Rangeland dynamics in South Omo Zone of Southern Ethiopia: Assessment of rangeland condition in relation to altitude and Grazing types

A study was undertaken in Hamer and Benna-Tsemay districts of the Southern Ethiopia with the objective to determine the condition of the rangelands for grazing animals as influenced by altitude and grazing types. The rangelands in each of the study districts were stratified based on altitude and grazing types. In the study districts, a total of 32, 3, 2, 7 and 29 species of grasses, legumes, sedges, other herbaceous plants and woody species were identified, respectively. The common and/or dominant grass species in the enclosures was Cenchrus ciliaris while in the communal grazing areas they were Cynodon dactylon and Tetrapogon tennulis. In riverside grazing areas, the common and/or dominant grass species was Cynodon dactylon. The total grass biomass of communal, riverside and enclosure areas found in the different altitude categories of the study districts ranged from 398-503; 98-626, and 1,132 – 1,209 kg/ha, respectively. The common and/or dominant woody species in the communal grazing areas were highly palatable species of Acacia tortilis and Grewia bicolor and less palatable Solanum species. In riverside grazing areas, the common and/or dominant woody plants were species of Acacia tortilis, Grewia bicolor, and Solanum species while in the enclosures; Acacia brevispica and Acacia tortilis were found. The woody vegetation density per hectare of communal, riverside and enclosure areas in the different altitude categories of the study districts ranged from 2,501-3,021; 2251-3,021, and 201-700,wd/ha respectively which showed that the communal and riverside grazing areas were bush encroached. The range condition scores ranged from 17.87-20.38 (communal), 22-27 (riverside), 31.05-31.2 (enclosures) which were poor, fair and good condition classes, respectively. Similarly, with regard to the same variable the scored varied from 22-32.87, 19.73-31.43, 17.97-31.44 and 17.87-31.28% in altitudes >1550m, 1250-1550m, 900-1250m, and 550-900m, respectively. The result indicated the need for rangeland improvement measures in communal and riverside grazing areas, in order to attain sustainable livestock production from these areas. Establishment of community based enclosures was found to be one of the ways to improve the condition of the rangelands. The result indicated the need for rangeland improvement measures in communal and riverside grazing areas, in order to attain sustainable livestock production from these areas. Establishment of community based enclosures was found to be one of the ways to improve the condition of the rangeland

Assessment of the Causes for Policy-Implementation Narratives in Ethiopia: The Case of Selected Public Institutions

Policy implementation is one of the decisive policy processes where bureaucratic actors, individuals and institutions transform government commitments into action. Policy implementation cannot achieve its intended goals with a single ministry, agency or department; it has to bring all potential stakeholders together with varied interests. This adds to the frequent complexity of implementation unless public managers have the necessary skills or the art of “getting things done”. Challenges in policy implementation have their own causes rooted in lack of knowledge and capacity by policymakers, implementing institutions, ambitious goals, human and material requisites, commitments and personal interests, and lack of policy continuity. The objective of this study was to examine the underlying causes of policy dichotomy narratives in Ethiopian public institutions with a focus to implementation and come up with suggestions for policymakers. The study employed a descriptive –explanatory design in order that what is described may not remain mere factual exhibitions but to be sufficiently explained with their causal-effect relationships. Study data sources (targets) include a purposively selected public institutions (both federal and regional states), members of the parliament and regional states councils, bureau heads, and senior experts. A mixed research approach was also opted to complement each of the data obtained through both quantitative and qualitative instruments. The findings show that the policy dichotomy narrative with due focus to implementation is deeply entrenched among higher government officials and middle level policy actors in a bid to escape accountability as well as maintain policy transcendence which is dictated by party loyalties. In response, it is recommended that the on-going policy dichotomy approach and attitudes need to give way to a shared accountability and timely review of policies before popular grievances pile up and result in irreversible consequences. Keywords:  policy dichotomy, implementation, top-down/ bottom-up, cognitive constraints, and public institutions

Knowledge and Practice of Mothers/Caregivers on Home Management of Diarrhea in Under Five Children in Mareka District, Southern Ethiopia

