An Investigation of Indigenous Knowledge and Institutions Contributing to Natural Forest Conservation in Yayo and Gechi Woreda, Illuababor Zone, Oromia National Regional State, South West Ethiopia

The study was conducted to investigate the indigenous knowledge and institutions contributing natural forest conservation in Yayo and Gechi woredas in Iluabbabor zone Oromia regional state southwest Ethiopia To this end survey was conducted with 120 randomly selected household heads Moreover in-depth interviews were employed with informants to collect information required for the study Quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analyzed using percentages and thematic analysis The findings of the study indicated that the studied communities have special meaning and value for natural forests in their surroundings Generally forest is considered as a source of life for these communities as almost all basic requirements for human being stem from their natural forests Consequently the communities had been providing special care and protection for their natural forests through their indigenous knowledge and institutions Delineation of intact sacred groves and trees selective use of plant species fluctuation of the use of natural forest species based on seasons limiting the amount of natural forest used and its purposes are the major indigenous knowledge and institutions contributing to natural forest conservation in the studied communities Almost all of the study participants confirmed that these indigenous knowledge and institutions are secret behind for sustainable use of natural forest in the study area since a long time however the legitimate power of these traditional knowledge and institutions in restricting human interaction with their natural forest has been declining due to poverty unemployment and the abandonment of traditional religious beliefs and values Moreover the findings indicated that the government has been undertaking various activities that contribute to the local communities indigenous knowledge and institutions with regards to natural forest conservation however still many things are left to be done in linkin

Party Politics, Political Polarization and the Future of Ethiopian Democracy

A closer glance at the source of what appears to be a curse of history can be explained largely by the political polarization and fragmentation between and among Ethiopian political parties, which time and again failed to set a common agenda and mobilize millions for a common good

Traditions

This article gives the definition of the word «tradition» and explains the role of traditions in a contemporary culture. The attention is focused on the differences in various peoples' traditions that are demonstrated by the example of wedding traditions of Great Britain, Japan and Brazil. В статье раскрывается понятие «традиции», поясняется роль традиций в современной культуре; акцентируется внимание на отличиях в традициях различных народов, что показано на примере свадебных традиций Великобритании, Японии и Бразилии

The Elite and the Quest for Peace, Democracy and Development in Ethiopian: Lessons to be learnt

The present experiment involves the objective of accomplishing two historical tasks: the tasks of creating a country that houses \u27nations, nationalities and peoples\u27 of equals and ending an authoritarian rule by democratizing the Ethiopian state and society as a whole, a precondition for peace and development. However, as the result of the accumulated five grand failures of the Ethiopian elite in a century, the prennial quest for peace, democracy and development continue to be as illusive as ever. The most fundamental question is, therefore, what lessons to be learnt to move forward? This paper, which sums up the political history of modern Ethiopia in terms of five grand failures is a modest attempt to do that job

The Reintegration Needs of Illegal Migrant Returnees to Omo Nada District Jimma Zone, Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia

Despite the reintegration needs of the returnee there is important to design reintegration program, reintegrate and enable them to become independent and productive members of the community; the identification of these needs are often neglected in academic studies. The objective of the study was to explore the reintegration needs sought by returnees to Omo Nada district after return. To this end, I conducted a resourceful study in Omo Nada district in 2017. I collected the data by means of in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. I used thematic analysis to analyze the findings. The study identified the need for support in the form of health services, counselling, housing, employment, skills training, finances, loans and social support as the major reintegration needs sought by the study participants. Despite the many needs identified, the returnees could not get reintegration support. Due to this, they were not able to reintegrate into their communities. Returning to the pre-migration conditions which drove them to migrate ‘illegally' in the first place, with no hope of any reintegration assistance, led some returnees to intend re-migrate illegally

Assessment of treatment strategies in acute bacterial meningitis in Ethiopia

Background – Management of patients with suspected bacterial meningitis needs swift clinical decision making and early antibiotic initiation. However, the care of such patients in resource limited settings is challenging due to patients’ late presentation, limited diagnostic facilities and lack of evidence based treatment guidelines. Objective – To investigate the current strategies in the management of bacterial meningitis and to assess its discharge outcomes at teaching hospitals in Ethiopia Methods – Retrospective and prospective study designs were used. In the retrospective study, data was collected at four teaching hospitals in Ethiopia from patients who were treated as a case of bacterial meningitis from December 31, 2011 to April 30, 2015. The prospective study was conducted at Jimma University Hospital from March 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015. Descriptive analyses were done for most of baseline characteristics. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were also done to identify factors associated with unfavorable outcomes. Result – (i) Retrospective study: 425 patients of age 14 years and older were included in this study. Lumbar puncture was done for only 236 (55.5%) of cases. Only 96 (22.6%) of them had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) abnormalities compatible with bacterial meningitis. A causative bacterium was identified in only 14 of the cases. Overall, 86 patients (20.2%) died while in the hospital. (ii) Prospective study: 127 adults (≥18 years) participated in this study; 109 (85.8%) had their CSF analysed. However, only 90 (70.9%) of them had findings suggestive of bacterial meningitis and causative bacteria were isolated in only 26 (20.5%). The over all in hospital mortality was 22.8% (29 deaths). Depressed level of consciousness, focal neurologic deficits and concomitant pneumonia on presentation were associated with increased in hospital death. Adjunctive dexamethasone treatment was used in 50.4% and 33.1% in retrospective and prospective studies, respectively, and was associated with unfavorable discharge outcome. Conclusion – Outcome in patients treated for bacterial meningitis in Ethiopia was found to be poor. Moreover, most of them did not receive proper diagnostic workup and alternative diagnoses were overlooked as a result. Adjunctive dexamethasone treatment was associated with unfavorable outcome at discharge. Thus, management of patients with suspected bacterial meningitis should be supported by laboratory tests and treatment should be tailored to evidences from the settings and current evidence-based recommendations

Alternative energy supply system to a rural village in Ethiopia

Abstract Background Most households in rural developing countries do not have access to modern energy supply. Household level biogas energy was considered as an option but failed due to lack of sufficient resources for its installation and operation. A community energy system can be an option, but most studies focused on off-grid electricity. This energy system cannot be a realistic option particularly for cooking demand. An efficient and suitable system matching local resources and demand expectation needs to be developed which this study focuses on assessing. Biogas and solar energy technologies are viable to establish such kind of a system since they can be converted to different forms of energy. Therefore, this study aims to determine efficient biogas and solar energy production and utilization options for small scale village energy application in rural Ethiopia. Methods The efficiencies of the production and utilization options are determined based on the system configurations involving resource, conversion, and utilization combination models. We used local resources, data, and relevant literature information for the system analysis. Results The analysis shows that most energy is needed in the form of heat for cooking and a smaller part in the form of electricity (about 10%). The community waste stream converted to biogas will be enough for cooking, but not enough biogas is left to produce enough electricity. Co-digesting altogether provides biogas that can meet only about 75% of the electricity demand. Concentrated solar cookers can be an alternative for cooking in areas where installation of biogas is not possible. About 2-m2 size solar concentrator is sufficient to meet each household’s cooking energy demand. The lighting and appliance energy demand can be met with photovoltaic (PV) energy produced with reasonably sized panels. However, the use of electrical energy for cooking produced with PV cannot be an economic option with the available technologies. Conclusions The community energy system involving anaerobic co-digestion (biogas) and/or solar energy technologies is viable to meet the demand when efficient production and conversion is made based on specific local resource supply and demand