Evaluation of interventions to improve markets for rural dairy households of Ethiopia: Evidence through system dynamics approach

There is a growing consensus that improving market access for smallholder farmers will help them earn more income and enhance food security. In this respect, we employed system dynamics approach to evaluate interventions to expand market access for the traditional system dairy producers in West Shewa zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia. Investment by dairy cooperatives in milk collection capacity and/or raising the price of milk for producers are the interventions identified in the study. These interventions were assessed ex-ante for impacts on (1) milk collection and dairy enterprise balance for dairy cooperatives and (2) milk production and profitability of dairying for producers. Analysis results show that compared to the baseline, the interventions can increase milk production by 17 to 57 %, milk collection by 24- to 43-fold, dairy household's profit by 11- to 21-fold, and cooperatives' dairy enterprise balance by 27- to 55-fold. In the long-term, both dairy cooperatives and producers are better off under market access improvement than under market access with higher milk price for producers. The findings suggest that continued improvement in market access for the traditional dairy farmers in Ethiopia is necessary to sustain higher gains in milk production, milk marketed, and income from dairying

Characterization and Assessment of Vegetable Production and Marketing Systems in the Humid Tropics of Ethiopia

Vegetables are sources of vitamins, minerals and income for those involved in production and marketing. Having first-hand information about vegetable production and marketing system is essential to devise appropriate strategies aimed at enhancing vegetable value chain development. It was in line with this view that a study was conducted to characterize vegetable production and marketing systems at selected sites in the humid tropics of Ethiopia. Data were collected using participatory primary survey techniques augmented with secondary data. While the area cultivated to vegetables has been increasing over the years due to increasing consumer demand, average yields are far below potential. Major vegetable production and marketing constraints include: lack of access to improved variety seeds, high postharvest losses, lack of reliable market information systems, low bargaining power of farmers, low technological know-how for value chain development and upgrading, all indicating critical areas of intervention. Increasing public awareness the nutritional importance of vegetables will critically help in reducing malnutrition while increasing smallholder household income

Analyzing the correlation of forest and wetland with land surface temperature by using geospatial technology: a case of Yayo district, Southwestern Ethiopia

Forests and wetlands played a crucial role in minimizing the increasing trends of land surface temperature (LST). This study aimed to analyze the contribution of forests and wetlands on LST in Yayo district using multi-spectral and multi-temporal satellite. Landsat images of 1986, 2003 and 2021 were downloaded from United State Geological Survey website with 30 m spatial resolution. Results show that the mean LST was increased from 22.8 °C in 1986 to 27 °C in 2003 over cultivated land. As the results of forest conservation and wetland protection, the LST in Yayo district is experencing a declining trend in the recent year. Result reveal that the normalized difference vegetation index and Normalized Difference Water Index show a strong negative relationship with LST. Over the last two decades, the LST was declined by 1.5 °C due to the protection of forest and wetland ecosystem. Thus, governmental and non-governmental organization should encourage the conservation and protection of forest and wetland ecosystems

Genetic diversity and drug susceptibility profiles of Mycobacterium tuberculosis obtained from Saint Peter's TB specialized Hospital, Ethiopia.

BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in Ethiopia. Data on genetic diversity and resistance profile of circulating TB strains is critical for informing the national TB control program.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 213 smear positive pulmonary TB patients between 2015 and 2016. Sputum samples were cultured on LJ media following the Petroff's method. Region of difference-9 (RD9)-deletion typing and spoligo-typing were performed for molecular analysis of M. tuberculosis at species and strain levels, respectively. Drug sensitivity and mutation patterns of the isolates were assessed by the conventional indirect proportion method and molecular line probe assays (LPAs), respectively. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software version 20.ResultsSpoligo-typing of 150 M. tuberculosis isolates led to 57 different patterns of which 25 were new strains. The majority (71.6%) of the isolates were grouped in to 17 clusters consisting 2 to 24 isolates. The majority of the strains belonged to Euro-American lineage and the predominant spoligotypes were SIT 37 and SIT 149. MDR-TB was detected in 5.2% and 20.3% of new and retreatment cases, respectively. Two MDR-TB isolates exhibited additional resistance to one of the second line anti-TB drugs. Common gene mutations including S531L, S315T1 and M306V were detected in RIF, INH and EMB resistant strains, respectively.ConclusionsThe identification of several new strains, higher proportion of MDR-TB and higher clustering rate in this study, warrants the need for re-enforcement of the national TB control program. The detection of common gene mutations in the majority drug resistant strains might suggest the feasibility of LPAs for rapid screening of drug resistant M. tuberculosis strains in Ethiopia