Back ground: Diarrhea is the most common pediatric disease. The vast majority of deaths from diarrhea are among children under 5 years of age living in low and middle income countries. Early and correct identification of diseases and prompt initiation of management plays a key role in reducing diarrhea related mortality. The role of mothers is vital in health promotion, disease prevention and patient care. Objective: The present study is aimed to investigate the knowledge and practice of mothers/caregivers on home management of diarrhea in under-five  children in Mareka district, Dawuro zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia. Methods: Community based cross-sectional study was employed from March 1-30, 2015. Multi stage stratified sampling technique was used to select subjects to be included in the study from 11 Kebeles.  Data were collected using self-designed and pre-tested structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Demographic information of the mother & child and information on knowledge  & practice on pediatric diarrhea management at home were investigated. Overall responses of participants were scored as good and poor for assessment of knowledge and practice. Results: Total of 654 mothers/caregivers were participated in the study. Most (70.3%) of the mothers/ caregivers were in favor of sustained feeding (breast milk, solid and liquid food) during episodes of diarrhea in their children while 194 (29.7%) supported diet withdrawal. The level of knowledge among respondents on home management of diarrhea was found to be good in 438 (67%) respondents and poor in 216 (33%) respondents respectively. But the level of practice on home management of diarrhea among respondents was good in 309 (47.2%) respondents and poor in 345 (52.8%) respondents respectively. Only 50 (37.6%) respondents were aware about the correct amount of ingredients of homemade ORS (salt-sugar solution). A significant relationship was found between mothers educational level secondary and above,  mothers of  male index child & mothers residence in urban areas and mothers’ knowledge. Mothers age and residence in urban areas were significantly associated with mothers’ practice. Conclusion: There is a wide gap in the knowledge and practice of mothers regarding home based management of diarrhea. Therefore, strategies to increase awareness and practice of mothers on home management of diarrhea are needed. Keywords: childhood diarrhea, home management, knowledge and practice of mothers

Dry Matter and Crude Protein Degradability of Some Common Feeds and Total Mixed Ration in F1 Boran- Fresian Bulls Using in Situ Methods

The study was conducted at Holeta agricultural research center with objectives to evaluate dry matter and crude protein degradability and degradability parameters of some common feeds (natural pasture hay, wheat bran, cotton seed cake and noug seed cake) and total mixed ration (TMR contained natural pasture hay (50%), wheat bran (14%), noug (Guizotia abyssinica) seed cake (14%), cotton seed cake (8%), molasses (11%), urea (1%) and salt (2%) about 3 g of DM equivalent of samples were weighed in sealed nylon bags (10 x 20cm size and a pore size of 53 μm) that were incubated in the rumen of three ruminally fistulated F1- Boran-Fresian steers (body weight=510±57 kg  and age= 13±3 months ) that fed  natural pasture hay ad libitum and supplemented with 2 kg concentrate mixture contained with 50% wheat bran, 40% noug seed cake, 9 % cotton seed cake and 1% salt on dry matter basis, once per day in the morning. Three ruminally cannulated were housed in 1.5 x 2.0 m pen. The sieve size of the sample was 2mm.  The bags with 3 g sample were placed into the ventral rumen after morning feeding in quadruplicate at each time point in each steer for 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. Washing loss  was determined by washing duplicate feed samples in the water thank for 30 minutes. Wheat bran, noug seed cake and concentrate mixture had the highest DM and CP degradability (P<0.05) but, natural pasture hay had the lowest DM and CP degradability (P>0.05). The lag time of DM and CP were lowest and highest in natural pasture hay and wheat bran, respectively (P<0.05). Wheat bran and concentrate mixture had higher degradable fraction (a, b and a + b), rate and extent of degradation and effective degradability at (P<0.01). In contrast, natural pasture had lower degradability parameters than others feeds (P>0.05). In addition, wheat bran had the highest effective degradability (P<0.05), but hay had the lowest one. Generally, DM and CP degradability and   degradability parameters of TMR were ranged at the degradability values of natural pasture hay and concentrate mixture. Keywords: Dry matter, Crude protein, In situ degradability, Steers

The effect of pre-reading instruction in comprehending English language texts: Gembe Secondary School grade 9 in focus

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of pre-reading instruction in comprehending English language texts. An experiment was designed and conducted to investigate the significant difference between control and comparison groups. Four prereading activities (vocabulary definition, pre-questioning, brainstorming and providing background knowledge) were used for the treatment. A pre-test and post-test reading comprehension and vocabulary test, a questionnaire and classroom observations were employed in the study to collect data. The pre and post-tests aimed at measuring reading comprehension and vocabulary skills of the students. The subjects of the study were 104, control group (n=52) and comparison group (n=52) of Grade 9 students and one English teacher who taught thecontrol group. To get a representative sample, random sampling method that is lottery method was used for selecting the participants as a sample. After the administration of the tests, the data were collected and subjected to statistical analysis. An independent sample t-test was used to test the hypotheses in this study. The test score of the two groups were analyzed using the SPSS version 16 statistical software program. The major finding obtained from the statistical analysis shows that teaching pre-reading activities had brought about a significant improvement between the pre-test and post-test of the comparison group than the control group. Finally, the result of the questionnaire and classroom observation showed that the classroom teacher did not teach essential pre-reading activities which help to comprehend the text by activating the students prior knowledge. It is recommended that English language teachers need to teach pre-reading activities by activating students' background knowledge to comprehend the text. IVJimma Universit

