The Implementation of Training and Development Programs in Civil Service Institutions of Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia

The role of civil service in socio-economic and political development of a country is unquestionable. In some countries, however, the civil service is not aligned with the prevailing ideological, political and economic changes as well as management theories. Moreover, in some countries, especially in Africa, the civil service is blamed as a major cause for social and political upheavals and economic crises because of institutional and capacity weakness. As a result, it is common to see many countries engaged in the reform of their civil service. In 1991, Ethiopia experienced political changes that resulted in the introduction of multi-party system, market-oriented economy and federal form of government. Accordingly, the government introduced civil service reform that includes the issues of human resource development under human resource management reform since 1996.  Studies revealed, however, that the implementation process was not going well. This article, therefore, aims to assess the implementation of training and development programs in civil service institutions of Oromia National Regional State in Ethiopia. The findings reveal that though the government is committed in developing a system of human resource development, the implementation is not on the right track to fill the skill gaps evident in the civil service

Variation and association analyses on morphological characters of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) in Ethiopia

Morphological studies of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) of Ethiopia were undertaken in this study on 56 accessions collected from 10 administrative regions (former regions) classified into seven altitude classes. The seeds were planted during 2001 growing season in Bale-Goro wereda using randomized complete block design (RCBD) on three replications with the aim of investigating the morphological diversity in the accessions. Over the entire accession, except seed number per boll, all the characters showed significant variation. However, regional groups of linseed accessions showed insignificant variations only for secondary branches number per plant (SBP), days to flowering (DTF) and days to maturity (DTM) among themselves, and altitudinal groups of linseed accessions only for seed number per boll (SNB) and days to flowering (DTF). The analysis for coefficient of variation and cluster analysis showed that accessions from Gojam and Tigray were less diversified. About 53% of the total associations showed significant correlation and out of this 71% of the correlations were with the positive significant correlation coefficients. Cluster analysis indicates that accessions collected from the two extremes of altitude classes have variations for the studied traits. It is only Tigray Region that did not contribute member accession to cluster III, whereas Gondar and Bale regions contribute member accessions to 80% of clusters. Factor analysis showed that of the total variation (73.86%) 30.04% and 27.29% were accounted for by first and second principal components, respectively. The highest Shannon diversity index (0.322 ± 0.039) was recorded for boll size and Shannon diversity index for overall pooled mean was 0.223 ± 0.063.Keywords: cluster/factor analysis, diversity index, linseed accessions, morphological characters, variation/association SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science Vol. 28(2) 2005: 129-14

Application of statistical multivariate techniques to wood quality data.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.Sappi is one of the leading producer and supplier of Eucalyptus pulp to the world market. It is also a great contributor to South Africa economy in terms of employment opportunity to the rural people through its large plantation and export earnings. Pulp mills production of quality wood pulp is mainly affected by the supply of non uniform raw material namely Eucalyptus tree supply from various plantations. Improvement in quality of the pulp depends directly on the improvement on the quality of the raw materials. Knowing factors which affect the pulp quality is important for tree breeders. Thus, the main objective of this research is first to determine which of the anatomical, chemical and pulp properties of wood are significant factors that affect pulp properties namely viscosity, brightness and yield. Secondly the study will also investigate the effect of the difference in plantation location and site quality, trees age and species type difference on viscosity, brightness and yield of wood pulp. In order to meet the above mentioned objectives, data for this research was obtained from Sappi’s P186 trial and other two published reports from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Principal component analysis, cluster analysis, multiple regression analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis were used. These statistical analysis methods were used to carry out mean comparison of pulp quality measurements based on viscosity, brightness and yield of trees of different age, location, site quality and hybrid type and the results indicate that these four factors (age, location, site quality and hybrid type) and some anatomical and chemical measurements (fibre lumen diameter, kappa number, total hemicelluloses and total lignin) have significant effect on pulp quality measurements

Perceptions on Impacts of Decentralization on Local Governance in Ethiopia: Insights from DLDP Implementation in Guraghe Zone and its Districts

The rationale for the District level decentralization in Ethiopia has been reducing central and regional government control, increasing community and civil society participation, making government bodies more accountable, responsive and transparent to the constituents at the ground. This article explores and discusses how district level decentralization affected its potential for effective local public governance in Guraghe Zone and its Districts from local government bodies’ view.  The study employed concurrent mixed methodes research design. The,data were collected through survey questionnaires,focus group discussions, and key informant interviews, simultaneosly. The Guraghe zone’s districts were taken purposively. The data were integrated with analysis and interpretation of the results. The researcher employs cross tabulations, percentages, and graphs to discuss and analyze the data. The results show that that the decentralization affects accountability, responsiveness and transparency of local governments to the public positively and negatively in the study area. While, the finding also revealed that effectiveness decentralization reform on local governance effectiveness has been constrained due to misuses of transferred public resources.  Furthermore, the prevailing ethnic based political patrons and kinship networks are installing and implementing government policies and projects for their own interest than the ordinary citizen. The findings also revealed that local administrators are appointed and removed from their position without constituents’ knowledge. Even though both FDRE Constitution and SNNPRS Constitution clearly publicized how lower level government units are accountable to the higher government tiers, both fail state on  how upper level tiers of government units are being accountable to the lower level government units. This might affect the down ward accountability of governance actors to their constituents. Obviously, this determines effectiveness of local governance. Keywords:  decentralization, local public governance, accountability, responsiveness, transparenc

