Impact of Commercialization on rural households' Food Security in Major Coffee Growing Areas of South West Ethiopia: the Case of Jimma zone

This study aimed to analyze the impact of smallholder commercialization on rural food security in Major coffee growing areas of south west Ethiopia: the Case of Jimma zone. For the purpose of analysis both primary and secondary data was used to generate the required information. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 150 smallholder farmers. Descriptive and inferential statistics tool used include, Crop Output Market Participation (COMP), Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) model and logit model. The results showed that about 68% of the small holder farmers were food secure households. Smallholder farmer commercialization has effect on food security level of smallholder farmers. The estimation results of the logit model showed that family size (FSIZEAE), Age of household (HEADAGE), Size of cultivated land (FLANDha), Crop output market participation (COMP), Access to credit (AC-CREDT), were significantly affect rural household food security. The study suggests for policies that will improve smallholder farmer family planning service, accesses to credits, Capacity building, better land conservation practices, market information and road in designing food security policy in the sampled population.Jimma Universit

Etiyopya'da sanayi üretimi, çoklu-faktör verimliliği ve sanayi politikalarının gelişimi: İmalat sektörü örneği

Doktora TeziEthiopia began industrial development almost a century ago, even though this longtime industrialization experience is still dismal. The industrial and manufacturing sectors are undeveloped by all indicators, including poorer productivity and export, lower technical competence and technology, lower backward and forward connections, and lower in everything, even today. Besides, the manufacturing sector is one of the least productive subsectors.Although Ethiopia's manufacturing sector began in the 1950s; firm-level studies have received little attention, and few studies have examined Ethiopian firm-level TFP; using recent balanced panel datasets, calculating TFP using the Value-added approach, fully measuring the Value-added variable by including stock difference values, and using four estimators makes the thesis unique. Besides, the thesis emphasizes manufacturing because of the government's policy of prioritizing the sector. Thus, the thesis examines industrial production, multi-factor productivity, and industrial policy development in Ethiopia's manufacturing sectors. Using the Ethiopian central statistical agency (CSA) reconstructed balanced panel datasets from 2011/12-2019/20, the level, growth, and determinants of TFP were measured for 570 sampled firms in the general manufacturing panel and Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) priority, export-oriented and import substitution sub-sectors. The thesis uses four methods to estimate Ethiopian manufacturing TFP: Arellano and Bond, 1991; Arellano and Bover, 1995; Blundell and Bond, 1998; LSDVC. All diagnostic estimation tests are satisfactory and significant, appropriate to the analysis result. Besides, the lag of log TFP (L. ln _TFP) shows a positive sign. It is statistically significant in all four GMM estimators examined and panel estimation in the thesis. At the same time, the results of labor skill(lnskill), export status (iexpstuts), and firm age (lnage) are positive and significant in all four estimators in the general manufacturing sector. Similarly, the major results of the textile garment and leather subsectors revealed that labor skill (lnskill) is positive and significant across all four estimators. And also, the export status (iexpstuts) and age of the firm (lnage) are significant and exhibit positive signs in Arellano and Bond's (1991) and Blundell and Bond's (1998) estimations. Furthermore, labor skill (lnskill) and age of firm (lnage) coefficients have a positive sign and are significant in all four food and beverage subsector estimators; all four estimators have negative firm size (ifirmsize) coefficients in the subsector. Similarly, labor skill values are positive and significant in the chemical and non-metallic mineral sub-sectors of four GMM estimators. In all GMM and LSDVC estimators, the firm age coefficient is positive and significant. However, in LSDVC estimators, firm size coefficients are only significant and negative. Moreover, In the basic and fabricated metal