A comparative and evaluative study of potential biogas production from crops of teff (Eragrostis tef (Zucc) Trotter) in Ethiopia

The research on suitable alternative clean energy carriers to substitute for the use of fossil fuels is rapidly attracting attention. Biogas is an energy carrier that is considered as a possible alternative in both the developed and the developing world. However, finding suitable energy crops to extract biogas without affecting food security is still a debatable issue. In this context, the present study was conducted with the aim of assessing the potential adoption of teff for biogas production to meet part of the energy needs of Ethiopia. The methane potentials of teff grown for one, two and three month as well as the teff seeds were determined and compared with the methane potentials of corn and wheat. It was found that teff plants that were harvested after two months had higher methane potential, then one and three months teff and the two months teff had a methane potential similar to that of corn. Pre-treatment of two months teff with alkali ash or hydrolytic enzymes did not increase its methane potential.Keywords: Biogas, Methane, Ethiopia, Tef

Floods and health in Gambella region, Ethiopia: a qualitative assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of coping mechanisms

BACKGROUND: Floods are the most frequent and devastating type of natural disaster worldwide, causing unprecedented deaths, diseases, and destruction of property and crops. Flooding has a greater impact in developing countries due to lack of sufficient disaster management structures and a lack of economic resources. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted with the aim of contributing to the knowledge base of development strategies that reduce flood-related health risks in developing countries. The study focused particularly on assessing the flood risks and health-related issues in the Gambella region of Ethiopia; with the intent of producing relevant information to assist with the improvements in the efficacy of the current flood coping strategies in the region. METHODS: Data were gathered through interviews with 14 officers from different government and non-governmental organizations and a questionnaire survey given to 35 flood victims in Itang woreda. A qualitative approach was applied and the data were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: It was found that flooding is a common problem in Gambella region. The findings also indicate that the flood frequency and magnitude has increased rapidly during the last decade. The increase in floods was driven mainly by climate change and changes in land use, specifically deforestation. The reported main impacts of flooding on human health in Gambella region were deaths, injuries, and diseases such as malaria and diarrhea. Another notable consequence of flooding was crop destruction and subsequent malnutrition. CONCLUSIONS: Three weaknesses that were identified in the current coping strategies for flood-related health impacts in Gambella region were a lack of flood-specific policy, absence of risk assessment, and weak institutional capacity. This study recommends new policy approaches that will increase the effectiveness of the current flood coping strategies to sustainably address the impact of flooding on human health

Alternative agriculture and rural development: A case study of sugar beet cultivation in Kenya

Land use change has been observed to cause profound impacts on sustainability, particularly when the change is not well planned and co-coordinated. In Kenya the government is promoting diversification of crops to embrace high value crops and drought resistant crop varieties in efforts to reduce poverty in rural areas. Sugar beet is one of the crops considered as an option in this context. Adoption of new crops entails a land use change and hence potentially can affect the sustainability of the farming system if not rationally introduced. Therefore planning for rational shifts in crops cultivated is essential in promoting sustainable use of the natural and human resources. For this rational shift to take place a land evaluation is vital for assessing the potentials and constraints applying to different crops. The land evaluation should include the assessment of the physical and socio-economic potentials of the land. The aim of this thesis project was to assess the potentials and challenges for sugar beet cultivation in Kenya and its impacts on rural development and poverty reduction for the rural households. The outcome of the study indicated that there are prospects for sugar beet cultivation and adoption in the study area, the Nyandarua District in central Kenya. These prospects include not only physical land suitability – an adequate land area is suitable for sugar beet cultivation and a high sugar beet yield can be attained – but also socio-economic prospects, in the sense that farmers are aware of many positive properties of sugar beet cultivation and are willing to grow it. The analysis of sugar beet profitability indicated that if a local market with reasonable prices can be established, sugar beet can potentially increase and stabilize household net income. However some socio-economic factors, mainly the affordability of sugar beet production cost and the lack of appropriate farming technologies, may present challenges for widespread sugar beet introduction, particularly among farmers with low and medium incomes. The benefits of sugar beet cultivation, like that of any other crop with high start-up costs, are likely to be skewed towards the high income farmers. It is necessary for government and other stakeholders to intervene to ensure external support with affordable credit sources if sugar beet is to aid in pulling the many poor smallholder farmers out of poverty. Alternative agriculture with introduction of new crops is thus not a sufficient strategy to address problems of poverty and unemployment. Any successful strategy must be broad, including alternative agriculture and other growth and development strategies. Provision for the entire necessary infrastructure is vital for any successful implementation