Application of mixed model and spatial analysis methods in multi-environmental and agricultural field trials.

Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.Agricultural experimentation involves selection of experimental materials, selection of experimental units, planning of experiments, and collection of relevant information, analysis and interpretation of the results. An overall work of this thesis is on the importance, improvement and efficiency of variety contrast by using linear mixed mode with spatial-variance covariance compare to the usual ANOVA methods of analysis. A need of some considerations on the recently widely usage of a bi-plot analysis of genotype plus genotype by environment interaction (GEE) on the analysis of multi-environmental crop trials. An application of some parametric bootstrap method for testing and selecting multiplicative terms in GGE and AMMI models and to show some statistical methods for handling missing data using multiple imputations principal component and other deterministic approaches. Multi-environment agricultural experiments are unbalanced because several genotypes are not tested in some environments or missing of a measurement from some plot during the experimental stage. A need for imputation of the missing values sometimes is necessary. Multiple imputation of missing data using the cross-validation by eigenvector method and PCA methods are applied. We can see the advantage of these methods having easy computational implementation, no need of any distributional or structural assumptions and do not have any restrictions regarding the pattern or mechanism of missing data in experiments. Genotype by environment (G×E) interaction is associated with the differential performance of genotypes tested at different locations and in different years, and influences selection and recommendation of cultivars. Wheat genotypes were evaluated in six environments to determine the G×E interactions and stability of the genotypes. Additive main effects and multiplicative interactions (AMMI) was conducted for grain yield of both year and it showed that grain yield variation due to environments, genotypes and (G×E) were highly significant. Stability for grain yield was determined using genotype plus genotype by environment interaction (GGE) biplot analysis. The first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) were used to create a 2-dimensional GGE biplot. Which-won where pattern was based on six locations in the first and five locations in the second year for all the twenty genotypes? The resulting pattern is one realization among many possible outcomes, and its repeatability in the second was different and a future year is quite unknown. A repeatability of which won-where pattern over years is the necessary and sufficient condition for mega-environment delineations and genotype recommendation. The advantages of mixed models with spatial variance-covariance structures, and direct implications of model choice on the inference of varietal performance, ranking and testing based on two multi-environmental data sets from realistic national trials. A model comparison with a ᵪ2-test for the trials in the two data sets (wheat and barley data) suggested that selected spatial variance-covariance structures fitted the data significantly better than the ANOVA model. The forms of optimally-fitted spatial variance-covariance, ranking and consistency ratio test were not the same from one trial (location) to the other. Linear mixed models with single stage analysis including spatial variance-covariance structure with a group factor of location on the random model also improved the real genotype effect estimation and their ranking. The model also improved varietal performance estimation because of its capacity to handle additional sources of variation, location and genotype by location (environment) interaction variation and accommodating of local stationary trend. The knowledge and understanding of statistical methods for analysis of multi-environmental data analysis is particularly important for plant breeders and those who are working on the improvement of plant variety for proper selection and decision making of the next level of improvement for country agricultural development.Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) is acknowledged on p1039

Evaluating the Implementations of Competence-Based Assessment and Certification System in TVET: The Case of Ethiopia

This paper evaluates the implementations of assessment and certification in the Ethiopian TVET system based on review of government documents and a descriptive analysis of primary data. The primary data are obtained by administering questionnaires to 184 TVET heads and 547 students/trainees that are drawn from 40 public, private and NGO TVET institutions in Addis Ababa and by administering interviews to 10 key informants. It is found that assessment is being carried out based on regulations/guidelines and assessment tools in accredited assessment centers by accredited assessors. Implementation of the system has directed the effort of stakeholders towards enhancing learners’ competence and has influenced learning. As a result, the number of candidates who passed the assessment in Addis Ababa has increased from 14.3% in 2009/10 to 61.7% in 2015. Findings also point out that the implementation of assessment is to some extent in line with some of the principles (criteria) proposed in the theoretical literature.  Encouraging practices are observed in terms of linking assessment with the learning outcomes or competence requirements of work place (i.e., national standards) as well as the authenticity, cognitive complexity, directness, consistency, and transparency of assessment. However, quality of internal assessment is hampered due to gaps in institutional capacity especially among smaller TVET institutions. Furthermore, implementation of external assessment is being affected by challenges such as unethical conduct by some assessors; limited accessibility of assessment as a service; capacity (quality) gaps in terms of assessors, assessment tools, materials and machineries; longstanding (but declining) attitudinal problems disfavoring external assessment; weak linkage between the external assessment system and TVET institutions (i.e., delivery); and, possible adverse effects of competence as a single criteria for renewal of accreditation of TVET institutions/programs. Finally, this paper points out some mechanisms that may help address the implementation challenges of a competence-based assessment system in the Ethiopian context. Key words: evaluation, competence-based education and training, assessment, certification, TVE