subsectors, lnskill and lnage are positive and significant in all four estimators. Similarly, the ownership coefficient is significant in all estimators except system GMM, while the material (lnrm) coefficient is only positive and significant in LSDVC estimation. Finally, the legal form of business ownership (ilgfbo) coefficient has a positive sign and is statistically significant only in this subsector.Etiyopya, bu uzun süreli endüstriyel gelişme deneyimi hala iç karartıcı olsa da, neredeyse bir asır önce endüstriyel bir başlangıç yaptı. Sanayi ve imalat sektörleri, daha düşük verimlilik ve ihracat, düşük teknik kapasite, düşük teknoloji, hem geri hem de ileri ağlar ile zayıf bağlantılar ve bugüne kadar bile her şeyde daha düşük dahil olmak üzere tüm göstergeler tarafından gelişmemiştir. Ayrıca, imalat sektörü ise verimli en düşük alt sektörlerden biridir. Etiyopya'nın imalat sektörü 1950'lerde başlamış olsa da, firma düzeyinde araştırmalar çok az ilgi görmüştür ve Etiyopya firma düzeyinde TFV'yi inceleyen az sayıda çalışma vardır; Güncel dengeli panel veri setlerinin kullanılması, Katma Değer yaklaşımı kullanılarak TFV'nin hesaplanması, Katma Değer değişkeninin stok farkı değerleri dahil edilerek tam olarak ölçülmesi ve dört tahmin edicinin kullanılması tezi benzersiz kılmaktadır. Ayrıca, hükümetin sektöre öncelik verme politikası nedeniyle tez, imalata vurgu yapmaktadır. Bu nedenle, tez Etiyopya'nın imalat sektörlerinde endüstriyel üretim, çok faktörlü verimlilik ve sanayi politikası gelişimini incelemektedir. 2011/12-2019/20 yılları arasında Etiyopya'nın merkezi istatistik kurumu (CSA) tarafından yeniden yapılandırılmış dengeli panel veri setleri kullanılarak, imalat paneli ve büyüme ve dönüşüm planı (GTP) öncelikli ihracata yönelik ve ithal ikamesi alt sektörlerinde örneklenen 570 firma için TFV'nin düzeyi, büyümesi ve belirleyicileri ölçülmüştür. Tez, Etiyopya imalat TFP'sini tahmin etmek için dört yöntem kullanır: Arellano ve Bond, 1991; Arellano ve Bover, 1995; Blundell ve Bond, 1998; LSDVC. Tüm tanısal tahmin testleri, analiz sonucuna göre tatmin edici ve anlamlıdır. Ayrıca log TFP (L.ln _TFP) gecikmesi de pozitif bir işaret gösteriyor. Tezde incelenen dört GMM tahmin edicisinin tamamında ve panel tahmininde istatistiksel olarak anlamlıdır.Aynı zamanda, genel imalat sektöründeki dört tahmin edicinin hepsinde işgücü becerisi, ihracat durumu ve firma yaşı sonuçları pozitif ve anlamlıdır. Benzer şekilde, tekstil hazır giyim ve deri alt sektörlerinin ana sonuçları, işgücü becerisinin dört tahmin edicinin tamamında da pozitif ve anlamlı olduğunu ortaya koydu. Ayrıca Arellano ve Bond'un (1991) ve Blundell ve Bond'un (1998) tahminlerinde de ihracat durumu (iexpstuts) ve firmanın yaşı (lnage) önemlidir ve pozitif işaretler sergilemektedir. Bundan başka, işgücü becerisi (beceri) ve firma yaşı katsayıları pozitif bir işarete sahiptir ve dört yiyecek ve içecek alt sektörü tahmin edicisinin tamamında anlamlıdır; dört tahmin edicinin de alt sektörde negatif firma büyüklüğü (ifirmsize) katsayıları vardır. Benzer şekilde, dört GMM tahmincisinin kimyasal ve metalik olmayan mineral alt sektörlerinde de işçilik becerisi değerleri pozitif ve anlamlıdır. Tüm GMM ve LSDVC tahmin edicilerinde firma yaş katsayısı pozitif ve anlamlıdır. Ancak, LSDVC tahmin edicilerinde firma büyüklüğü katsayıları sadece anlamlı ve negatiftir. Ayrıca, temel ve fabrikasyon metal alt sektörlerinde, işgücü becerisi ve firma yaşı dört tahmin edicinin hepsinde pozitif ve anlamlıdır. Ayrıca, sistem GMM dışındaki tüm tahmin edicilerde sahiplik katsayısı anlamlı iken, malzeme (lnrm) katsayısı LSDVC tahmininde sadece pozitif ve anlamlıdır. Son olarak, işletme sahipliğinin yasal şekli (ilgfbo) katsayısı pozitif bir işarete sahiptir ve sadece bu alt sektörde istatistiksel olarak anlamlıdır. Çalışmanın sonucuna göre, Etiyopya imalat işletmelerinin verimliliğini artırmaya yönelik kamu teşvikleri ve politikalarının, nitelikli işgücü, ihracat teşvik, küçük ve orta ölçekli firmalar özel bir destek programları ve firma deneyimine odaklanmalıdır. Ayrıca, ilgili hükümet organları mevcut sanayi politikalarını duruma göre zamanında değerlendirmeli ve revize etmelidir; sanayi ve ticaret politikası birbirinden ayrı tutulmamalı ve ticaret her ekonomik sektörde ana akım haline getirilmelidir. Bundan başka, yukarıdaki politika ve stratejilerle birlikte hükümet, ana sanayiler ve imalat alt sektörleri için ölçülebilen ve yönetilebilen verimlilik hedefleri belirlemeli ve uygulama için güçlü ve dönüştürücü kurumlar oluşturmalıdır

