Assessment of local land and water institutions in the Blue Nile and their impact on environmental management

Land and water institutions play a vital role in managing and sustaining land and water resources as well as enhancing economic development and poverty alleviation efforts. While a lot has been done in terms of understanding the micro-determinants of farmers’ decisions in land and water conservation, there is little attempt to understand the broad macro-institutional and organizational issues that influence land and water management decisions. The objective of the study was to assess institutional arrangements and challenges for improved land and water management in the Ethiopian part of the Blue Nile Basin (Tana and Beles subbasins). Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were held in Amhara and Benishangul Gumuz regions with important stakeholders such as the bureaus of Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources Development, Environmental Protection and Land Use Administration (EPLUA), National Agricultural Research Systems, and important NGOs, operating in the area of land and water management, and selected community members. As the major findings in this study, we outlined major land and water-related institutional arrangements that are currently in place and their design features, in order to identify those institutions related to superior performance. We highlighted major institutional and policy gaps and actions that are required to respond to emerging issues of environmental degradation, upstream/downstream linkages and climate change. Such analysis of institutions and their design features provides useful insights and contributes to the debate on institutional reform for improved land and water management in the Blue Nile Basin, in general. By doing so, it identifies the gaps in institutional arrangements and policies and potential remedies.Length: pp.185-231InstitutionsOrganizationsWater policyRiver basinsWater managementLand managementWatershed management

Towards a results-based performance management: practices and challenges in the Ethiopian public sector

The purpose of this research is to propose a strategy of managing performance in the public sector. The primary data have been collected through questionnaires administered to managers and professionals; and interviews administered to heads of planning and ICT departments.  Secondary data were collectedthrough reviewing documents (plans, reports,proclamations and regulation). Findings of this study indicate that  performance management system is disconnected at the top that weakened accountability of managers in the public sector. Besides, agencies responsible for performance management have not developed systems to monitor and evaluate performances of public organisations and their managers. As a matter of fact, public organisations have made a lot of progress in introducing LAN, developing web pages and using the internet for information sharing. However, they have not developed  database systems and computerized MIS that are important for the management of performance. The other problem of managing  performance in the public sector is the different agencies that are directly or indirectly involved in managing the performance of a particular public organisation. These are: first, the organisation itself, which is striving to implement BSC; second, the Planning and Budgeting unit of MoFED, which has not gone beyond the traditional activities of compiling plans and performance reports of public organisations, but attempting to implement Performance Based Budgeting, and finally, the Ministry of Civil Service, which is responsible for preparing guidelines for evaluation of employee performance. To emphasise the importance of performance management in the public sector, the Ethiopian government can learn from the  experiences of some African countries, which have organised  performance management units under the offices of Prime Ministers.Keywords: Results-Based Performance Management, balanced scorecard, process control, accountability, reward systems, organizational capacity, MIS

Nutritional Status of Adolescent Girls from Rural Communities of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Background: Addressing the nutritional needs of adolescents could be an important step towards breaking the vicious cycle of intergenerational malnutrition. Objective: Assess nutritional status of rural adolescent girls. Design: Cross-sectional. Methods: Anthropometric and socio-demographic information from 211 adolescent girls representing 650 randomly selected households from thirteen communities in Tigray was used in data analysis. Height-for-age and BMI-for-age were compared to the 2007 WHO growth reference. Data were analyzed using SAS, Version 9.1. Results: None of the households reported access to adolescent micronutrient supplementation. The girls were shorter and thinner than the 2007 WHO reference population. The cross-sectional prevalence of stunting and thinness were 26.5% and 58.3%, respectively. Lack of latrine facilities was significantly associated with stunting (p = 0.0033) and thinness (p <0.0001). Age was strong predictor of stunting (r(2) = 0.8838, p <0.0001) and thinness (r(2) = 0.3324, p <0.0001). Conclusion: Undernutrition was prevalent among the girls. Strategies to improve the nutritional status of girls need to go beyond the conventional maternal and child health care programs to reach girls before conception to break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Further, carefully designed longitudinal studies are needed to identify the reasons for poor growth throughout the period of adolescence in this population. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2009; 23(1):5-11

Trypanosoma equiperdum in the horse : a neglected threat?