The burden of cardiovascular diseases in Ethiopia from 1990 to 2017: evidence from the Global Burden of Disease Study

In Ethiopia, evidence on the national burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is limited. To address this gap, this systematic analysis estimated the burden of CVDs in Ethiopia using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study data. The age-standardized CVD prevalence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and mortality rates in Ethiopia were 5534 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 5310.09 - 5774.0), 3549.6 (95% UI 3229.0 - 3911.9) and 182.63 (95% UI 165.49 - 203.9) per 100 000 population, respectively. Compared with 1990, the age-standardized CVD prevalence rate in 2017 showed no change. But significant reductions were observed in CVD mortality (54.7%), CVD DALYs (57.7%) and all-cause mortality (53.4%). The top three prevalent CVDs were ischaemic heart disease, rheumatic heart disease and stroke in descending order. The reduction in the mortality rate due to CVDs is slower than for communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional disease mortalities. As a result, CVDs are the leading cause of mortality in Ethiopia. These findings urge Ethiopia to consider CVDs as a priority public health problem.publishedVersio

Initial evidence of reduction of malaria cases and deaths in Rwanda and Ethiopia due to rapid scale-up of malaria prevention and treatment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An increasing number of malaria-endemic African countries are rapidly scaling up malaria prevention and treatment. To have an initial estimate of the impact of these efforts, time trends in health facility records were evaluated in selected districts in Ethiopia and Rwanda, where long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) had been distributed nationwide by 2007.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In Ethiopia, a stratified convenience sample covered four major regions where (moderately) endemic malaria occurs. In Rwanda, two districts were sampled in all five provinces, with one rural health centre and one rural hospital selected in each district. The main impact indicator was percentage change in number of in-patient malaria cases and deaths in children < 5 years old prior to (2001–2005/6) and after (2007) nationwide implementation of LLIN and ACT.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In-patient malaria cases and deaths in children < 5 years old in Rwanda fell by 55% and 67%, respectively, and in Ethiopia by 73% and 62%. Over this same time period, non-malaria cases and deaths generally remained stable or increased.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Initial evidence indicated that the combination of mass distribution of LLIN to all children < 5 years or all households and nationwide distribution of ACT in the public sector was associated with substantial declines of in-patient malaria cases and deaths in Rwanda and Ethiopia. Clinic-based data was a useful tool for local monitoring of the impact of malaria programmes.</p

Measuring socioeconomic inequalities in postnatal health checks for newborns in Ethiopia: a decomposition analysis

BackgroundAddressing health inequity is a top priority for achieving sustainable development goals. The existing evidences in Ethiopia have shown that there are substantial inequalities in the use of health services among various socioeconomic strata. Therefore, the present study aimed to measure socioeconomic inequalities and the contributing factors in postnatal health checks for newborns in Ethiopia.MethodsWe used a secondary data from the recent 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey dataset. The study includes a weighted sample of 2,105 women who gave birth in the 2 years preceding to the survey. The study participants were selected using two stage cluster sampling techniques. The socioeconomic inequality in postnatal health checks for newborns was measured using the Erreygers Normalized Concentration Index (ECI) and illustrated by the concentration curve. A decomposition analysis was done to identify factors contributing to the socioeconomic related inequality in postnatal health checks for newborns in Ethiopia.ResultsThe concentration curve of postnatal health checks for newborns lay below the line of equality, and the Erreygers normalized concentration index was 0.133, with a standard error = 0.0333, and a p value &lt;0.001; indicating that the postnatal health check for newborns was disproportionately concentrated among newborns with higher socioeconomic status. The decomposition analysis reported that antenatal care (ANC) visit (59.22%), household wealth index (34.43%), and educational level of the mother (8.58%) were the major contributors to the pro-rich socioeconomic inequalities in postnatal health checks for newborns.ConclusionThe finding revealed that there is a pro-rich inequality in postnatal health checks for newborns in Ethiopia. To reduce the observed socioeconomic health inequality, the government needs to improve ANC visits, implement strategies to access health service for economically disadvantaged groups, and increase educational attainment among women

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe