Climate Change and Variability: Implications for Household Food Security in Agro-pastoral Areas of Jigjiga District, Eastern Ethiopia

Ethiopia is one of the most vulnerable countries of the world to the impacts of climate change and variability. The impact is even stronger in pastoral areas of the country. However, studies on the actual climate change dynamics and its effect on food security at local and household levels are limited. The present study took Jigjiga district as a case and analyzed changes in local climate; status of household food security; the relative significance of climate related causes of food insecurity; and household level determinants of food security. The study used rainfall and temperature data from the period 1952 to 2010 and primary data gathered from 140 sample households and focus group discussions. Using Mann-Kendall trend test, the study revealed the existence of statistically significant declining trend in rainfall in the rainy season and increasing trend in temperature at annual and seasonal time scale. Moreover, respondents confirmed the presence of climate change, with increasing temperature, decreasing rainfall amount and increasing seasonality of rainfall in the past two decades. The Rash model estimation result based on the Food Security Core Module showed high prevalence of food insecurity in the district with 81 per cent of food insecure households consisting of 27 per cent food insecure without hunger, 29 per cent food insecure with moderate hunger, and 25 per cent food insecure with severe hunger. Respondents ranked climate factors as their top most important causes of food insecurity. These are drought, low annual rainfall, high temperature, and water shortage. The econometric model estimation result revealed the important factors determining household food security. These are household perception of climate change, use of soil and water conservation practices, use of livestock feed management techniques, loss of livestock due to drought and/or disease, literacy level of household head, and dependency ratio. Among other things, the study suggested improving climate change awareness and strengthening the existing adaptation measures that have positive impacts on food security.Keywords: climate change, climate variability, adaptation measures, food security, agro-pastoralism

Women in conflict and indigenous conflict resolution among the Issa and Gurgura clans of Somali in Eastern Ethiopia

This article tries to show the impacts of conflict on women, the role of women in conflict and indigenous conflict resolution, and the participation of women in social institutions and ceremonies among the Issa and Gurgura clans of the Somali ethnic group. It explores the system of conflict resolution in these clans, and women’s representation in the system. The primary role of women in the formation of social capital through marriage and blood relations between different clans or ethnic groups is assessed. The paper focuses on some of the important elements of the socio-cultural settings of the study community that are in one way or another related to conflict and indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms. It also examines the positive aspects of marriage practices in the formation of social capital which strengthens friendship and unity instead of enmity.

Counting the cost: Coping with tariff increases amidst power supply shortfalls in urban households in Ethiopia

Although affordability is important, people do not need to be money poor to experience energy deprivation. This paper examines how an electricity tariff increase affects household energy consumption by situating the price change within the broader context of energy service provision in Ethiopia. We place households’ lived experience in interaction with the institutional and infrastructural dynamics that constitute the energy sector in Addis Ababa to observe how the price increase intersects with service provision. Since the tariff increase was implemented, households have changed their daily routines to control cost. Our findings show that energy consumption behaviour is also shaped by service-related inadequacies (unreliable supply and frequent power outages). However, families coping capacity (to the tariff increase and power supply shortfalls) is undermined by an energy market that is rife with information asymmetries and uncertainties. Thus, although socioeconomic factors underpin the energy insecurity households experience, inadequate supply, and diminishing confidence in service providing institutions appears to heighten their vulnerability. The paper argues that while the price change has an overall effect on consumption, its impact needs to be seen within the context of its systemic interaction with the broader energy governance and service delivery challenges

Epidemiology and economic importance of fasciolosis of domestic ruminants in selected districts of Tigray Region, Ethiopia

