition to increase the practices of pregnant mothers on maternal nutrition during pregnancy in the study area

The Impact of Micro-Credit Intervention on Female Labor Force Participation in Income-Generating Activities in Rural Households of North Wollo, Ethiopia

We examined the impact of micro-credit on female labor participation in income-generating activities in rural households of North Wollo, Ethiopia. The study employed selection and average treatment effect models to determine the effect and impact of credit intervention on the decision of women to participate in income-generating activities and their level of engagement. A total of 460 households, participants and nonparticipants of the credit scheme, from three woredas of North Wollo Administrative zone was selected using systematic random sampling. Using the primary data, the study found that micro-credit has positive and significant effect both on women’s decisions to participate in income-generating activities, and the magnitude of time spent on such activities. In particular, the study showed that, on average, women who had access to credit facilities spent 4.45 more hours of time on income-generating activities than the control group. The average time spent by women in the control group in income-generating activities was 1.39 hours. The average treatment effect (ATE) was found to be considerably greater than the average treatment effect among the treated (ATET) implying that poor women with less entrepreneurial capabilities had been targeted for credit participation. Future policies in micro-credit should consider targeting women with better potential for succeeding in business despite their initial income status. The majority of credit participant women were found to be engaged in better and newly developed income-generating activities such as animal fattening and rearing, poultry, bee-keeping, vegetable cultivation and business-related activities. However, a considerable number of women were also engaged in traditional activities such as fire-wood collection and weeding to generate income. Such activities are borderline cases to influence the status of women in intra-household resource allocation: the study noted that where women engage the choice of economic activities needs consideration

Analysis of the Significance of Fishing on Food Security Status of Rural Households Around Lake Ziway and Langano in Ethiopia

This research work was conducted to investigate the significance of fishing on food security status of rural households around Lake Ziway and Langano in Ethiopia. The studied districts were selected using purposive sampling, as they are adjacent to the two lakes. Simple random sampling was employed to select 344 rural households for primary data collection. For this particular work, respondents were further classified into food secured fishing households and food insecure non-fishing households by employing food security index method. As a result, 156 households were identified constituting of 51.3% food secure fishing households and 48.7% food insecure non-fishing households. The range of data collected were comprises of household socio-economic characteristics, food production, food consumption, food purchases, fish income, non-fish income, and the like. Data analysis were made using descriptive statistics, food security index and the propensity score matching. Descriptive statistics examines distribution and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents using frequency distribution tables. Considering, the equivalent male adult scale and energy composition of foods commonly consumed by average household, the food security index was computed. Accordingly, the available food energy was 31234kcal and 9283kcal for the food secure fishing household and food insecure non-fishing household, respectively. On the contrary, the required food energy was greater for the food insecure household as compared to the food secure once, indicating 14145kcal and 12523kcal, respectively. The mean difference were significant at 5% level. To examine the impact of fishing on food security status of rural household we employed the propensity score matching method. This has been used to balance the observed distribution of covariate across the food secured fishing and food insecure non-fishing household. Balancing test was made after matching that ascertained absence of significant differences in covariate between fishing and non-fishing households in the matched sample. Thus, the matched comparison groups were considered to be a plausible counterfactual. Accordingly, the result of impact analysis verified the significance of fishing on food energy intake of average household using the matched samples. In this regards, food secured fishing household was able to obtain extra energy from food consumption as compared to the non-fishing food insecure counterpart indicating ATT of 27375 kcal and 27213 kcal using KBM and NNM algorithms, respectively. The results were statistically significant at 5% level. Consequently, the stability of the findings were tested using Rosenbaum bounds approach that confirmed absence of hidden bias due to unobserved confounders, thus supporting  the positive treatment effect of fishing activity. In this regard; promotion of income diversification opportunities, awareness promotion on family planning and in-depth investigation of household food security situation were suggested. Keywords: Lake Ziway, Lake Langano, Food security, Energy intake,  PSM, ATT,  Ethiopi

DESCRIPTION OF MENINGITIS EPIDEMIC IN HAIKOCH NA BUTAJIRA DISTRICT

ABSTRACT: A retrospective review of a recent meningitis epidemic in Haikoch na Butajira District for the months of February and March 1989 was conducted. The epidemic is described in terms of person, place and time. The relationship of the epidemic with weather changes (rainfall and temperature) is assessed. There were a total of 6968 reported cases of meningitis with 203 deaths. The case fatality rate was 2.9%. The male to female ratio was 1.05 to 1. The peak of the epidemic was found to be during the second half of the month of February. There were 864 cases from urban, 3321 from villagized and 2783 from non villagized areas giving period prevalence rates of 6%, 8% and 2%, respectively, during the two months. Based on this study, surveillance and control recommendations are made