Determinants of Technical Efficiency of Wheat Production in Ethiopia: A Review

Wheat is the third most important cereal crop in the world after maize and rice. Previous studies have indicated that farm production and productivity can possibly be raised by allocating more area for production, by developing and adopting of new technologies, and/or by utilizing the available resources more efficiently. Increasing productivity through enhanced wheat production efficiency could be an important move towards food security. In Ethiopia wheat production levels and rates have been increasing due to the development and dissemination of improved wheat technologies. Despite these efforts by the government, smallholders’ wheat productivity has remained below potential. However, empirical studies conducted to estimate level of efficiencies and to identify its determining factors in wheat production which would guide policy makers in their efforts are sparse. The main objective of this review is assessing the determinants of technical efficiency in wheat production in Ethiopia. Educational level was an important determinant of differences in agricultural productivity among countries. In these review factors like sex, age, distance to all weather roads, livestock holding, group membership, farm size, farm fragmentation, tenure status and investment on fertilizers are identified as the key determinants of the technical efficiency of wheat production in Ethiopia. The frequency distribution of technical efficiency levels was not fairly distributed. The wheat farms were being operated below level of technical efficiency. This implies that a large number of wheat farms in the Ethiopia faced inefficiency problems. Keywords: Wheat, Technical efficiency, Determinants, Ethiopi

Wild Life/Wild Animals in Ethiopia: Types, Challenges and Conservation

Ethiopia is a country with a wide range of biological species, primarily huge mammals. The main priority for maintaining animal resources is protected areas, which also help a country's economy grow. A great variety of biological species, particularly enormous mammals, can be found in Ethiopia. Protected areas should be given top priority for protecting wildlife resources because they also boost a nation's economy. They do, however, struggle to meet the needs of both people and animals. Even though most communities believe they are protected, even when places and species benefited from conservation initiatives, the lack of incentives made locals less inclined to support them. Maintaining protected areas is crucial to biodiversity conservation because it makes it impossible to sustainably utilize animals for development. Therefore, mitigating and preventive strategies for conservation measures are needed in order to manage wildlife in a sustainable way. Keywords: conservation, management strategies, wildlife resources, challenge, threat. DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/14-2-04 Publication date: January 31st 202

Evaluation of the Progress, Drawbacks and Plan of Change Army Activities of Students and Teachers in Bule Hora University College of Natural and Computational Science

The study was conducted at Bule Hora University College of Natural and Computational Science on Evaluation of the Progress, Drawbacks and Plan of Change Army activities of Students and Teachers. Cooperative learning is one of the most commonly used forms of active learning method through an individual’s interaction with their environment and peers. Cooperative learning is largely based on the idea that students can learn through social contexts. The main objective of this action research was to assess the current status of Change Army activities in 1 to 5 group work within Faculty of Natural and Computational Science in Blue Hora University.  For the purpose of this reseatch stratified random simpling (SRS) were considered.  From these all total students and teachers, samples were taken from 1st year upto 4th year of regular students (129) and all department teachers (39). Within NSC majority of teachers and students have basic information about the purpose and importance of 1 to 5 grouping. Based on teachers’ evaluation, 43.6% of the respondent gave “Good” mark and 25.6% gave “poor”. However, based on students’ evaluation, 34.9% of the students gave “Good” mark and 22.5% “poor”. This indicated that 1 to 5 group activities within NSC has been implemented below satisfaction. This indicated there were many problems in understanding of the purpose of Change Army. Hence, it will be better if there is a tangible clarification about the purpose of Change Army activity and quick response for every question as much as possible. Keywords: Change Army, One to Five, Teacher, Students, Group, Cooperative learning DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-22-02 Publication date:August 31st 202

Impact of Youth Unemployment on Economic Growth in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA): A Review Paper

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest population growth in the world, while unemployment was one of the major prevailing socio - economic problems in almost all countries of the world which every country should fight against.  Africa is confronted with this problem that has been extremely challenging. This paper is to review recent research works studied on impacts of youth unemployment on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this paper, therefore, empirical studies done on the area were reviewed in terms of their publication year, the sources of data, methodology they employed and the results they obtained. Moreover, this paper has tried to assess secondary data collected to get a more insight on the impacts of youth unemployment on economic growth. By reviewing previous studies done on impacts of youth unemployment on economic growth were leads to low income, low savings, low investment, low national income and loss of gross domestic product(GDP) and unemployed youth constitute threat to security as they often involve in social vices. The reviewed recommend the future studies on impact of youth unemployment on economic growth were crucial for mapping strategies to address impact of youth unemployment and insights on gaps for policy direction and areas for capacity development in addressing youth unemployment. Keywords: Youth, Unemployment, Economic growth DOI: 10.7176/JESD/15-1-04 Publication date: January 31st 202

Review of Population Status and Conservation Strategy of Endangered Swayne’s Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus Swayne) in Ethiopia

This review aims to understand and population status Swaynes’ Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus swaynei) in Ethiopia. The home range of the endangered Swayne's hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus swaynei, was studied in different protected area of Senkele Swayne's Hartebeest Sanctuary (SSHS), Maze National park and Nechisar National Park in Ethiopia. Based on the report from the research, the previous population size of Swayne’s hartebeests has decreased and occurs only in four localities of Ethiopia: Nechisar and Maze National Parks, Senkele Swayne’s Hartebeests Sanctuary and a smaller number observed in southern Ethiopia Yabello vicinity. According to Mamo et al., (2012) Swayne’s hartebeests occur currently in three isolated localities with an estimated total population size of 840 (364 in Maze National Park, 464 in Senkele Swayne’s Hartebeest Sanctuary and 12 in Nechisar National Park. Today, even in Ethiopia its distribution and population size has been declining substantially and the two largest populations remaining in the country are in Senkelle Swayne’s Hartebeest Sanctuary and Maze National Park. Generally ,according to the study from different authors  the population status  of Swayne’s Hartebeest in Ethiopia is decreasing from time to time  due to habitat degradation, expansion of agriculture, human settlement and livestock grazing in and around of protected area. Based on the Concept of reviewers of genetic and bioclimatic data suggest Swayne’s Hartebeest is distinct and requires immediate conservation actions including genetic monitoring and reintroductions to establish independent populations. This review is important to summaries and indicates the gap to conserve these endemic animals in Ethiopia. Keywords:  Swayne’s Hartebeest, Protected area, Population, Conservation status DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/11-15-01 Publication date:August 31st 202

Assessment of indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used for livestock treatment in five selected Kebeles of Kersa District, Jimma Zone, South Western Ethiopia

Plants have been a source of medicine in Ethiopia from time immemorial to treat different human and livestock ailments. The purpose of this study was to identify the medicinal plant species and associated indigenous knowledge in livestock treatment. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess indigenous knowledge of local people on medicinal plants used for livestock treatment in five selected kebeles of kersa district from March to June 2014. A total of 40 traditional healers (33 male and 7 male) 7-9 from each study sites were selected purpouvely with the help of knowledgeable elders, local authorities and kebele leaders. Ethno botanical data regarding plant species, plant parts used, livestock disease treated, and method of preparation and route of administration were collected through structured interview and field observation. A total of 33 plant species distributed in 24 families were identified in the study area. The majority of the medicinal plants 63.63% were collected from the wild and 33.33% from home garden. The major growth habit of the medicinal plants identified in the study area were herbs 39.39%, followed by shrubs 33.33%.The most frequently harvested plant parts were leaves and roots with proportion of 57.7% and 21.21%, respectively followed by seeds (9.09%) and fruits (6.06%). Pounding and crushing were the most commonly used method of remedies preparation whereas the widely used method of administration is oral. The study reveals that the local people of the study area harvest medicinal plants used to treat livestock health problem from the wild habitat. Therefore, awaring the local people of the study area to conserve medicinal plants in their home garden is recommended

Biogas Production from Co-Digestion of Poultry Manure and Orange Peel through Thermal Pre-Treatments in Batch Fermentation

