Land Rental in Ethiopia: Marshallian Inefficiency or Factor Market Imperfections and Tenure Insecurity as Binding Constraints?

Although a large theoretical literature discusses the possible inefficiency of sharecropping contracts, empirical evidence on this phenomenon has been ambiguous at best. Household level fixed-effect estimates from about 8,500 plots operated by households who own and sharecrop land in the Ethiopian highlands provide support for the hypothesis of Marshallian inefficiency. At the same time, a factor adjustment model suggests that the extent to which rental markets allow households to attain their desired operational holding size is extremely limited. Our analysis points towards factor market imperfections (no rental for oxen), lack of alternative employment opportunities, and tenure insecurity as possible reasons underlying such behavior, suggesting that, rather than worrying almost exclusively about Marshallian inefficiency, it is equally warranted to give due attention to the policy framework within which land rental markets operate.Land Economics/Use,

Prevalence of bovine trypanosomosis in Wemberma district of West Gojjam zone, North West Ethiopia

A cross-sectional survey of bovine trypanosomosis was carried out in Wemberma district of west Gojjam zone, North West Ethiopia. From three peasant associations in the district (one from the midland and two from lowland), 384 cattle were randomly selected and examined for trypanosomosis. The prevalence of the disease as determined by buffy coat techinque was 7.81(95% CI = 5.11- 10.5%). Trypanosoma vivax and T. congolense were detected from buffy coat positive samples. Among the total of 30 cases of trypanosome infections detected 24(80%) of the infections were due to T.vivax and the rest 6(20 %) were due to T. congolense. No statistically significant associations(P>0.05) were observed between the disease and potential risk factors like age, sex and agroecology. However, when the different species of trypanosomes were considered, T. congolense infections were found only in the lowland. A significant association was observed (P<0.05) between the disease positivity and body condition score. When the mean packed cell volume of trypanosome infected animals was compared with that of non infected animals, it was significantly lower (P<0.05) in the infected animals, and the reduction was significantly lower (p<0.05) for T. congolense infection as compared with T. vivax infection. In conclusion, trypanosomsis was found to be important disease in the study area, and T. vivax was the more prevalent species and T. congolense with more negative impact in mean packed cell volume of affected animals

Monocular Diplopia: An Optical Correction Modality

Post-surgical or traumatic corectopia is among the rare causes of monocular diplopia. A 26-years-old student presented to the Institute with a complaint of monocular double vision in the left eye. He had a penetrating ocular injury in the left eye and subsequently, undergone for multiple ocular surgeries. Following the final intraocular lens implantation, he experienced a monocular double vision in his left eye. Upon contact lens clinic presentation, visual acuities were 20/20 in the right and 20/320 in the left eye (improved to 20/25 with pinhole). Slit-lamp examination on the left eye revealed scarring in the superior nasal quadrant of the cornea, irregular mid-dilated pupil with exposed aphakic and pseudophakic portions. A range of different optical management options were implemented to eliminate monocular diplopia and to correct refractive error. Finally, a combination of prosthetic soft contact lens and spectacle correction was able to remove diplopia and provide binocular single vision

Programmatic correlates of maternal healthcare seeking behaviors in Ethiopia

Background: Considerable improvement in maternal healthcare use has been observed since the inception of the health extension program (HEP) in Ethiopia in 2003.Objective: This paper evaluates the influence of HEP outreach strategies on maternal healthcare use.Method: Cross-sectional survey of 2,916 women with children 0 to 11 months from Amhara, Oromiya, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s, and Tigray regions, obtained between December 2008 and January 2009, were analyzed using regression models to assess the impacts of HEP strategies on maternal health outcomes.Result: The analyses found that communities (i.e., kebeles) with relatively high prevalence of model families, higher rate of household visits by health extension workers, and higher rate of household visits by voluntary community health workers were associated with improved antenatal care use, tetanus toxoid vaccination coverage, and receiving postnatal care visits; but the strategies were not associated with deliveries attended by health professionals.Conclusion: Although the impacts of HEP strategies on maternal healthcare use were statistically significant, they were not optimum to reach the maternal mortality reduction targets of the government of Ethiopia. The HEP needs to review and strengthen its community based strategies in order to reach its goals. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2010;24 Special Issue 1:92-99

Assessment of Risk Factors for Advanced Open Angle Glaucoma Presentation among Patients Visiting Jimma University Medical Center, Jimma, Ethiopia

Background: Glaucoma is the predominant cause of irreversible blindness, particularly the late presentation. The purpose of this study is to identify  the risk factors associated with late presentation in Jimma University Medical Center Methods: A case-control study was done among patients newly diagnosed to have open angle glaucoma (of any type) at Jimma University Medical  Center from July 2014 – January 2019. Cases were patients/eyes diagnosed to have any type of open angle glaucoma with advanced glaucomatous  disc features, whereas controls were patients diagnosed with early and moderate stages of glaucoma. Results: There were 205 (116 cases and 89 controls) participants. The mean age of the participants at the time of diagnosis was 58.3±13.4yrs. Family  history of blindness, presenting IOP, type of glaucoma and age were independently associated with late presentation. Patients with family  history of blindness had late advanced glaucoma five times higher than those with no family history of blindness. The presence of late glaucoma  among patients with presenting intra ocular pressure < 30mmHg is lower than those having ≥30mmHg (Adjusted Odds Ratio= 0.136). Primary open-  angle glaucoma patients were less likely to present with advanced glaucoma than pseudoexfoliative glaucoma patients (Adjusted Odds  Ratio=0.39). The chance of presenting with late glaucoma was increased by 3.4% for every one year increment of age. Conclusions: Presence of family history of blindness, high presenting intraocular pressure, pseudoexfoliative glaucoma and old age are risk factors  for late presentation of glaucoma.&nbsp