Marine microalgae as sources of bioactive compounds with anti-inflammatory action

Inflammation is a defensive mechanism stimulated when the body is attacked by pathogens or irritants, or when cells are damaged. Sometimes, these defensive mechanisms can go wrong, emerging to different inflammatory diseases, such as acute inflammation and chronic inflammation. Despite the existence of several anti-inflammatory drugs on the market, new drugs with fewer side effects and higher efficacy are required for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Attention has been given to natural bioactive compounds derived from marine organisms, since these are well known to be a source of potential bioactive compounds with different therapeutic applications in several diseases including inflammatory diseases. The aim of this research project was therefore to find compounds that can serve as new anti-inflammatory drugs or drug leads in microalgae. For that purpose, water, ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts of different microalgae species (Porphyridium sp., Nannochloropsis sp., Tetraselmis sp. CTP4, Isochrysis sp., Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Skeletonema costatum, Spirulina sp., Haematococcus pluvialis and Tetraselmis chuii) were characterized for its antioxidant activity as a pre-screening effort to select the most bioactive species/extracts. The most antioxidant extracts (ethanol extracts of Nannochloropsis sp., Tetraselmis sp. CTP4, and Tetraselmis chuii and water extracts of Nannochloropsis sp. and Porphyridium sp.) were afterwards screened for their anti-inflammatory activity measuring the inhibition of TNF-α production by LPS-stimulated human macrophage-differentiated THP-1 cells (Mac-THP-1). The best results were obtained with the ethanol extract of Tetraselmis sp. CTP4 (87% inhibition of TNF-α at 50 μg/mL in respect to the LPS control). This extract was therefore fractionated using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), and the fractions were re-checked for their anti-inflammatory activity, using the previous method in a bioassay-guided fractionation effort. The most active fraction (the hexane fraction) was later analyzed by GC-MS to tentatively identify some of the compounds present in the fraction that could be responsible for its anti-inflammatory properties. Most of the compounds identified were fatty acids, some of which had already been reported to have anti-inflammatory properties. Further studies are needed to identify the exact compound or compounds responsible for the anti-inflammatory effect in the active fraction. Nonetheless, these results indicate that microalgae can be a source of compounds with the ability to minimize and reduce inflammation

Ett agroekologiskt perspektiv för att förbättra torktoleransen för vetekulturer för Sverige

Drought stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that cause losses in cereal production around the world. Drought stress causes several morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular transformations in plants. All aspects of plant growth (leaf size, leaf index area and plant height) will be reduced when drought stress is imposed on a plant during all stages of growth. The plant’s physiology under severe drought stress could reduce the transpiration rate and water consumption, which could lead to dried and dead plants, and also affect the quality of grain and cause losses in yield. The drought that happened in the south of Sweden in the 2018 season caused considerable losses in grain yield, primarily winter wheat. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of drought stress on wheat production in the south of Sweden in the 2018 drought season and then to assess whether new technologies such as phenotyping can provide solutions for the agricultural sector in general and wheat production in particular. The study included two parts: the first part consisted of a five face-to-face interviews. Three interviews were with farmers from different locations in the south of Sweden. The aim of these interviews was to understand the farmers’ perceptions of the drought that happened in 2018 and to explore if they have made plans to handle or prepare for future droughts. The other two interviews were made with plant breeders who work at Lantmännen. The aim of these interviews was to understand how breeders preparing their breeding programs related to climate changing in Sweden and if there are any trials or research relating to drought. The second part of the study consisted of a Biotron experiment to evaluate early vigour and drought stress responses of genotypes. Finally, the analyzed data from the Biotron experiment was compared to drought tolerance scoring obtained from the field trial performed in 2018 for another project. These field score data correlated well with the results of the Biotron experiment. In conclusion, there is a possibility to develop drought-tolerant varieties in wheat which can survive during the drought season. Also, the development in technology sector can provide more accurate tools for phenotyping crops in coming years

Causes of Foreign Language Anxiety Among Students at Private Universities in Erbil

Education is often regarded as an effective means of guiding students in the process of altering their behavior to conform to the standards of both themselves and the expectations of society. Both students\u27 anxiety and their attitudes toward learning are seen as essential elements of the educational process; as a consequence, both factors play an important part in the development of second language skills. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the factors that cause students attending private institutions in Erbil to experience anxiety when they are studying a foreign language. A quantitative study approach was used to quantify the students\u27 anxiety, and the factors that were taken into consideration were fear of receiving a negative evaluation, communication apprehension, and exam anxiety. The researcher was successful in collecting the necessary data after adapting and modifying a survey that had been established by previous academics. The researcher was successful in collecting 92 surveys that had all of the required fields filled out. Using multiple regression analysis, each of the study hypotheses could be evaluated. The findings of this research showed that a student\u27s fear of experiencing negative anxiety was related to a greater level of anxiety when it came to the process of learning a new language, but a student\u27s fear of performing poorly on a test was related to a lower value, among other factors

