Institutional implications of governance of local common pool resources on livestock water productivity in Ethiopia

This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Improving water productivity depends on how local communal water and grazing resources are governed. This involves institutional and organizational issues. In the mixed farming systems of the Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia, non-participatory water users’ associations, neglect of traditional water rights, corruption, village power relations, inequitable allocation of irrigated land and free-grazing practice impact the governance of local common pool resources (CPR). Indigenous governance structures for CPR such as the kire are participatory and effective in terms of rule enforcement. Externally initiated governance structures lack acceptance by farmers and sufficient support from local government. In order to improve water productivity in the mixed farming systems, institutional deficiencies need attention and existing indigenous governance structures require recognition and support.Peer Reviewe

Ethiopian Dairy and Animal Health Policy Sector: A Stakeholders' Network Analysis

አህፅሮትፖሉሲ ቀረፃ ስራ ብዙውን ጊዜ በርካታ ባሇድርሻ አካሊትን ያካትታሌ፡፡ በነዚህ በርካታ ባሇድረሻ አካሊት መካከሌ ያሇው ግንኙነት ይዘት ትብብርም ይሁን የመቀናቀን ሁኔታ ፖሉሲው የሚያስክትሇውን ውጤት ይወስናሌ፡፡ በምርምር ውጤቶች ሊይ ተመስርቶ የፖሉሲ ማሻሻያ እንዲዯረግ ተፅዕኖ ማሳዯር የሚፈሌጉ ተመራማሪዎች በፖሉሲ ቀረፃ ሊይ የትኞቹ አካሊት እንዯሚሳተፉ፣ የፖሉሲ ሇውጥ ሇማምጣት ያሊቸውን ፍሌጎት፣ የመሇወጥ አቅምና በመካከሊቸው ያሇውን ግንኙነት ሁኔታ ጠንቅቀው ማወቅ ይኖርባቸዋሌ፡፡ ይህ ጥናት የኢትዮጵያን የእንስሳት እርባታ ፖሉሲ ዋነኛ ባሇድርሻ አካሊትና በመካከሊቸው ያሇውን ግንኙነት በተመሇከተ የተዯረግ ጥናት ነው፡፡ ጥናቱ ተሳትፎአዊ የባሇድርሻ አካሊት ትንተና እና የግንኙነት መረብ ትንተና ዘዴን በመጠቀም በተሇይ በወተት ሊም እርባታ እና ተያያዥ የእንስሳት ጤና ጉዳይ ሊይ ያለ ባሇድርሻዎችን የመሇየት እና በመካከሊቸው ያሇውን ግንኙነት ተመሌክቷሌ፡፡ ውጤቱም እንዯሚያሳየው በኢትዮጵያ የወተት ከብት እርባታ ፖሉሲ ሊይ በርካታና የተሇያየ ፍሊጎት ያሊቸው ባሇድርሻ አካሊት የሚሳተፉበት ዯካማና መካከሇኛ ዯረጃ እፍግታ ያሇው በአስተዳዯራዊ መዋቅር ሊይ የተመሰረተ የግንኙነት መረብ ያሇው ሆኖ አግኝተነዋሌ፡፡ ከዚህ በተጨማሪ ክሌሊዊ የአስተዳዯራዊ መዋቅርን የሚሻገሩ የፖሉሲ መረብ ግንኙነቶች የላለ መሆኑን አረጋግጠናሌ፡፡ ነገር ግን አንዳንድ በአሇም አቀፍ እና በፌድራሌ መንግስት ዯረጃ ያለ ተቋማት ላልች በተሇያየ ዯረጃ ያለ ባሇድርሻ አካሊት በማገናኘትና፣ የፖሉሲ ውይይትና አንዲካሄድና ማሻሻያ እንዲዯረግ የማነሳሳት ከፍተኛ ማዕከሊዊ ሚና እንዳሊቸው አረጋግጠናሌ፡፡ ይህም ማሇት በኢትዮጵያ የእንስሳት እርባታ ፖሉሲ ቀረፃ የሁለም አካሊት ፍሊጎት ከግምት የሚገባበትና አካታች የማድረግ እድሌ መኖሩን የሚያመሇክት ሲሆን የፖሉሲ ማሻሻያ በዚህ ሴክትር ሲታሰብ ከእነዚህ በአሇምአቀፍ፣ በፌዯራሌና በክሌሌ ዯረጃ ያለ ቁሌፍ አካሊት ጋር መስራት እንዯሚያስፈሌግ ያመሇክታሌ፡፡AbstractPublic policy making often involves a multitude of actors. The level and nature of interaction among these actors, be it cohesion or friction, determines policy outcomes. For outsiders with the aim of influencing policy based on empirical evidence, it is imperative to know who are involved in the policy making process, the interest and influence of each actor as well as the nature and extent of their interaction. A study was conducted to analyze the Ethiopian livestock policy sector in terms of the main actors and their interaction in the dairy and animal health policy subsector. The study applied participatory stakeholders and social network analysis to identify the most important actors, their salience and network characteristics. The results indicate that a multitude of actors with diverse interests is involved in the Ethiopian dairy sector in a loosely connected network with medium level of clustering aligned along administrative tiers. The results also showed that in the existing federal administrative structure, there are no policy networks in the Ethiopian diary policy landscape that cut across regional boundaries. However, the international and federal level government actors play important role as central actors with bridging role connecting the decentralized regional and local level actors as well as in initiating policy engagement and change. This implies that there is a room for pluralistic policymaking and any attempt to influence policy in the livestock sector need to work with these international, federal and regional level actors