Effect of Nitrogen Fertilizer Levels on Grain Yield, N Uptake and N Use Efficiency of Malt Barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.) Varieties at Wolmera District, Central Highland of Ethiopia

A field experiment was carried out during the 2017 cropping season at Holetta Agricultural Research center to determine the effect of nitrogen fertilizer levels on grain yield and quality of malt barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties at Wolmera district, central highland of Ethiopia. The treatments include a factorial combination of four nitrogen levels (0, 18, 36, and 54 kg Nha-1) and four malt barley varieties (Holker, Ibon174/03, HB-1963, and Explorer). The experiment was laid in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The higher (6170.70 kgha-1) grain yield were obtained with the combination of Ibon174/03 variety and application of 36 kg N/ha. The highest (130kgha-1) grain N uptake were recorded with combination of HB-1963 variety and application of 54 kg N/ha rates, while the lowest (47kgha-1) grain N uptake were obtained with combination of control treatment and Explorer variety. The highest nitrogen use efficiency (327.03%) was recorded with the combination of 18 kgha-1 N fertilizer along with Ibon174/03 variety. The highest net benefits (49,015.45 EBha-1) with marginal rate of return (136%) were obtained from the combination of 36 kg Nha-1 with Ibon174/03 variety. Therefore, application of 36 kg Nha-1 fertilizer rates and Ibon174/03 variety was found to be better both agronomically and economically feasible for malt barley production in Wolmera area. Keywords: Nitrogen fertilizer, Nitrogen uptake, Nitrogen use efficiency and Variet

The Extent of Public Opinion to Endorse or Halt Public Policies: A Review of Recent Change of Policy Goal Posts in Ethiopia

It is believed that one of the functions of representative democracy is to provide a mechanism through    which public opinion and public policy are reliably and regularly connected. The relationship between public opinion and public policy shows the functioning of representative democracy. Conventional wisdom shows that policy representation has become a prominent issue in everyday politics in recent years. The primary concept of public opinion refers to public preferences. This conviction presupposes that there has to be a policy representation, where public preferences can soundly be reflected. Meantime, public responsiveness implies public preferences to be considered in public policymaking process. However, true representation depends fundamentally on a responsive public, a public that monitors and reacts to what government does. There is less benefit when representation is inattentive and uninformed. In consequence, authorities of public opinion uphold the view that responsive public is like a thermostat which adjusts its preferences for more or less policy in response to what policymakers plan to do. This implies the embedded direct relationship between public policy and the response of the public. That is, when there is a policy increase, ceteris paribus, public policy preferences for more policy decrease. Conversely, when policy decreases, ceteris paribus, the public preference for more policy increases. Consequently, the magnitude of public support matters and government responsiveness is made proportional to the magnitude of public preferences for change. The objective of this paper is to examine the role of public opinion on policy endorsement or its demands for reconsideration or rejection for convincing reasons. Moreover, it tries to define how policy responsiveness and public responsiveness are played out and the optimum level of public opinion to influence public policies. Taking this theoretical background, the paper attempts to review and analyze the role of public opinion in policymaking process in Ethiopia and finally concludes with brief recommendations on the way forward. Keywords: Public opinion, public preference, public policy, policy responsiveness, public responsiveness, citizen participation, open and inclusive policymaking, and tokenism/pseudo-participatio

Adaptation and Growth Performance of Different Lowland Bamboo Species in Bako, West Shoa, Ethiopia

Bamboo is a fast growing tree species than other trees and starts to yield within three or four years of planting. Even though Ethiopia is one of the most endowed countries in having huge coverage of bamboo resource in Africa, the country has narrow genetic diversity only has two species. Yushania alpine (highland bamboo) and Oxytenanthera abyssinica (lowland bamboo). The adaptation of lowland bamboo at Bako Agriculture Research Center conducted from 2010 to 2013 to evaluate the adaptability potential of different provenance of lowland bamboo species and to provide the best performing of lowland bamboo species around Bako areas. Based on the objectives, four different lowland bamboo species were collected from Debrezit Agriculture Research Center and Forestry Research Center of Addis Abeba. The species are: Oxythenantera abyssinica, Guadua amplexofolia, Dendrocalamus hamlitonii and Dendrocalamus memebranceous among those mentioned only Oxytenanthera abyssinica are indigenous the rest are exotics. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with three replications. The selected bamboo species has no problem on survival and adaptability at Bako area except some growth variation. Despite this fact, Dendrocalamus hamlitonii specie is show high difference in new emerging shoots, internodes length, culm height and culm diameter whereas, Guadua amplexofolia revealed low in all growth parameters. So, based on these results we recommend Dendrocalamus hamlitonii, Dendrocalamus memebranceous and Oxythenantera abyssinica for different production since they have a good internodes length, ability to emerge new shoots, culm height and diameter while the growth of Guadua amplexofolia is quite different when compare with others. Therefore, the adaptation of lowland bamboo under Bako and related agro ecologies is reliable so, we recommend for further economic and livelihood benefits for different stakeholders through expanding the plantation. Keywords: Bamboo; exotic; indigenous; lowland; Plantatio

Determinants of Households’ Food Security in Resettlement Areas: A Case of Resettlement Schemes in Dawuro Zone, Ethiopia

This study assesses the execution of current resettlement program and the food security status of settlers in selected resettlement areas in Essera district of Dawuro Zone in SNNPR. One hundred thirty eight (13%) sample household heads in three kebeles were selected for survey by using simple random sampling technique. In addition, focus group discussions with representatives of settlers and direct observations have been employed to this study. The study results show that the consultation about the program was made with majority of settlers prior to the implementation of the program and the movement of settlers to the new area was voluntarily based. In addition, the minimum standards of basic infrastructure and social service facilities were not well established in the area prior to the execution of a program and have not yet been improved. It was also noticed that household heads in resettlement areas are exhaustively depleting forest for different purposes and they have not been advised to plant new trees and to use alternative options for fuel sources and construction to reduce their reliance on natural resources like forest. Food availability and food access to household heads through on-farm activities such as crop production, livestock rearing, and their income status have been improved in resettlement areas. But some household heads are yet food insecure due to their inability to meet the daily calorie requirement for healthy and moderately active life. The logistic regression model was used to examine the probability of the food security status of household heads. Accordingly, the numbers of livestock owned in TLU and use of fertilizer have high probability to influence the food security status of households in the study area. Thus, the intervention of all concerned bodies is indispensable to enhance the food security status of households mainly by improving the livestock rearing strategies and enhancing the use of fertilizer in resettlement area. Besides, giving attention to environment conservation, improvement of infrastructure and social service facilities as well as supporting settlers to diversify their income sources are key areas of interventions to be made to enhance food security status of household heads in resettlement areas. Keywords: Food security, resettlement, environment, settlers, on-farm activities, income diversification

Dry Matter and Crude Protein Degradability of Some Common Feeds and Total Mixed Ration in F1 Boran- Fresian Bulls Using in situ Methods

The study was conducted at Holeta agricultural research center with objectives to evaluate dry matter and crude protein degradability and degradability parameters of some common feeds (natural pasture hay, wheat bran, cotton seed cake and noug seed cake) and total mixed ration (TMR contained natural pasture hay (50%), wheat bran (14%), noug (Guizotia abyssinica) seed cake (14%), cotton seed cake (8%), molasses (11%), urea (1%) and salt (2%) about 3 g of DM equivalent of samples were weighed in sealed nylon bags (10 x 20cm size and a pore size of 53 μm) that were incubated in the rumen of three ruminally fistulated F1- Boran-Fresian steers (body weight=510±57 kg  and age= 13±3 months ) that fed  natural pasture hay ad libitum and supplemented with 2 kg concentrate mixture contained with 50% wheat bran, 40% noug seed cake, 9 % cotton seed cake and 1% salt on dry matter basis, once per day in the morning. Three ruminally cannulated were housed in 1.5 x 2.0 m pen. The sieve size of the sample was 2mm.  The bags with 3 g sample were placed into the ventral rumen after morning feeding in quadruplicate at each time point in each steer for 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. Washing loss  was determined by washing duplicate feed samples in the water thank for 30 minutes. Wheat bran, noug seed cake and concentrate mixture had the highest DM and CP degradability (P<0.05) but, natural pasture hay had the lowest DM and CP degradability (P>0.05). The lag time of DM and CP were lowest and highest in natural pasture hay and wheat bran, respectively (P<0.05). Wheat bran and concentrate mixture had higher degradable fraction (a, b and a + b), rate and extent of degradation and effective degradability at (P<0.01). In contrast, natural pasture had lower degradability parameters than others feeds (P>0.05). In addition, wheat bran had the highest effective degradability (P<0.05), but hay had the lowest one. Generally, DM and CP degradability and   degradability parameters of TMR were ranged at the degradability values of natural pasture hay and concentrate mixture. Keywords: Dry matter, Crude protein, In situ degradability, Steers