The characterisation of rainfall in the arid and semi-arid regions of Ethiopia

In order to plan effective agricultural and water resource projects, it is necessary to understand the spatial and temporal variability of rainfall. Although it is one of the most drought-hit countries in the world, almost no study has ever been conducted in characterising the rainfall pattern of the arid and semi-arid regions of Ethiopia. In this study, rainfall data of the past 50 years was used to study the basic statistical characteristics of the rainfall of this region. Annual and monthly rainfall was fitted to the theoretical probability distributions and the best distributions describing the data at respective stations were determined. Probability of wet days and dry periods of different durations was determined. It has been found that both annual and monthly rainfall at different stations was described by different probability distributions. There is high variation of rainfall pattern among the stations. Heavier rainfall events are infrequent but they make up a significant percentage of the total rainfall. In arid and semi-arid regions where both the amount and frequency of rainfall occurrence is low, it is essential to take into account the unique rainfall characteristics in such regions. Water SA Vol.32 (3) 2006: pp.429-43

Nuclear ribosomal DNA diversity of a cotton pest (Rotylenchulus reniformis) in the United States

The reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) has emerged as a major cotton pest in the United States. A recent analysis of over 20 amphimictic populations of this pest from the US and three othercountries has shown no sequence variation at the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) despite the region’s usual variability. We investigated this unexpected outcome by amplifying, cloningand sequencing two regions of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (18S, ITS1) to ascertain whether any variation occurred within and among populations of reniform nematodes in Alabama, US. Both thenrITS1 and the relatively conserved 18S region showed a fairly substantial amount of variation among populations. The identity among ITS sequences ranged from 1.00 to 0.86, while sequence identity at the18S ranged from 1.00 to 0.948. We conclude that variation does exist in these sequences in reniform nematodes, and the earlier report showing no ribosomal ITS variation in this pest might have beencaused by preferential amplification of a conserved ITS paralog. Current and future application towards resistance in cotton varieties to this pest requires reliable information on the molecular variability of thenematode in cotton-growing areas

Proximate composition, mineral content and antinutritional factors of some capsicum (Capsicum annum) varieties grown in Ethiopia

This study was conducted to generate baseline information on the nutritional composition, mineral content and antinutritional factors of three capsicum varieties (Marako fana, Bako local and Oda haro) grown in Ethiopia. In relation to proximate composition, Marako fana, Bako local and Oda haro contained 9.2, 9.0 and 8.8% moisture; 11.9, 8.8 and 9.2% crude protein; 27.3, 26.0 and 28.6% crude fiber and 11.2, 9.5 and 9.2% fat (oleoresin) on wet weight basis. They also contained 1.7, 1.6 and 1.8 mg/100 g potassium; 27.2, 38.2 and 54.6 mg/100 g calcium and 7.2, 6.9 and 9.6 mg/100 g iron on wet weight basis. Tannin was found to be 0.142, 0.164 and 0.148 mg/100 g, respectively, while phytate was not detected in any of the samples. Analysis of variance and LSD (least significant difference) test revealed that protein and oleoresin of Marako fana were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than Bako local and Oda haro. Potassium, calcium and iron contents of Oda haro were significantly higher (p less than 0.05). Based on these results Marako fana is preferable for large scale production of oleoresin, while Oda haro is nutritionally preferable because it contains high amounts of potassium, calcium and iron.KEY WORDS: Capsicum, Ethiopia, Composition, Mineral, Antinutrients Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2011, 25(3), 451-454

Impact of small-scale irrigation schemes on household income and the likelihood of poverty in the Lake Tana basin of Ethiopia

This study uses Tobit and Logit models to examine the impacts of selected small-scale irrigation schemes in the Lake Tana basin of Ethiopia on household income and the likelihood of poverty, respectively. Data for these analyses were collected from a sample of 180 households. Households using any of the four irrigation systems had statistically significantly higher mean total gross household income than households not using irrigation. The marginal impact of small-scale irrigation on gross household income indicated that each small scale-irrigation user increased mean annual household income by ETB 3353 per year, a 27% increase over income for non-irrigating households. A Logit regression model indicated that access to irrigation significantly reduced the odds that a household would be in the lowest quartile of household income, the poverty threshold used in this study. Households using concrete canal river diversion had higher mean cropping income per household than those using other irrigation types. Key challenges to further enhancing the benefits of irrigation in the region include water seepage, equity of water distribution, availability of irrigation equipment, marketing of irrigated crops and crop diseases facilitated by irrigation practices

Qualitative research toolkit: GAGE’s approach to researching with adolescents

This toolkit is a companion piece to the GAGE baseline qualitative research toolkit and provides the group and individual research tools, all of which are age-tailored (early adolescents, mid/older adolescents and adults), used during the second round of data collection in GAGE’s longitudinal study. A selection of these could be used to understand different dimensions of adolescent wellbeing and development trajectories in any given context. For the purposes of the GAGE research programme, this collection of tools has also been designed to mirror the GAGE ‘3 Cs’ conceptual framework which reflects the close connections between the ‘3 Cs’: capabilities, change strategies and contexts. It considers adolescents’ multidimensional capabilities and the ways in which these differ depending on age, gender and (dis)ability; the change strategies that are employed by families, communities, service providers, policy-makers, civil society and development partners to promote empowered and healthy transitions from adolescence into early adulthood; and finally the broader meso- and macro-level contexts that shape the enabling/constraining environments in which adolescent realities are played out (Figure 1). Adolescents are situated at the centre of this socio-ecological framework

Arresting gully formation in the Ethiopian highlands

Over the past five decades, gullying has been widespread and has become more severe in the Ethiopian highlands. Only in very few cases, rehabilitation of gullies has been successful in Ethiopia due to the high costs. The objective of this paper is to introduce cost effective measures to arrest gully formation. The research was conducted in the Debre-Mewi watershed located at 30 km south of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Gullying started in the 1980s following the clearance of indigenous vegetation and intensive agricultural cultivation, leading to an increase of surface and subsurface runoff from the hillside to the valley bottoms. Gully erosion rates were 10–20 times the measured upland soil losses. Water levels, measured with piezometers, showed that in the actively eroding sections, the water table was in general above the gully bottom and below it in the stabilized sections. In order to develop effective gully stabilizing measures, we tested and then applied the BSTEM and CONCEPT models for their applicability for Ethiopian conditions where active gully formation has been occurring. We found that the model predicted the location of slips and slumps well with the observed groundwater depth and vegetation characteristics. The validated models indicated that any gully rehabilitation project should first stabilize the head cuts. This can be achieved by regrading these head cuts to slope of 40 degrees and armoring it with rock. Head cuts will otherwise move uphill in time and destroy any improvements. To stabilize side walls in areas with seeps, grass will be effective in shallow gullies, while deeper gullies require reshaping of the gullies walls, then planting the gully with grasses, eucalyptus or fruit trees that can be used for income generation. Only then there is an incentive for local farmers to maintain the structures

Discussion with representative participants from Meket district on SI-MFS initiative activities implementation

Sixteen participants (M=15; F=1) have represented the community in this discussion. The objective of the discussion was to introduce the concepts of Si-MFS initiative to the participants and discuss on possible areas of intervention under this initiative. Furthermore, the role of WTL to link crowdsourcing winner varieties of durum wheat and faba bean to the surrounding farmers. Besides, the project team has discussed with Meket woreda administration and office of Agriculture about the initiative, main agricultural sector problems and designed possible alleviation solutions