Poultry Production, Management and Marketing System at Selected Districts of Kafa and Benchmaji Zone, South West Ethiopia

The study was conducted to determine village chicken feed and feeding practice, housing system, production performance and marketing systems and to assess the existing diseases and predators at selected districts of Kafa and Bench Maji Zone, from four representative districts; Adeyo, Chena, Gimbo and Guraferda Six farmer kebeles (2 from high land, 2 from mid-altitude and 2 from low land agro-ecologies which were boka, butta, beyamo, wareta, bifitu-03 and kujja). An attempt was made to study by selecting a total of 150 households who involved in chicken production. The data were collected by semi structured questionnaire, personal observation and interview.Purpose of supplementary feed (39.33%) giving is for egg yield. Major green forage feed (42%) is different edible green grass like “keppo”. About 70% of respondents use Household scraps for poultry feed. Source of water for village birds 41% is spring water. Type of container used to supply water is clay pot (45.33%). Trained of washing water supplying materials every times (25.33%) and 23.33% of respondents never. Housing system of village chickens at study area was 41% perch in the house and 11% separate shelter. From this study 87% of the households kept local chicken followed by 8% kept cross and local together and 5% of the households kept exotic and local under the same management. Average age of first egg lying of chicken was 6 months, average number of eggs per clutch was 14, and average clutch size per chicken per year was 3. The average price of adult cock, hen and young chicken were reached 75 birr, 54 birr and 38 birr respectively and the price of egg was reached 2 birr during non-fasting period and 2.25 birr at festival time.The major (50%) Causes of village chickens mortality is diseases followed by (27%) predator. The most devastating chicken disease is Newcastle disease (NCD) 52%, followed by fowl pox (18%).To date there were no any comprehensive studies conducted in the study Weredas. Hence, will help to give important baseline information to improve the existing village chickens feed and feeding practice, housing system, production performance and marketing systems as well as causes of mortally by improving the management practice, poultry breeds with a holistic and multidisciplinary support of services like; health, husbandry, research, extension, training and educating the framers are viable options to improve the livelihood of the households. Keywords: Feeding, Housing, production, marketing, Diseases, Kafa and Benchmaji Zon

Picking up the pieces: social capital and entrepreneurship for livelihood recovery among displaced populations in Northeast Nigeria

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.In the past few decades, there has been a significant increase in the rate of forced displacement, often precipitated by persecution, civil wars, terrorism, transborder conflicts, as well as natural disasters. The United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) reports that there are 25.4 million refugees and 68.5 million forcibly displaced people, and only a small fraction are able to return to their former homes (UNHCR 2019). Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria has precipitated humanitarian tragedy on a scale comparable to the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) and arguably the worst of any manmade or natural disaster in Nigeria's history. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates that up to 3.3 million people have been internally displaced due to terrorist violence perpetrated by the Boko Haram (International Displacement Monitoring Centre 2015). The number of people displaced by the conflict is the largest in Africa and the third largest in the world. Using quantitative and qualitative data obtained from questionnaires and interviews conducted with respondents in Northeast Nigeria, the study examines the extent to which the displaced populations are drawing on social capital and human capital to withstand, cope with and recover from the adverse experiences and consequences of the insurgency and counterinsurgency. Given that most forced displacements occur in developing countries like Nigeria, government resources are increasingly stretched to deal with the crisis, and there are calls for fundamental rethink of the traditional approach to interventions in disaster situations. In particular, scholars and practitioners are highlighting the need to shift from the current emphasis on technological solutions and financial input, to an approach that combines both technological solutions and social solutions, bringing people and communities to the forefront of interventions (Aldrich & Meyer 2014; Wind & Komproe 2012; Johnson et al. 2013). Forced migration is a social process in which human agency and social networks play a major part. These networks can be instrumental in the construction and (re)-construction of livelihood systems and communities shattered by insurgencies and protracted conflicts

Why Governments Prefer Spatially Segregated Settlement Sites for Urban Refugees

The urbanization of Africa has been recent, rapid and notably disimllar from the pattern of urbanization that occured previously in Europe. Significantly, the urbanization of Africa has occured in the absence of structural transformation. Within this reality, refugees are viewed by African host governments as exacerbating the problems of urbanization and are most often located in government-designated and spatially segregated sites - refugee camps or settlements. Often in defiance of such policies, most refugees with urban backgrounds tend to congregate in urban centres. The case study of Sudan illustrates that even where the stay of certain refugees in urban areas may be formally regularised by governments there are nonetheless identifiable common patterns and problems arising out of and causing the spatial segregation of refugees away from urban centres. It is argued that the underlying reality of urbanization in Africa plus the protracted problems for governments created by urbanisation generally and cross-border ethnic solidarity in the case of many refugee movements in Africa, shape current hostile refugee policies towards urban refugees.L'urbanisation de l'Afrique est de date récente. Elle s’est faite de façon rapide et a suivi un parcours particulièrement différent de celui emprunté par l’urbanisation précédente de l’Europe. De manière significative, l'urbanisation de l'Afrique s'est produite en l'absence d’une transformation structurelle. Avec cette réalité comme toile de fond, les réfugiés sont perçus par les gouvernements hôtes des pays d’Afrique comme aggravant les problèmes d'urbanisation, et ils sont le plus souvent installés dans des lieux spécialement désignés par les gouvernements et spatialement séparés – notamment des camps de réfugiés ou des zones d’installations. Souvent en faisant fi de telles politiques, la plupart des réfugiés issus des milieux urbains tendent à se rassembler dans les centres urbains. L'étude de cas du Soudan démontre que même là où des gouvernements arrivent à sanctionner le séjour de certains réfugiés en milieux urbains, on peut néanmoins identifier des tendances communes et des problèmes qui résultent de, et provoquent, la ségrégation spatiale des réfugiés loin des centres urbains. L’article soutient que la réalité sous-jacente de l'urbanisation en Afrique, ajoutée aux problèmes à n’en pas finir confrontant les gouvernements et engendrés, d’une part par l’urbanisation en général, et de l’autre par la solidarité ethnique transfrontalière dans le cas de beaucoup de mouvements de réfugiés en Afrique, tout cela pris ensemble, façonne les politiques actuelles relatives aux réfugiés qui sont hostiles aux réfugiés urbains