An epidemiological study on fasciolosis of domestic ruminants was conducted in four Districts of Tigray Regional State to determine prevalence, identify Fasciola species, assess risk factors and evaluate economic loss. A total of 1708 domestic ruminants were sampled for coprological investigation; in addition 236  slaughtered ruminants were examined at post mortem. The overall prevalence of  fasciolosis in domestic ruminants was 21.2% (95% CI: 15.8-26.9%) and 32.6% (95% CI: 29.7–35.6%) based on coprology and post mortem examinations, respectively. The prevalence in cattle, sheep and goats was 25.3%, 35.7% and 11.4% respectively, based on coprology. The highest prevalence was recorded in Ofla District (41.9%) and the lowest in Alamata District (10.8%). The prevalence was higher in the highland (67.9%) than the midland (17.4%) and the lowland (14.4%); aged animals, and in poor than good body condition in all species. The  prevalence of F. hepatica was 73.1% and 62.7%, and F. gigantica 26.9% and 37.3% by egg and fluke examination, respectively. Statistically significant difference was observed in prevalence among districts, animal agro-ecology, age, and Fasciola species (p<0.05); while no significant association was observed between sexes in animal species (p>0.05). The odd of having fasciolosis in the highland than the lowland was more than 4 times higher (OR= 4.77), similarly the risk in sheep compared with goats was higher by more than 4 times (OR=4.33). During the five years period, out of 11,966 inspected livers, 22.62% were condemned due to fasciolosis. The annual direct and indirect economic loss incurred due to fasciolosis in the study area was estimated to be 286,536.21 Ethiopian Birr (31837.36 USD). Out of the total losses 80.9% was from cattle. The present study revealed a high infection of domestic ruminants by Fasciola species especially in the highland resulting in huge economic losses, hence, intervention to mitigate fasciolosis is required.Keywords: Coprology, Fasciola spp, Risk factors, Post-mortem, Prevalence, Tigray Regio

Resistance of maize varieties to the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais (Motsch.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

This study aimed at evaluating commonly used maize varieties, collected from Melkasa and Bako Agricultural Research Centers and Haramaya University, Ethiopia, against the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais Motsch., one of the most important cosmopolitan stored product pests in maize. A total of 13 improved maize varieties were screened for their relative susceptibility to S. zeamais. The Dobie index of susceptibility was used to group the varieties. The variety, ‘BHQP-542’, had the least index ofsusceptibility and was regarded as resistant. The varieties, ‘Katumani’, ‘Melkasa-I’, ‘Melkasa-II’, ‘Melkasa-III’, ‘Coree’, ‘BH-541’, ‘BH-660’, ‘BH-540’, ‘Rare-I’, ‘Awasa-511’, ‘ACV3’ and ‘ACV6’, were moderately resistant. Weevils fed with the resistant variety produced low numbers of F1 progeny, had a high median developmental time and a low percentage of seed damage and seed weight loss. Maize varieties with a high F1 progeny tended to have a short median developmental time. An increasingnumber of F1 progeny resulted in an increasing seed damage and seed weight loss. We found an inverse relationship between the susceptibility index and percent mortality and median developmental time; however, the numbers of F1 progeny, percent seed damage and seed weight loss were positively related with the susceptibility index. The use of resistant varieties should be promoted in managing S.zeamais in stored maize under subsistence farming conditions in Africa

Refinement Type Inference via Horn Constraint Optimization

We propose a novel method for inferring refinement types of higher-order functional programs. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it can infer maximally preferred (i.e., Pareto optimal) refinement types with respect to a user-specified preference order. The flexible optimization of refinement types enabled by the proposed method paves the way for interesting applications, such as inferring most-general characterization of inputs for which a given program satisfies (or violates) a given safety (or termination) property. Our method reduces such a type optimization problem to a Horn constraint optimization problem by using a new refinement type system that can flexibly reason about non-determinism in programs. Our method then solves the constraint optimization problem by repeatedly improving a current solution until convergence via template-based invariant generation. We have implemented a prototype inference system based on our method, and obtained promising results in preliminary experiments.Comment: 19 page

Grain yield, stem borer and disease resistance of new maize hybrids in Kenya

Evaluation of 30 maize hybrids for yield and resistance to stem borers and foliar diseases in four agroecologies in Kenya was conducted in 2009. There were significant differences among the hybrids in leaf damage, number of exit holes, tunnel length and grain yield in Kiboko. The maize hybrids CKPH08014, CKPH08025, and CKPH08026 showed the least leaf damage, exit holes and tunnel length, similar to the resistant check. Although ten hybrids yielded over 8 t/ha, two hybrids, CKPH09001 and CKPH08033, gave the highest yield of 8.99 and 8.86 t/ha, respectively, in Kiboko. There were significant differences among the hybrids in resistance to leaf rust and maize streak virus in Kakamega. The intensity of foliar diseases was high in Kakamega compared to the other sites. All hybrids appeared resistant to the foliar diseases at Kakamega. On the average, the highest yield of the hybrids was recorded in Kiboko (7.5 t/ha) followed by Kakamega (6.1 t/ha), and the least at Embu (3.5 t/ha), and Mtwapa (3.14 t/ha). The performance of the hybrids varied from site to site, with CKPH09002 and CKPH09003 performing well at Mtwapa, CKPH09001 at Kiboko, CKPH08039 at Embu, CKPH 08002 and CKPH08010 at Kakamega.Key words: Host plant resistance, maize, pest management, stem borer, foliar disease

