Reproductive biology and condition factor of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822) in Lake Koka, Ethiopia

The study was conducted to investigate the breeding season, sex ratio, size at maturation, fecundity and condition factor of African catfish Clarias gariepinus in Lake Koka. A total of 754 fish specimens were collected from October 2020 to August 2021. Total length and weight were measured and sexes were identified and gonad maturity levels were recorded. The sex ratio of African catfish in different size classes was similar to that of a hypothetical 1:1 ratio. The length at first maturity (L50) was 51.8 cm in total length. The mean Fulton’s condition factor of female African catfish ranged from 0.65 ± 0.05 – 0.71 ± 0.14, while the males ranged from 0.62 ± 0.04 – 0.7 ± 0.11. The Fulton’s condition factor was significantly higher in August for females than in the rest of the sampling months. The highest ripe gonads were recorded in the rainy season and the lowest was in the dry season, with the percentage of ripe gonads being 27.5%, while the males showed similarly extended maturity patterns among seasons. Fisheries management for African catfish should therefore take into account the estimated L50 value and the main breeding season to sustain the fishery and benefits the fishermen

Parasito-haematological features of acute Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria patients with and without HIV co-infection at Wonji Sugar Estate, Ethiopia

No Abstract.Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 19 (2) 2005: 132-13

Experimental and FEM analysis of three carbon steel characterization under quasi-static strain rate for bumper beam application

This paper investigates the mechanical behavior of three selected steel materials which are considered to be the bulk material of front most bumper beam of a vehicle that is suddenly loaded in the quasi-static range. Thirty-six constant strain rate uniaxial tension tests were performed. The test was performed on a HUALONG electro-hydraulic universal testing machine at four strain rates (3.33 × 10-3,3.33 × 10-2, 3.33 × 10-1, 3. 33s-1). The FEM which is ABAQUS/CAE is used to simulate the bumper subsystem using the three selected steel. The outcome shows that ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increase with an increase in strain rate and high alloy steel (HAS) material has the maximum mean UTS. The FEM in the post -processing stage gives the minimum displacement and maximum strain energy for HAS material when compared to the other two materials. Finally, from both experimental and ABAQUS explicit analysis the result shows HAS material is better suit for the bumper beam application

Evaluation of a direct colorimetric assay for rapid detection of rifampicin resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

No Abstract Available Ethiop.J.Health Dev. Vol.19(1) 2005: 51-5

Policy Action for Climate Change Adaptation. Project synthesis report, 2014-2020

Climate change is increasingly threatening the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Increased climate variability, including changes in mean temperatures, variation in the onset of rains, and increases in extreme weather events, are directly affecting the growing seasons of commercial and subsistence crops, significantly disturbing socio-economic activities in the agricultural sector and leaving many smallholder farmers in a situation of food insecurity and malnutrition. Within this context, it has become increasingly crucial that governments and relevant stakeholders in the region develop policy strategies that help adapt to changes in climate and help build more resilient food systems. To support these policy processes, the CGIAR Program of Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) started in 2014 the seven-year initiative “Policy Action for Climate Change Adaptation (PACCA)”. PACCA consisted of a first phase (2014-2017), which operated under the project entitled “Influencing and linking national and local level policies and institutions to adopt climate-resilient food systems” in Uganda and Tanzania, and a second phase (2018-2020), which operated under the project entitled “Stimulating adoption of nutrition sensitive climate smart agriculture by aligning national level agenda with implementation” in Uganda and Ethiopia. This report summarizes the main findings that emerged from Phase 1 and 2 of PACCA, presents the lessons learnt and achievements for climate change policy action work and reflects on both projects impact pathways, providing some recommendations for future policy initiatives in the region

Food-based dietary guidelines as a gamechanger in Ethiopia’s food system transformation pathway

In this brief, we reflect on the factors that contributed to the Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) receiving high level recognition in key Ethiopian policy documents. FBDGs, launched in 2022, have been recognized as a key gamechanger in the effort to improve the Ethiopia food systems