Displaced Communities and the Reconstruction of Livelihoods in Eritrea

Sub-Saharan Africa, Eritrea, Conflict, Economic reform

A case study approach to the assessment of urban agriculture in the greater Edendale area, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.Migration from rural to urban areas has characterized the South African population in the last quarter of the 20th century. More recently, internal urban growth itself has contributed to the rapid growth of cities. This rapid population increase in towns and cities has resulted in a range of social and environmental problems. Food insecurity is one such problem, it is contended, that could be addressed by the more wide spread development of urban agriculture (UA). The literature review helped the researcher to understand the problems and potential of UA. For the purposes of this study , UA is defined as the growing of plants , tree crops and raising of livestock within and at peri-urban areas. It focuses specifically on the 'community' type ventures rather than that associated with individual households. UA is an effective and efficient way of converting urban waste land and underutilized resources into food products , generate income and create jobs . The literature review and the case studies underlined the importance of UA to supplement household income and address issue of food security. However, the activity has been largely overlooked by local government, policy makers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It was also realized that UA is not a widespread or common practice in the cities of South Africa although the majority of the urban populations are poor due to past apartheid policy, rapid urbanization and the relatively slow growth of the economy as a whole. Against the above background, this study focused on socio-economic analysis of vegetable production in the study area by identifying and examining the role played and potential socio-economic and environmental importance of UA in the Greater Edendale Area (GEA). The study was conducted in the GEA particularly in three vegetable gardens, namely, the African Tree Centre (ATC), the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre (ELEC) and the Willow Fountain Centre (WFC). Primary data were collected through using structured interviews, key informant interviews , personal observation and through a literature review and the consultation of documents and records from the organizations surveyed. Agricultural activities in general and UA in particular in the study area were limited. Production at present is also low. However, the production of vegetables and fruits and the raising of poultry do relatively well when compared to other UA activities. Very few people in the study area were practising UA because of the lack of suitable land set aside for the purpose, lack of equipment and lack of financial and technical support. The initial cost of starting community based UA was found to be high. This situation has limited the number of urban farmers. If people are able to meet the start up costs, they can provide the urban poor with fresh and affordable produce. ln addition, the lack of information and awareness, in relation to the actual and potential benefit of UA, has limited its spread in the study area. It is also possible to optimize the capacity of UA with limited inputs. High production per hectare is possible and is well suited to low-income families and it allows women, who constitute the majority of urban farmers, to participate. The young, the old and the unemployed are other potential beneficiaries. However, lack of recognition, and cultural biases (i.e, many urban managers and policy makers think that allowing UA in cities 'ruralises' them of its activities hinder the realization of the potential role of UA. Therefore, integration of UAin the plans, policies and activities of stakeholders, particularly urban planners, city administrations, NGOs, local universities, extension and credit organizations, and community based organizations (CBOs) should be a priority issue. Strategies to ensure a higher priority for UA need to be carefully articulated

Response to dietary tannin challenges in view of the browser/grazer dichotomy in an Ethiopian setting : Bonga sheep versus Kaffa goats

It has been suggested that goats (typical browser) are better adapted to digest tannin-rich diets than sheep (typical grazer). To evaluate this, Bonga sheep and Kaffa goats were used in a 2x3 randomized crossover design with two species, three diets, and three periods (15-day adaptation+7-day collection). The dietary treatments consisted of grass-based hay only (tannin-free diet=FT), a high-tannin diet (36 % Albizia schimperiana (AS)+9 % Ficus elastica (FE)+ 55 % FT (HT)), and HT+polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG). Animals were individually fed at 50 g dry matter (DM)/kg body weight (BW) and had free access to clean drinking water and mineralized salt licks. Nutrient intake, apparent nutrient digestibility, nutrient conversion ratios, and live weight changes were determined. Condensed tannin concentrations in AS and FE were 110 and 191 g/kg DM, respectively. Both sheep and goats ate 47 % more of HT than FT, and dry matter intake further increased by 9 % when PEG was added, with clear difference in effect size between goats and sheep (P<0.001). The effects of the tannin-rich diet and PEG addition were similarly positive for DM digestibility between sheep and goats, but crude protein (CP) digestibility was higher in HT+PEG-fed goats than in sheep fed the same diet. However, PEG addition induced a larger improvement in growth performance and feed efficiency ratio in sheep than in goat (P<0.001). The addition of PEG as a tannin binder improved digestion and performance in both species, but with the highest effect size in sheep