Landscape Change in Peri-Urban Areas: a Comparison of Kenya and Southern Sweden

Peri-urban development has in recent years been given increasing attention in different regions all over the world. Peri-urban areas are defined as zones of conflict or competition where new and traditional land uses collide with outer reaches demarcated by daily commuting distances based on common modes of transport into urban cores. In this article an effort to compare peri-urban development in an industrialized and a developing region is made. Based on literature reviews, and questionnaire surveys peri-urban development processes in Scania in Sweden with Nyahururu and Mumias in Kenya are analyzed and compared with a particular emphasis the impacts on agricultural systems. Expansion process similarities included the conversion from an agriculturally-dominant landscape function to multi-functional landscapes with similarities in the process driving forces, namely population growth and economic development. The most important differences included: land holding structure and development, impacts of government planning and the actual rates of change

Tropical sugar beet land evaluation scheme: development, validation and application under Kenyan conditions

In Kenya the government is promoting diversification of crops to embrace high value crops and drought resistant crop varieties in efforts to reduce poverty in rural areas. Sugar beet is one of the crops considered as an option in this context and it is therefore important to increase knowledge about the potentials in the country for cultivating this crop. Sugar beet trials conducted in Nyandarua and Butere Mumias Districts of Kenya have shown that the crop yields are comparable to those obtained in traditional sugar-beet cultivation regions of Europe. Since sugar beet yield is affected by climate and soils, the results of Nyandarua and Butere Mumias sugar beet trials are not adequate to propose that comparable yields can be obtained elsewhere in the country and other tropical regions. Physical land evaluations assessing the potentials and constraints for sugar beet production are therefore essential. The objectives of this study was to develop a Tropical Sugar Beet Land Evaluation Scheme (TSBLES) that can aid assessment of the suitability of different areas in the tropics for sugar beet cultivation; and to test this scheme for an assessment of suitable sugar beet zones and land areas in Kenya. The development of the scheme was based on various literature sources and expert judgment on sugar beet requirements, and a Tropical Sugar Beet yield prediction Model. The TSBLES accounts for physical conditions of land i.e. climatic, edaphic and topographic conditions. According to the assessment results 27% of the land area in Kenya is suitable for sugar beet cultivation. Of this area, 5% is highly suitable, another 5% is moderately suitable and 17% is marginally suitable. Most of the highly suitable land area is concentrated in Rift Valley, Central and Nyanza provinces. The Rift Valley has the highest share of the suitable land area

Assessing the contribution of alternative agriculture to poverty reduction and employment creation: A case study of sugar beet cultivation in Kenya

In Kenya, the government is promoting high-value and drought resistant crop varieties in an effort to reduce poverty in rural areas. Sugar beet is one such crop. This study was conducted with two objectives: 1) to assess the opportunities and challenges for sugar beet cultivation and adoption in the Nyandarua district of Kenya and 2) to assess whether sugar beet adoption can offer an opportunity for escaping poverty for smallholder farmers in the district. The factors favoring sugar beet cultivation and adoption in the district include: adequate land area suitable for sugar beet cultivation and the high sugar beet yield that can be attained per unit suitable land area, farmers' awareness of the positive aspects of sugar beet cultivation, and the willingness of many farmers to grow the sugar beet crop. Notwithstanding these favorable conditions, some socio-economic factors-mainly the affordability of sugar beet production and possible lack of appropriate farming technologies, will present challenges to widespread sugar beet adoption, particularly to those farmers in the low-and medium-income categories. The sugar beet profit analysis showed that depending on the market price, sugar beet can potentially increase household net income. However, since the majority of households are in the low-and medium-income categories, for sugar beet to pull the smallholder farmers out of poverty, interventions from government and other stakeholders is of vital necessity. The impact of sugar beet adoption and cultivation will vary from household to household. Those households within the high-income category who can raise the required start up capital are likely to benefit, while the low-and medium-income households may not, which is true for any new crop with high start up costs. Alternative agriculture alone is therefore not a sufficient strategy to address the problems of poverty and unemployment. Any successful strategy to address these issues must be broad-based, and include alternative agriculture and other growth and development strategies. Provision for the entire necessary infrastructure should precede or accompany all of these strategies in order to optimize implementation benefits

Health officials’ perceptions of and preparedness for the impacts of climate variability on human health in the Somali region of Ethiopia

Perception, Preparedness, Health professionals, Climate variability, Flood,