Dourine is a contagious disease caused by Trypanosoma equiperdum that is transmitted directly from animal to animal during coitus. Dourine is known as an important disease in many countries, and it threatens equidae worldwide. It is reported to be widespread in South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia, Namibia and Ethiopia. The disease can be carried to various parts of the world through the transportation of infected animals and semen. Since knowledge of the prepatent infectiousness of a recently infected animal is lacking, introduction of the disease is in principle an ever-present threat. Definitive diagnosis depends on the identification of the parasite by means of direct microscopy. This is rarely possible in practice and therefore, diagnosis in the field is based on the observation of typical clinical signs, together with serological tests. This paper is an endeavour to review briefly and compile information on the appearance and importance of Dourine in terms of its epidemiological and clinical features, as well as on its diagnosis, treatment and prognosis

Households Willingness to Pay for Improved Urban Solid Waste Management: The Case of Mekelle City, Ethiopia

Cities in developing countries experiencing rapid urbanization and population growth too often lack the financial resources and institutional capacity to provide needed municipal infrastructure for adequate solid waste management, despite citizens’ demand for it. This paper uses a cross-sectional survey of 226 randomly selected households in Mekelle city, Ethiopia, to assess the current municipal sanitary fees and the willingness to pay (WTP) of residents for improved urban waste management, and suggest mechanisms for cost recovery. We used Tobit and probit models in the empirical analysis to determine the factors that influence households’ WTP for improved solid waste management. Results reveal that residents’ WTP for improved solid waste management is significantly related to income and awareness of environmental quality, among other factors. The results suggest that the current city fee for sanitation is far below the WTP of the residents. The mean WTP we found can be a guide for municipal officials in setting a more appropriate fee that can finance improvements in city solid waste management, where all households receive collection services, waste is disposed of properly, and recycling features are added.Keywords: Urban waste management, willingness to pay, cost recovery, Ethiopia, citiesJEL Classification: D13, Q51, Q5

Transboundary water governance institutional architecture: reflections from Ethiopia and Sudan

Transboundary water resource governance is premised on equitable water and water-related benefit sharing. Using the case of the Blue Nile (Ethiopia and Sudan), we explore the conceptual issues that need consideration in the crafting of cross-border cooperation within the water sector. First, drawing on global experiences with transboundary water management, we evaluate how upstream and downstream concerns are addressed by transboundary water management institutions. Second, we explore the kinds of institutional design and the issues which need to be considered to result in ‘win-win’ scenarios for both upstream and downstream users, as well as the mechanisms of benefit sharing negotiated amongst different stakeholders. Third, we examine ways of addressing equity and livelihoods in transboundary institutional arrangements. Finally, we attempt to assess how transboundary institutions can address broader historical, political and economic issues and their implications for sustainable transboundary water governance. This paper raises key issues that need to be addressed in establishing transboundary governance institutions.Length: pp.246-253Water governanceInstitutionsInternational watersInternational cooperationRiver basin management

Invitro Antibacterial Screening of Extracts from Selected Ethiopian Medicinal Plants

Indigenous knowledge, literature reports and ethnobotanical records suggest that plants are the basis for medicines. They constitute natural source of antimicrobial drugs that will provide novel or lead compounds for the fight against disease. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of three selected Ethiopian medicinal plants was studied with the objective of  screening their antibacterial activity. The fruits of Measalanceolata, aerial part of Cissus quadrangularis and leaf of Dodonae angustifolia were collected, air dried under shed, powdered and soaked in 80% methanol and extracted. In vitro antibacterial activity of the extracts was tested at different concentrations by using agar disc diffusion method and  measuring the zone of inhibition. The plant extracts showed broad  spectrum activity against gram positive (S. aureus) as well as gram  negative (E. coli) bacteria, except Cissus quadrangularis which did not show any activity against E. coli. Furthermore, the plant extracts had also  concentration dependant zone of inhibition against the tested bacteria. In fact, the highest activity was obtained for Dodonae angustifolia at  1000mg/ml against S. aureus. The activities are attributed to the presence of some secondary metabolites present in the tested plants which have been associated with antibacterial activities. This finding suggests that these medicinal plants can be potential source to isolate antibacterial drugs.Keywords: Antibacterial activity, Disc diffusion, E. coli, Plant extract and S. aureus

A stochastic framework for modeling the population dynamics of convective clouds

A stochastic prognostic framework for modeling the population dynamics of convective clouds and representing them in climate models is proposed. The framework follows the non-equilibrium statistical mechanical approach to constructing a master equation for representing the evolution of the number of convective cells of a specific size and their associated cloud-base mass flux, given a large-scale forcing. In this framework, referred to as STOchastic framework for Modeling Population dynamics of convective clouds (STOMP), the evolution of convective cell size is predicted from three key characteristics of convective cells: (i) the probability of growth, (ii) the probability of decay, and (iii) the cloud-base mass flux. STOMP models are constructed and evaluated against CPOL radar observations at Darwin and convection permitting model (CPM) simulations. Multiple models are constructed under various assumptions regarding these three key parameters and the realisms of these models are evaluated. It is shown that in a model where convective plumes prefer to aggregate spatially and the cloud-base mass flux is a non-linear function of convective cell area, then the mass flux manifests a recharge-discharge behavior under steady forcing. Such a model also produces observed behavior of convective cell populations and CPM simulated cloud-base mass flux variability under diurnally varying forcing. In addition to its use in developing understanding of convection processes and the controls on convective cell size distributions, this modeling framework is also designed to be capable of serving as a non-equilibrium closure formulations for spectral mass flux parameterizations