Farmers' knowledge and perception of enset Xanthomonas wilt in southern Ethiopia

This is the final version. Available on open access from BMC via the DOI in this recordAvailability of data and materials: The dataset supporting the conclusions of this article is included within the article (“Additional file 1 Datasets”).Background: Enset Xanthomonas wilt (EXW) was first reported in 1939 and continues to threaten the sustainability of farming systems in south and southwestern parts of Ethiopia. The present study was conducted in the central zones of southern Ethiopia to assess farmers' knowledge and perception about EXW, its etiology and mode of transmission, and its implications for the management of EXW. Methods: A survey was conducted in 240 households across Hadiya, Kembata-Tembaro and Wolaita zones of southern Ethiopia using focus group discussions and a structured questionnaire to assess farmers' perceptions of causes and modes of EXW transmission, and their knowledge on symptom identification. In addition, EXW prevalence, incidence and severity were determined for each zone. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Results: The results showed that a significant number of farmers are aware of EXW, its symptoms, etiology and transmission and spread, but they are not able to readily relate modes of spread to control methods. Since 2002, EXW became prominent in Hadiya, with the highest EXW incidence and severity, followed by Wolaita, and Kembata-Tembaro. Farmers identified EXW as the major cause for declining production and productivity of enset in the region. Conclusion: EXW has spread widely and rapidly in southern Ethiopia, with significant socioeconomic impacts in smallholders' livelihoods. There is a need for developing knowledge-based strategies and awareness-raising campaign for EXW management.This work was supported by the McKnight foundation, Africa RISING and Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI)

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

Chest injuries in Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Addis Ababa: A three year experience

A review of 72 patients with chest injuries admitted to Tikur Anbessa Hospital in  Ethiopia between February 1996 and February 1999 was undertaken. All but one  patient were treated with chest drainage. Approximately 85% of the patients were succesfully treated with chest drains leaving no residual defects. This simple, effective and affordable equipment should be made available in all hospitals. Chest drainage is a life-saving procedure for patients with chest injuries which all doctors should be  confident with.Kev words: chest injury, chest drain, associated injuries

Factors associated with compliance of prenatal iron folate supplementation among women in Mecha district, Western Amhara: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Iron and folate supplementation can effectively control and prevent anaemia in pregnancy. In Ethiopia, all pregnant women are prescribed iron folate during their ANC visit. However, limited adherence is thought to be a major reason for the low effectiveness of iron supplementation programs. Therefore this study was done to investigate factors associated with compliance of prenatal iron folate supplementation among women who gave birth in the last 12 months before the survey in Mecha district.Methods: Community based cross sectional study design was employed in Mecha district from June 25 - July 15/2013. A sample of 634 women who gave birth 12 months before the survey was included in the study. Study participants were selected by systematic random sampling technique after allocating the total sample to each kebele proportionally. Data were  collected using a pre-tested structured Amharic questionnaire. Collected data were edited, coded and entered to Epi info version 3.1 and exported to` SPSS version 16. Bivariate and multivariable analysis was computed. Results: A total of 628 women who gave birth twelve months before the survey were enrolled. In this study only 20.4% of participants were  compliant with iron foliate supplementation. In multivariable analysis, age of the mother, educational status of the mother, knowledge of anaemia and iron folate tablets, and history of anaemia during pregnancy were  significantly associated with compliance to iron folate supplementation (P &lt; .05). Belief that too many tablets would harm the baby and fear of side effects were the major reasons given for noncompliance.Conclusion: Compliance to iron folate supplementation is very low in the study area. Increasing female education and increasing knowledge of women about anaemia and iron folate tablets are recommended to  increase compliance to iron folate supplementation

Disabled Beggars in Addis Ababa

This study brings together qualitative and quantitative data to better understand the lives of people with disabilities who beg in Ethiopia. It sets out to provide an initial understanding of the lives of disabled beggars with particular emphasis on determining social and economic factors, and sequences of events or patterns of behaviour that are common to people with disabilities who now work as beggars. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the demographic characteristics of the survey respondents, including their education and vocational training levels and work history. Additional attention was directed to identifying possible areas of intervention that might sever the links between disability and poverty. The study yielded an intriguing set of results that identify: the complex set of issues with which disabled beggars grapple; a series of points where targeted intervention by governments, UN agencies, NGOs and disabled people's organizations could help break the on-going cycle of disability and poverty; and choices that lead some men and women with disabilities to beg. The study contains recommendations for policy, programming and areas for further research