Determinants of Milk Marketing Channel Selection by Urban and Peri-Urban Commercial Dairy Producers in Ethiopia

አህፅሮት  ይህ ጥናት ገበያ ተኮር የወተት ላሞች ርባታ ላይ የተሰማሩ የወተት አምራቾች የጥሬ ወተት ግብይት መንገዶችን ለማጥናት እና የአምራቾችን የመሸጫ (የግብይት) አማራጮች (ቻናል) አመራረጥን የሚወስኑ ጉዳዮችን ለመለየት የተካሄደ ነዉ፡፡ ጥናቱን ለመተግበር በዋና ዋና ከተሞች እና በከተሞች ዙሪያ በተለያየ የሥራ ስ የወተት ላሞች ርባታ ላይ ከተሰማሩ 475 አካላት ጥሬ መረጃ ተሰብስቧል፡፡ ትንተናዉም የተለያዩ ገላጭ ዘዴዎችንና በዛ ያሉ አማራጮችን መሠረት ያደረጉ ሞዴሎች (መልቲ ቫሪዬት ፕሮቢት ሞዴል) በመጠቀም ተከናውኗል፡፡ የጥናቱ ዉጤት እንደሚያሳየዉ ምንም እንኳን በወተት ርባታዉ ላይ የተሰማሩት አካላት የተለያዩ የወተት መሸጫ አማራጮች ቢኖሯቸዉም የወተት ሽያጩ በዋናነት የሚካሄደዉ በኢ-መደበኛ የግብይት አማራጭ ነዉ፡፡ የመልቲ ቫሪዬት ፕሮቢት ትንተና ዉጤቱ እንደሚያሳየዉ የወተት አምራቾቹ የትምህርት ደረጃ እና በላሞች ርባታ ላይ ያካበቱት የሥራ ልምድ፣ የሥራዉ ስፋት፣ የወተት መሸጫ ቦታ ርቀት፣ በወተት ላሞች ርባታ የኅብረት ሥራ ማኅበር አባልነት፣ በእያንዳንዱ የወተት መሸጫ አማራጭ የሚቀርበዉ የወተት ዋጋ እና የወተት ላሞች ርባታዉ የሚከናወንባቸዉ ቦታዎች የወተት አምራቹ የሚሸጥበትን ቻናል የሚወስኑ ጉዳዮች ናቸዉ፡፡ ስለዚህ አሁን ያለዉን ኢ-መደበኛ የወተት ግብይት ወደ መደበኛዉ ለመቀየር የሚቀየስ የግብይት ሥልት ግብይቱን ማዘመን ላይ የተኮረ መሆን እንዳለበት ጥናቱ አመልክቷል፡፡ ይህን ስልት ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ ከሚረዱ ተግባራት መካከል መደበኛና ኢ-መደበኛ ስልጠናዎችን ለወተት አምራቾች በመስጠት መደበኛ ግብይቱን እንዲቀላቀሉ ማድረግ፣ የወተት ማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካዎችን በማጠናከር እና በሁሉም ትላልቅ ከተሞች ላይ እንዲመሠረቱ ሁኔታዎችን በማመቻቸት ለወተት አምራቾቹ ጥሩ የገበያ አማራጭ እንዲሆኑ ማድረግ፣ የወተት አምራች የኅብረት ሥራ ማህበራትን አቅም በመገንባት ከወተት አምራቾቹ ወተት የመሰብሰብ ሚናቸዉን እንዲወጡ ማድረግ፣ የወተት ማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካዎች በከተማ ዳር እንደሚያደርጉት ሁሉ በትላልቅ ከተሞች ዉስጥም የወተት መሰብሰቢያ ጣቢያዎችን በማቋቋም በኢ-መደበኛ መንገድ የሚሸጠዉን ጥሬ ወተት ወደ መደበኛ ግብይት የመቀየሩን ሂደት ከማሳለጣቸዉም በላይ የማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካቸዉን ሙሉ አቅም በመጠቀም የወተት ዘርፉን ትርፋማነት መጨመር ይቻላል፡