Moisture Susceptibility of Asphalt Concrete Pavement Modified by Nanoclay Additive

Durability of hot mix asphalt (HMA) against moisture damage is mostly related to asphalt-aggregate adhesion. The objective of this work is to find the effect of nanoclay with montmorillonite (MMT) on Marshall properties and moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixture. Two types of asphalt cement, AC(40-50) and AC(60-70) were modified with 2%, 4% and 6% of Iraqi nanoclay with montmorillonite. The Marshall properties, Tensile strength ratio(TSR) and Index of retained strength(ISR) were determined in this work. The total number of specimens was 216 and the optimum asphalt content was 4.91% and 5% for asphalt cement (40-50) and (60-70) respectively. The results showed that the modification of asphalt cement with MMT led to increase Marshall stability and the addition of 6% of MMT recorded the highest increase, where it increased by 26.35% and 22.26% foe asphalt cement(40-5) and(60-70) respectively. Also, the addition of MMT led to increase moisture resistance of asphalt mixture according to the increase in TSR and IRS. The addition of 4% and 6% of MMT recorded the highest increase in TSR and IRS for asphalt cement (40-50) and (60-70) respectively, where they increased by 11.8% and 17.5% respectively for asphalt cement (40-50) and by 10% and 18% respectively for asphalt cement (60-70)

Effect of Semi-Rigid Connection on Post-Buckling Behaviour of Frames Using Finite Element Method

It is very important task to estimate the post buckling for structures that have slender elements, since post-buckling state means loss the structures stability related with large displacement and that lead to demolition the structures. On the other hand, in the design and analysis of steel frame, the beam-columns connection is assumed perfect pin or fully rigid, this assumption leads to incorrect estimation of the structural behaviour. Practically, beam-column connection is between these two assumptions and this type of connection is called semi-rigid. This study presents a numerical analysis using finite element method to investigate the effect of semi-rigid connections on post-buckling behaviour of two-dimensional frames with different supporting types and different lateral loading cases. The semi-rigid connections are modelled as rotational spring in linear elastic stage, using COMBIN14 element which has rotational stiffness value.  The numerical results showed that; the effect of changing the beam-column connections from rigid to semi rigid for toggle frame with rotational joint stiffness 25EI/L to 15EI/L and 10EI/L led to decrease the initial peak load of the frames of fixed-fixed supports with percentages 3.36 %, 5.6% and 8.95% respectively as compared with that of the rigid connection frame, While, the frames with fixed-pin and pin-pin supports cases did not affected by this changing. The fixed-fixed support case is more affected by changing the joint stiffness from other cases and the effect of changing the joint stiffness in pin-pin support model is less significant from others. This can be attributed to that, the fixed-fixed supports is restrained in all degree of freedom and will be affected by any rotation and presence the pin in other cases makes the frame less affected by the rotation of semi-rigid connection. The effect of changing the beam-column connection from rigid to semi rigid decreases with presence the lateral load. Thus, the semi-rigid connection should be considered in analysis and design of steel frames to obtain more realistic results

Assessment Resistance Potential to Moisture Damage and Rutting for HMA Mixtures Reinforced by Steel Fibers

Rutting is mainly referring to pavement permanent deformation, it is a major problem for flexible pavement and it is a complicated process and highly observed along with many segments of asphalt pavement in Iraq. The occurrence of this defect is related to several variables such as elevated temperatures and high wheel loads. Studying effective methods to reduce rutting distress is of great significance for providing a safe and along-life road. The asphalt mixture used to be modified by adding different types of additives. The addition of additives typically excesses stiffness, improves temperature susceptibility, and reduces moisture sensitivity. For this work, steel fibres have been used for modifying asphalt mixture as they incorporated in the specimens by three percentages designated as 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 % by the weight of asphalt mixture. The evaluation process based on conducting Marshall Test, Compressive strength test, and the wheel tracking test. The optimum asphalt content was determined for asphalt mixture. The results of the Marshall quotient and the index of retained strength of modified mixtures were increased by 44.0 and 17.38% respectively with adding 1.0% of steel fibres compared with the conventional mixture. The rut depth and dynamic stability were determined by using a wheel tracking test at two various testing temperatures of 45 and 55°C and two applied stresses of 70 and 80 psi. Results show that adding 1% of steel fibres to asphalt mixtures is very effective in increase the rutting resistance and reduce moisture damage