Bargaining Power of Developing Countries in Trade Negotiations

The bargaining power of a country plays an influential and impactful role in trade negotiation. The final trade agreement is the result of the background negotiation among the contracting countries in a bilateral, regional or a multilateral arrangement. This paper has attempted to explore main strategies often exercised by the countries in trade negotiation and identifying factors that, in one way or the other, determine the bargaining power, particularly, of the developing countries. The data gathered from secondary sources are qualitatively analyzed. As strategies, the principle of reciprocity (negotiation based on a ‘give and a take’ policy) and prior preparation (conducting the negotiation process with full prior information, research finding and analysis), have been identified. Furthermore, the basic factors for building or relinquishing bargaining power particularly from the developing country’s perspective have been discerned as market, commercial intelligence, capacity to control others and resource. As trade cooperation is becoming an unavoidable and inescapable phenomenon in the entire world, developing countries are advised to make themselves ready to play well the trade negotiation game by improving their bargaining power and by exploiting maximum possible out of that. There is no trade deal that is wholesale good or bad; it rather depends on how the country negotiates

Reduced tillage, but not organic matter input, increased nematode diversity and food web stability in European long‐term field experiments

Soil nematode communities and food web indices can inform about the complexity, nutrient flows and decomposition pathways of soil food webs, reflecting soil quality. Relative abundance of nematode feeding and life‐history groups are used for calculating food web indices, i.e., maturity index (MI), enrichment index (EI), structure index (SI) and channel index (CI). Molecular methods to study nematode communities potentially offer advantages compared to traditional methods in terms of resolution, throughput, cost and time. In spite of such advantages, molecular data have not often been adopted so far to assess the effects of soil management on nematode communities and to calculate these food web indices. Here, we used high‐throughput amplicon sequencing to investigate the effects of tillage (conventional vs. reduced) and organic matter addition (low vs. high) on nematode communities and food web indices in 10 European long‐term field experiments and we assessed the relationship between nematode communities and soil parameters. We found that nematode communities were more strongly affected by tillage than by organic matter addition. Compared to conventional tillage, reduced tillage increased nematode diversity (23% higher Shannon diversity index), nematode community stability (12% higher MI), structure (24% higher SI), and the fungal decomposition channel (59% higher CI), and also the number of herbivorous nematodes (70% higher). Total and labile organic carbon, available K and microbial parameters explained nematode community structure. Our findings show that nematode communities are sensitive indicators of soil quality and that molecular profiling of nematode communities has the potential to reveal the effects of soil management on soil quality

Habitat characteristics or protected area size: What is more important for the composition and diversity of mammals in nonprotected areas?

The margins of protected areas are usually considered to have greater forest degradation, and given that most mammals live outside protected areas, researchers and conservation practitioners are increasingly recognizing that nonprotected areas must be incorporated into conservation strategy. However, the strategy used to manage these areas still involves increasing the size of protected areas, while not considering the habitat characteristics and requirements of the species. In this study, during a 3-year period, camera trap and habitat characteristic surveys were used to estimate composition, diversity, and habitat characteristics of mammals to determine habitat characteristics or increase the size of protected areas what should be considered first for mammals’ conservation in a nonprotected area near the Huangshan Mountains in Anhui Province, China. From June 2017 to October 2019, 18 species of mammals were recorded, more than in any other protected area nearby. The linear model analysis results showed that habitat characteristics of mammals were different and showed a significant correlation with their relative abundance. Most species were related to vegetation characteristics, except primates (Macaca thibetana), and rodents (Leopoldamys edwardsi). Therefore, to establish conservation policies for nonprotected areas, habitat characteristics should be of prime concern, followed by increasing the size of protected areas to provide effective refuge areas for species conservation