Improving cattle disease reporting and surveillance in Ethiopia using smartphone-based application

This study explores the use of a smartphone-based application to increase the accuracy and completeness of cattle disease reporting and surveillance in three regions of Ethiopia. We compared the performance of a smartphone-based application with traditional (paper-based) cattle diagnosis and reporting, in terms of demographics and disease information, level of detail and delay in time to transmit information to higher levels. A total of 547 and 678 clinical cattle cases were diagnosed in veterinary clinics visited by two groups of final-year veterinary students using the VetAfrica-Ethiopia (VAE) smartphone app and manual approach respectively. The group using the VAE application diagnosed over 90% cases as diseases of a specific name, while in reports from the manual system almost 50% of cases were diagnosed as non-specific diseases or ‘syndromes’. Furthermore, the mean duration of time required for smartphone data to be received by zonal- and federal- level veterinary services through a Cloud-based server were estimated to be two days (95% CI: 1.6–2.3), five days (95% CI: 3.8–5.4), and 13 days (95% CI: 12–14.9) in the Central, Eastern and Southern regions. The traditional reporting system adopted a batch reporting approach and only around two thirds of all cases reach the federal veterinary service by the end of a month. Despite the fact that such smartphone technology-assisted reporting and surveillance involves considerable start-up challenges and may be affected by intermittent mobile internet network coverage, they offer significant benefits in terms of improving data integrity, timeliness and reduced costs in the long run

The Effects of Perceived Stress and Attitudes toward Menopause and Aging on Symptoms of Menopause

As part of a longitudinal study of midlife women, the aim of this investigation was to describe the intensity of menopausal symptoms in relation to level of perceived stress in a woman’s life and her attitudes toward menopause and aging. Data were collected on 347 women between the ages of 40–50 in Northern California who began the study while pre-menopausal. Women self identified as African American, European American, or Mexican/Central American. Data collected over 3 time points in the first 12 months were used for this analysis. An investigatordeveloped tool for perception of specific types of stress was used. Attitudes toward menopause and aging were measured using the Attitudes Toward Menopause and Attitude Toward Aging Checklists. Attitudes toward aging and menopause, perceived stress, and income were related to intensity of symptoms. There was no ethnic group difference in perceived stress or attitude toward menopause. However, European and African Americans had a more positive attitude toward aging than Mexican/Central Americans. A lower income, higher perceived stress, a more negative attitude toward aging, and a more positive attitude toward menopause influenced menopausal symptom experience

Responses of tropical maize landraces to damage by Chilo partellus stem borer

The potential to manage insect pests using host-plant resistance exists, but has not been exploited adequately. The objective of this study was to determine the resistance of 75 tropical maize landraces through artificial infestation with Chilo partellus Swinhoe. The trial was laid in alpha-lattice design and each seedling was infested with five neonates three weeks after planting, over two seasons in 2009 and 2010. The number of exit holes, tunnel length, ear diameter, ear length, plant height, stem diameter, stem lodging and grain yield were measured and a selection index computed. GUAT 1050 was the most resistant with an index of 0.56, while BRAZ 2179 was the most susceptible with an index of 1.66. Ear characteristics were negatively correlated with damage parameters. The principal component biplot suggested that exit holes, cumulative tunnel length, leaf damage, cob diameter, stem lodging, selection index, ear and plant height contributed 71.2% of the variation in resistance. The mean number of exit holes and tunnel length for resistant landraces and resistant hybrid checks were similar; at 5.5 and 2.48 cm, respectively. The identified resistant landraces (GUAT 1050, GUAT 280, GUAT 1093, GUAT 1082, GUAT 1014, CHIS 114, and GUAN 34) could be used to develop C. partellus stem borer-resistant maize genotypes.Key words: Chilo partellus, ear length, exit holes, stem borer resistance, tunnel length