Biogas production decreases environmental pollution through decomposing organic wastes and positively affects the socio-economy of the society. With the aim of producing biogas from co-digestion of Poultry Manure (PM) and Orange Peel (OP) a series of experiments were carried out for 21 consecutive days. Five different proportions of PM and OP (100%PM, 75%MP+25%OP, 50%PM+50%OP, 25%PM+75%OP, 100%OP) were used to obtain the suitable mix ratio (which gives maximum biogas production). Having determined the optimum mix ratio, temperature pre-treatment at 60 and 80 oC were applied to compare the results with those obtained with non-pre-treated waste. Cumulative biogas production obtained from 75%PM+25%OP was 768ml, whereas 218.33ml was measured from 100%OP. Increasing the proportion of OP above 25% decreased the amount of gas production, volatile solids (VS) and total solids (TS) reduction. This indicated that addition of PM to mix ratios improves biogas production. Thus 75%PM+25%OP mix was found to be the optimum mix ratio which resulted in high biogas yield. In thermal pre-treatments, maximum cumulative gas production was measured at 80 ºC pre-treated substrate. It exceeded by 11.7% and 6.6% over the control and the 60 ºC pre-treated sample respectively. Overall the results indicated that the biogas yield and VS and TS reduction of the 75%PM+25%OP mix ratio can be enhanced with the use of thermal pre-treatments prior to anaerobic digestion

Efficiency of Roundabouts as Compared to Traffic Light Controlled Intersections in Urban Road Networks

Evaluating the performance of a multi-lane intersection is important to identify the best scheme as congestion is becoming a worldwide serious problem. A Multi-stream Minimum Acceptable Space (MMAS) Cellular Automata (CA) model is used for the simulation of vehicular traffic at double-lane roundabouts and cross intersection. Comparison is made between roundabouts with traffic light and without traffic light and signalized intersections on the basis of their performance to simplify traffic congestion. Computer simulations are used to propose critical arrival rates to separate between the three mentioned modes to decrease congestion at intersection points.Keywords: Traffic flow, Roundabout, Throughput, Multi-stream Minimum Acceptable Space, Cellular Automat

Soil test crop response based phosphorous calibration study on maize at Abay Choman district, Horo Guduru Wollega zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia

Soil test crop response-based P calibration study can give farmers more economic use of fertilizers and better soil management practices. In a view of this, the trial was done in the Abay Choman district on ten experimental farmers’ fields in the first year of the experiment (2018/19 cropping season) to determine the economic rate of N and on twenty farmers’ fields in the second and third years of the experiment (2019/20 and 2020/21 cropping season respectively) to determine phosphorus critical level and requirement factor. In the first year of the experiment, the treatments were combined in factorial with four levels of phosphorus (0, 10, 20, 40 kg/ha) and four levels of nitrogen (0, 46, 92 and 138 kg/ha). While experiments in the second and third years of the experiment were six levels of Phosphorus 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 kg/ha. The treatments were laid out as a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Representative soil samples were taken before planting and analyzed. Experimental sites that have a pH of < 5.5 were amended using the lime application before the setup of the experiment. Soil test results of the study sites before planting indicated that pH values of most soils were strongly acidic (<5.5) and available phosphorus of experimental soil ranged from 3.22 to 13.62 pp. The main effects of both N and P significantly influenced the mean grain yield of maize, but their interaction was not significant with a grand mean of 76.53 qt/ha during the N determination trial. Economic analysis using partial budget analysis showed 92 kg/ha of N was economically optimal for the production of maize in the Abay Choman district. The study also showed that P- the critical value (12 ppm) and P- the requirement factor (10.55 Kg P/ha) were determined for the phosphorus fertilizer recommendation in the study area. Thus, the farmers in the area might be advised to use soil test crop response-based fertilizer recommendations to increase the productivity of maize in and around the study district

Issues of Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies: The Case Hababo Guduru District,Oromia, Ethiopia

The main objectives of the study were to assess the food security status, to identify major factors that determine food security, and to identify the coping strategy used by vulnerable households of HababoGuduru by employing simple descriptive statistics. In this study, a multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select sample households. 60 households were selected from two selected kebeles. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources to identify important variables that were assumed to affect household food security. Household calorie acquisition was used to analyze the state of household food security. Food insecure households reported having employed different coping strategies including eating less preferred, limiting the size and frequency of meals eaten per day. Increased food prices, household income, Sex of household head, educational status of the household head, dependency ratio, and market distance are some independent predictors of food insecurity in this area. Thus, designing and implementing development interventions concerning the above potential variables are crucial to enhance sustainable food security in the study area. Keywords: Challenges, Determinants, Food insecurity, Food security, Household DOI: 10.7176/FSQM/115-01 Publication date:May 31st 202