Cereals Availability Study in Ethiopia, 2008

Unusual changes in grain markets have been the source of major concerns for the Government of Ethiopia and its development partners. Increase in cereal price presented serious challenges to the implementation of country’s food security programs. Local procurement of food by the WFP declined also in the recent years. Being one of the largest donors of local procurement of food, the European Union was particularly concerned about these developments. Thus, as a General Directorate in charge of supporting EU policies, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the EU developed the technical specification of a project to extend the scope of the usual Cereal Availability Study (CAS) in order to account for the developments in the Ethiopian cereal markets. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) consortium with the Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI) and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) was selected to carry out the study. A number of preliminary analyses, undertaken by the World Bank and IFPRI had put forward a number of hypotheses to explain unusual high cereal prices. While the different hypotheses were widely debated in the country, there is limited primary information to validate or refute them. It is in this context that the current study was undertaken. The focus has been mainly on achieving the following objectives: • To gather information regarding recent changes in cereal production, storage, and marketing patterns in order to test the hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the high price of cereals in Ethiopian markets. • To improve the general methodology of the past cereal availability studies. • To estimate the quantity of maize, sorghum, and wheat that can be procured from domestic markets in the 2008 for relief purposes without disturbing the local market. Implementation of the study was carried out in three broad stages. The first stage involved an overview of cereal availability methods and a consultation for determining the survey / sampling methods. Three surveys were conducted in the second stage, namely, a household survey, a traders’ survey, and a rapid assessment of cross border trade. At third stage, results from the surveys, and some secondary data, have been used to develop a spatial equilibrium multi-market model (ESGMM) to analyze policy impacts of various policy interventions. The results were presented in a final workshop held in the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa on December 5, 2008.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

Developing feasible healthy diets for Ethiopian women of reproductive age: a linear goal programming approach

Abstract Objective: To develop a healthy diet for Ethiopian women closely resembling their current diet and taking fasting periods into account while tracking the cost difference. Design: Linear goal programming models were built for three scenarios (non-fasting, continuous fasting and intermittent fasting). Each model minimised a function of deviations from nutrient reference values for eleven nutrients (protein, Ca, Fe, Zn, folate, and the vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, and B12). The energy intake in optimised diets could only deviate 5 % from the current diet. Settings: Five regions are included in the urban and rural areas of Ethiopia. Participants: Two non-consecutive 24-h dietary recalls (24HDR) were collected from 494 Ethiopian women of reproductive age from November to December 2019. Results: Women’s mean energy intake was well above 2000 kcal across all socio-demographic subgroups. Compared to the current diet, the estimated intake of several food groups was considerably higher in the optimised modelled diets, that is, milk and dairy foods (396 v. 30 g/d), nuts and seeds (20 v. 1 g/d) and fruits (200 v. 7 g/d). Except for Ca and vitamin B12 intake in the continuous fasting diet, the proposed diets provide an adequate intake of the targeted micronutrients. The proposed diets had a maximum cost of 120 Ethiopian birrs ($3·5) per d, twice the current diet’s cost. Conclusion: The modelled diets may be feasible for women of reproductive age as they are close to their current diets and fulfil their energy and nutrient demands. However, the costs may be a barrier to implementation

Does a complex intervention targeting communities, health facilities and district health managers increase the utilisation of community-based child health services? A before and after study in intervention and comparison areas of Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION: Ethiopia successfully reduced mortality in children below 5 years of age during the past few decades, but the utilisation of child health services was still low. Optimising the Health Extension Programme was a 2-year intervention in 26 districts, focusing on community engagement, capacity strengthening of primary care workers and reinforcement of district accountability of child health services. We report the intervention's effectiveness on care utilisation for common childhood illnesses. METHODS: We included a representative sample of 5773 households with 2874 under-five children at baseline (December 2016 to February 2017) and 10 788 households and 5639 under-five children at endline surveys (December 2018 to February 2019) in intervention and comparison areas. Health facilities were also included. We assessed the effect of the intervention using difference-in-differences analyses. RESULTS: There were 31 intervention activities; many were one-off and implemented late. In eight districts, activities were interrupted for 4 months. Care-seeking for any illness in the 2 weeks before the survey for children aged 2-59 months at baseline was 58% (95% CI 47 to 68) in intervention and 49% (95% CI 39 to 60) in comparison areas. At end-line it was 39% (95% CI 32 to 45) in intervention and 34% (95% CI 27 to 41) in comparison areas (difference-in-differences -4 percentage points, adjusted OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.12 to 1.95). The intervention neither had an effect on care-seeking among sick neonates, nor on household participation in community engagement forums, supportive supervision of primary care workers, nor on indicators of district accountability for child health services. CONCLUSION: We found no evidence to suggest that the intervention increased the utilisation of care for sick children. The lack of effect could partly be attributed to the short implementation period of a complex intervention and implementation interruption. Future funding schemes should take into consideration that complex interventions that include behaviour change may need an extended implementation period. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN12040912