Milk and meat consumption patterns and the potential risk of zoonotic disease transmission among urban and peri-urban dairy farmers in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: In the Ethiopian dairy farming system, prevalence of zoonotic diseases such as bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is high in the cattle population. This, combined with some risky milk and meat consumption habits, such as raw milk and uninspected raw meat consumption, poses a considerable risk of zoonotic disease transmission. A survey was conducted to investigate milk and meat consumption patterns, and the level of exposure to urban and peri-urban dairy-keeping households for risks of zoonotic disease transmission. METHODS: Data on milk and meat consumption behaviours and other socioeconomic and demographic variables were collected from 480 urban and peri-urban dairy farms randomly surveyed in major towns in Ethiopia (Mekele, Hawassa, and Gondar towns, Addis Ababa city, as well as five Oromia towns around Addis Ababa). Determinants of raw milk consumption associated with a number of demographic and socio-economic factors were analysed using a generalised ordered logistic model. RESULTS: The results indicated that about 20% the population consumed raw milk and their awareness about pasteurisation and its benefits were low. Location, gender of the household head, previous bTB testing of cattle on the farm, knowledge of zoonotic risks associated with raw milk consumption, household size, and per-capita milk consumption were found to be important determinants of the frequency of raw milk consumption. About 60% of the respondents were exposed to the risk of zoonotic diseases through their habit of frequently consuming raw meat. This was despite that over 90% of the respondents were aware of possible zoonotic risks of raw meat consumption. The determinants of raw meat consumption behaviours were associated with location, gender and age of the household head, household size, meat type preference, per-capita meat consumption, knowledge about disease transmission risks, and training on zoonoses. CONCLUSION: Creating awareness about the risk factors for zoonotic transmission of diseases through training and media campaigns, improving meat hygiene through better abattoir services, and inducing behavioural change around meat sourcing, raw meat and raw milk consumption, are all crucial to the successful prevention and control of the spread of zoonotic diseases, including bTB