Ocular Dermoid in Crossbred calf- A Case Report

The present paper deals with a typical case of ocular dermoid cyst in three weeks old crossbred calf. The patient had a history of lacrimation and a hairy growth in the left eye. Based on the history and clinical examination, the case was diagnosed as ocular dermoid cyst and removed successfully by superficial keratectomy.Key words: Calf, Dermoid, Keratectomy, Teratolog

Prevalence of Tobacco Use and Physical Activity among Adult Sierra Leonean Population

The current burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors such as tobacco use and physical inactivity remain largely unknown in Sierra Leone. Thus, this study was conducted to document the prevalence of tobacco use and physical activity among the adult Sierra Leonean population with a specific objective of determining the sex and age prevalence. A cross sectional population based survey utilising the multi-stage cluster sampling strategy was used. A total of 5,483 individuals aged 25-64 years of both sexes were recruited into the survey. The World Health Organisation (WHO) STEPwise approach to surveillance instrument was adapted and questionnaire was administered to one individual in selected household. The data was analysed and graphed using Epi-Info software version 3.4.3 and graph pad prism version 5.1 respectively. The analyses showed that 34% of the respondents use tobacco products with 26% engaged in smoking tobacco products and 8% were smokeless tobacco users at the time of this study. The average age of commencing tobacco smoking was 21 years; with 92% and 96% of the male and female daily smokers smoking at least six manufactured tobacco respectively. Seventy four percent (74%) and 69% of the non-smoking respondents were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at home and workplace respectively. The study further revealed that 15%, 23% and 87% of the total respondents reported no work-, transport- or recreational- related physical activity respectively; and were therefore classified as physically inactive. The lowest level of physical activity was reported in the recreation domain. Even those who reported moderate physical activity at work or from travel, their median metabolic equivalent (MET) was not sufficient to achieve a level of physical activity that is beneficial to their health. In conclusion, a significant proportion of the population is exposed either directly or indirectly to tobacco smoke, and a large proportion of the adult population is physically inactivity. Thus, NCD prevention policy addressing lifestyle changes such as no smoking should not be limited to work places but should be population based. Keywords: Non-communicable diseases, Physical activity, Risk factors, Sierra Leone, Tobacc

Effect of Increased Nitrogen Application Rates and Environment on Protein, Oil, Fatty Acids, and Minerals in Sesame (Sesamum indicum) Seed Grown under Mississippi Delta Conditions

Information on the effect of nitrogen fertilizer rates and environment on sesame seed composition and nutrition is scarce. The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of nitrogen fertilizer application rates on sesame seed yield, protein, oil, fatty acids, and mineral nutrition. A two-year (2014, 2015) field experiment was conducted. Nitrogen fertilizer (urea ammonium nitrate) solution (UAN, 32% N) was applied by side dressing to four sesame varieties (S-34, S-35, S-38, S-39) at rates of 44.7, 67.2, 89.6 and 112.0 kg\ub7ha-1. Rate of 44.7 kg\ub7ha-1 was used as control since this rate is traditionally recommended in the region. Increasing nitrogen application rates resulted in higher protein and oleic acid contents in two varieties in 2014, and in all varieties in 2015. Increased protein and oleic acid were accompanied by lower total oil and linoleic acid. Increased nitrogen application also resulted in higher seed N, S, B, Cu, Fe, and Zn in 2014 in S-34 and S-35, but either a decline or no clear change was observed in seed levels of these nutrients in S-38 and S-39. In 2015, increased nitrogen application resulted in significantly higher seed N in all varieties, and higher S, B, Cu, Fe, and Zn in some varieties. A significant positive correlation was observed between nitrogen application rate and yield, and with seed levels of protein, oleic, acid, N, B, Cu, Fe, and Zn. A significant negative correlation was observed between nitrogen application rate and seed oil and linoleic acid. Thus, increased nitrogen fertilizer application resulted in higher seed protein, oleic acid, and some mineral nutrients, but lower oil and linoleic acid. However, this effect depended on variety and environmental conditions. Because higher protein and oleic acid are desirable traits for sesame seed nutritional value and oil stability, regional breeders should select sesame varieties for efficient fertilizer response

Epidemiological investigation of Peste des petits ruminants virus in small ruminants in Eastern Amhara, Ethiopia

International Fund for Agricultural Developmen

Sub-sampling a large physical soil archive for additional analyses to support spatial mapping; a pre-registered experiment in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia

The value of physical archives of soil material from field sampling activities has been widely recognized. If we want to use archive material for new destructive analyses to support a task, such as spatial mapping, then an efficient sub-sampling strategy is needed, both to manage analytical costs and to conserve the archive material. In this paper we present an approach to this problem when the objective is spatial mapping by ordinary kriging. Our objective was to subsample the physical archive from the Ethiopia Soil Information System (EthioSIS) survey of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) for spatial mapping of two variables, concentrations of particular fractions of selenium and iodine in the soil, which had not been measured there. We used data from cognate parts of surrounding regions of Ethiopia to estimate variograms of these properties, and then computed prediction error variances for maps in SNNPR based on proposed subsets of the archive of different size, selected to optimize a spatial coverage criterion (with some close sample pairs included). On this basis a subsample was selected. This is a preregistered experiment in that we have proposed criteria for evaluating the success of our approach, and are publishing that in advance of receiving analytical data on the subsampled material from the laboratories where they are being processed. A subsequent short report will publish the outcome. The use of preregistered trials is widely recommended and used in areas of science including public health, and we believe that it is a sound strategy to promote reproducible research in soil science