Zoonotic tuberculosis in a high bovine tuberculosis burden area of Ethiopia

BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of ill health and one of the leading causes of death worldwide, caused by species of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), with Mycobacterium tuberculosis being the dominant pathogen in humans and Mycobacterium bovis in cattle. Zoonotic transmission of TB (zTB) to humans is frequent particularly where TB prevalence is high in cattle. In this study, we explored the prevalence of zTB in central Ethiopia, an area highly affected by bovine TB (bTB) in cattle.MethodA convenient sample of 385 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB, N = 287) and tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBLN, N = 98) were included in this cross-sectional study in central Ethiopia. Sputum and fine needle aspirate (FNA) samples were obtained from patients with PTB and TBLN, respectively, and cultures were performed using BACTEC™ MGIT™ 960. All culture positive samples were subjected to quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays, targeting IS1081, RD9 and RD4 genomic regions for detection of MTBC, M. tuberculosis and M. bovis, respectively.ResultsTwo hundred and fifty-five out of 385 sampled patients were culture positive and all were isolates identified as MTBC by being positive for the IS1081 assay. Among them, 249 (97.6%) samples had also a positive RD9 result (intact RD9 locus) and were consequently classified as M. tuberculosis. The remaining six (2.4%) isolates were RD4 deficient and thereby classified as M. bovis. Five out of these six M. bovis strains originated from PTB patients whereas one was isolated from a TBLN patient. Occupational risk and the widespread consumption of raw animal products were identified as potential sources of M. bovis infection in humans, and the isolation of M. bovis from PTB patients suggests the possibility of human-to-human transmission, particularly in patients with no known contact history with animals.ConclusionThe detected proportion of culture positive cases of 2.4% being M. bovis from this region was higher zTB rate than previously reported for the general population of Ethiopia. Patients with M. bovis infection are more likely to get less efficient TB treatment because M. bovis is inherently resistant to pyrazinamide. MTBC species identification should be performed where M. bovis is common in cattle, especially in patients who have a history of recurrence or treatment failure

Dairy Cattle Market Participation and Performance in Selected Urban and Peri-urban Areas of Ethiopia

አህፅሮት ይህ ጽሁፍ የከተማና ከተማ-ገብ አባቢዎች የወተት ከብቶች ግብርናና ልማትን የምርት ገበያ  ተሳትፎ የሚፈታተኑ ማነቆዎችን ለመለየትና የማሻሻያ ፖሊሲ ሀሳብ ለማመንጨት በተካሄደ የዳሰሳ ጥናት ላይ ተደግፎ ገላጭ እንዲሁም የግብይት ደረጃዎችን መሰረት ያደረገ የኢኮኖሜትሪክስ (ደብል ኸርድል) የትንተና ሞዴል በመጠቀም  የተዘጋጀ ነው። ውጤቱ እንደሚያመለክተው የወተት ከብት አርቢዎች የገበያ ተሳትፎና የገበያ ስርዓት ያልዳበረና ወደ ልማዳዊ (ኢ-መደበኛ) የግብይት ስርዓት የሚያደላ እንደሆነ በአንጻሩም የወተት ከብት አርቢዎች የገበያ ተሳትፎአቸው ከቦታ ወደ ቦታ እንዲሁም በከብት ብዛትና በአርቢዎቹ ማህበራዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ ሁኔታ አንጻር ቢለያይም አብዛኛዎቹ ከመግዛት ይልቅ ወደ መሸጥ ያዘነበሉ መሆናቸው ታውቋል። የወተት አርቢዎች ወደ መሸጥ እንዲያዘነብሉ የተገደዱባቸው ምክንያቶች የወተት ከብቶች ማርቢያ ቦታ እጥረት፣ የበሽታ መከሰትና የከብቶች እርጅና መሆናቸው ታውቋል። በሌላ በኩል የአርቢዎቹ የግብይት ውሳኔዎች በሁለት ደረጃዎች የሚከናወንና እያንዳንዱ የውሳኔ ደረጃ በአርቢዎቹ፣ በእርባታ ስፍራዎችና ከእርባታ ውጭ በሆኑ ባህርያት ላይ የተመሰረቱ መሆኑን የትንተናው ውጤት ያመላክታል። እነዚህ ሁኔታዎች ከቀጠሉ የወተት ልማት ስራው የሚዳከምና የወተት ምርቱን እጥረት የሚያባብሰው ይሆናል። ስለሆነም በከተማና ዙሪያው ያሉ የወተት ልማት ፖሊሲዎችና አተገባበራቸውን መፈተሽና ማሻሻል እንዲሁም ህጋዊና ኢ-መደበኛ ያልሆኑ የግብይት ስርዓቶች እንዲዳብሩ የወተት ልማትና ግብይት ትስስር ማዕከላት የሚበረታቱበት ሁኔታዎች መፈጠር በተለይም  ለግብይት ተሳትፎ አለመዘመን ሁኔታዎችና ማነቆዎች የአርቢዎቹን የውሳኔ ደረጃዎች መለያየትን በማገናዘብ የምክርና አስተዳደራዊ ድጋፍ መስጠት ለወተት ከብት ግብይትና ልማት ከፍተኛ ጠቀሜታ ይኖረዋል።   Abstract This study examined important factors determining the market participation of dairy cattle farmers in selected urban and peri-urban areas of Ethiopia. Descriptive and double-hurdle negative binomial count data (econometric) models were used to analyze the cross-sectional data that was collected from the farmers through a household survey. Results indicate that dairy farmers’ market participation and the marketing system in which they operate are poorly developed and are inclined to be informal. Though dairy farms' market participation varied by region, herd size, and farm owners’ socio-economic characteristics, more involvement was observed in the selling than in the buying of dairy cattle mainly due to limited space, disease incidence, and old age. Results from the econometric model suggest that farm owners’ selling and buying decisions took place in two separate stages (conception and action) and that each stage was influenced by sets of farm owners, farm and non-farm specific characteristics. The implication would be that most of the dairy farms would be forced to close business and the demand and supply gap would continue to persist. Improvement of the existing government attention towards dairy cattle business in urban and peri-urban areas is crucial for achieving better performance in the dairy marketing system and might be achieved through enforcement of urban-dairy production policies and organized (formal) market development such as the establishment of dairy production and cattle marketing hubs in peri-urban areas and training in animal husbandry practices considering the decision-making stages practiced by dairy farmers. &nbsp

Digging, Damming or Diverting? Small-Scale Irrigation in the Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia

The diversity of small-scale irrigation in the Ethiopian Blue Nile basin comprises small dams, wells, ponds and river diversion. The diversity of irrigation infrastructure is partly a consequence of the topographic heterogeneity of the Fogera plains. Despite similar social-political conditions and the same administrative framework, irrigation facilities are established, used and managed differently, ranging from informal arrangements of households and 'water fathers' to water user associations, as well as from open access to irrigation schedules. Fogera belongs to Ethiopian landscapes that will soon transform as a consequence of large dams and huge irrigation schemes. Property rights to land and water are negotiated among a variety of old and new actors. This study, based on ethnographic, hydrological and survey data, synthesises four case studies to analyse the current state of small-scale irrigation. It argues that all water storage options have not only certain comparative advantages but also social constraints, and supports a policy of extending water storage 'systems' that combine and build on complementarities of different storage types instead of fully replacing diversity by large dams

Spoligotype analysis of Mycobacterium bovis isolates from cattle and assessment of zoonotic TB transmission among individuals working in bovine TB-infected dairy farms in Ethiopia.

Funder: ETHICOBOTSBovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a disease with impact on dairy productivity, as well as having the potential for zoonotic transmission. Understanding the genetic diversity of the disease agent Mycobacterium bovis is important for identifying its routes of transmission. Here we investigated the level of genetic diversity of M. bovis isolates and assessed the zoonotic potential in risk groups of people working in bTB-infected dairy farms in central Ethiopia. M. bovis was isolated and spoligotyped from tissue lesions collected from slaughtered cattle as well as from raw milk collected from bTB positive cows in dairy farms from six urban areas of central Ethiopia. From consented dairy farm workers, knowledge and practices related to zoonotic TB transmission, together with demographic and clinical information, was collected through interviews. Sputum or Fine Needle Aspirate (FNA) samples were collected from suspected TB cases. Spoligotyping of 55 M. bovis isolates that originated either from cattle tissues with tuberculous lesion or from raw milk revealed seven spoligotype patterns where SB1176 was the most prevalent type (47.3%). Most isolates (89.1%) were of the M. bovis African 2 clonal complex. All sputum and FNA samples from 41 dairy farm workers with symptoms of TB were culture negative for any mycobacteria. Among the 41 TB suspected farm workers, 61% did not know about bTB in cattle and its zoonotic potential, and over two-third of these workers practiced raw milk consumption. Our spoligotype analysis suggests a wider transmission of a single spoligotype in the study area. The results reported here may be useful in guiding future work to identify the source and direction of bTB transmission and hence design of a control strategy. Isolation of M. bovis from milk, knowledge gap on zoonotic TB and practice of consumption of raw milk in the study population showed potential risk for zoonotic transmission