Women in conflict and indigenous conflict resolution among the Issa and Gurgura clans of Somali in Eastern Ethiopia

This article tries to show the impacts of conflict on women, the role of women in conflict and indigenous conflict resolution, and the participation of women in social institutions and ceremonies among the Issa and Gurgura clans of the Somali ethnic group. It explores the system of conflict resolution in these clans, and women’s representation in the system. The primary role of women in the formation of social capital through marriage and blood relations between different clans or ethnic groups is assessed. The paper focuses on some of the important elements of the socio-cultural settings of the study community that are in one way or another related to conflict and indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms. It also examines the positive aspects of marriage practices in the formation of social capital which strengthens friendship and unity instead of enmity.

Utilization of post-abortion care services in three regional states of Ethiopia

Background: In Ethiopia, utilization of post-abortion care service is minimal and it seems that the expanding services are underutilized. The purpose of this study was to assess factors which influence decisions for utilization of abortion related services at community level.Methodology: The study was carried out in six selected districts (woredas) within the three big regions of the country, namely Amhara, Oromiya and SNNPR. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. Both quantitative and qualitative study techniques, including structured interview questionnaires, focus group discussions (FGDs), and in-depth interviews. The study population comprised randomly selected 1,492 women of reproductive age, service providers, and key informants of the sampled districts.Results: Majority of respondents said that they prefer public health facilities. According to the respondents, the reason why women do not visit health facility for PAC services include lack of community support, unavailability of services, services are expensive, facilities are distantly located and lack of means of transportation. From the multivariate analysis it appears that public health facilities are preferred by younger respondents, those with no education, those with no history of unwanted pregnancy and those with better income. The qualitative study indicated that women do not go to health facilities for PAC mainly because of inappropriate treatment by providers at the health facilities. Conclusion: Public health facilities especially health centers are the most preferred but there are barriers that should improve. Introduction of supportive supervision should be considered as a tool for improving quality of care. Amechanism should be in place to obtain community opinion regularly and use it to continuously improve services. To correct some misconceptions and improve community awareness on abortion related issues community providers, including reproductive health agents and health extension workers can teach about availability of services and about abortion related complications. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2010;24 Special Issue 1:123-129

Community Water Improvement, Household Water Insecurity, and Women’s Psychological Distress: An Intervention and Control Study in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Over 650 million people worldwide lack access to safe water supplies, and even among those who have gained access to 'improved' sources, water may be seasonally unreliable, far from homes, expensive, and provide insufficient quantity. Measurement of water access at the level of communities and households remains crude, and better measures of household water insecurity are urgently needed to inform needs assessments and monitoring and evaluation. We set out to assess the validity of a quantitative scale of household water insecurity, and to investigate (1) whether improvements to community water supply reduce water insecurity, (2) whether water interventions affect women's psychological distress, and (3) the impacts of water insecurity on psychological distress, independent of socio-economic status, food security, and harvest quality. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Measures were taken before and one to six months after a community water supply improvement in three villages in rural northern Ethiopia. Villages similar in size and access to water sources and other amenities did not receive interventions, and served as controls. Household water insecurity was assessed using a 21-item scale based on prior qualitative work in Ethiopia. Women's psychological distress was assessed using the WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). Respondents were either female heads of household or wives of the heads of household (n = 247 at baseline, n = 223 at endline); 123 households provided data at both rounds. The intervention was associated with a decline of approximately 2 points on the water insecurity scale between baseline and endline compared to the control (beta -1.99; 95% CI's -3.15, -0.84). We did not find evidence of impact of the intervention on women's psychological distress. Water insecurity was, however, predictive of psychological distress (p <0.01), independent of household food security and the quality of the previous year's harvest. CONCLUSION: These results contribute to the construct validity of our water insecurity scale, and establish our approach to measuring water insecurity as a plausible means of evaluating water interventions. Improvements to community water supplies were effective in reducing household water insecurity, but not psychological distress, in this population. Water insecurity was an important predictor of psychological distress. This study contributes to an emerging literature on quantitative assessment of household water insecurity, and draws attention to the potential impact of improved access to water on women's mental well-being

Oestrus synchronization for accelerated delivery of improved dairy genetics in Ethiopia: Results from action research and development interventions

Oestrous synchronization is the manipulation of the oestrous cycle or induction of oestrus to bring a large percentage of a group of females cattle into oestrus at a short, predetermined time. The first field trial on hormonal oestrous synchronization regime and mass artificial insemination was conducted by the Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project in Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNP) regions. The objective was to improve access to improved dairy genetics by smallholder farmers and to kick-start market-oriented smallholder dairy development in Ethiopia. Following the field trial, the synchronization technology was adopted and scaled up by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and regional Bureaus of Agriculture (BoAs) in collaboration with the IPMS and Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) projects of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)) and the national research system. Performance of the scaled up project was inconsistent in the application of the technology and the results achieved. This working paper synthesizes results of action research activities and performance of the technology at larger scale, discuss implications of the results and draw recommendations for effective and sustained application of the technology in Ethiopia

Impact of improved wheat technology adoption on productivity and income in Ethiopia

Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important cereal crops cultivated in wide range of agro-ecologies in Eastern Africa. However, wheat productivity has remained low. This study was carried out in Ethiopia Aris Zone to determine the level and impact of adoption of improved wheat varieties on wheat productivity and farm income level of wheat producers in the country. The study employed the propensity score matching method to carry out the impact study. It was found out that the rate of adoption of improved wheat varieties in 2013 was 56%. Probit model showed that sex of household headship and livestock ownership enhanced adoption of improved varieties, while the educational level of the household head negatively affected in enhancing the adoption of improved wheat varieties. According to the result of the propensity score matching method, improved wheat variety adoption on average increased wheat productivity of adopters by about 1 to 1.1 t ha-1 than the non-adopters. Similarly, the result of the propensity score matching estimates showed that the average income of adopters was 35 to 50% greater than the non-adopters.The results provide empirical evidence that agricultural technology adoption can contribute to improving productivity and raising income of farm households.Bl\ue9 ( Triticum aestivum L.) est l\u2019une des cultures de c\ue9r\ue9ales les plus importantes cultiv\ue9es dans une large gamme de produits agro-\ue9cologiques en Afrique orientale. Cependant, la productivit\ue9 du bl\ue9 est rest\ue9e faible. Cette \ue9tude a \ue9t\ue9 r\ue9alis\ue9e en Ethiopie Aris Zone pour d\ue9terminer le niveau et l\u2019impact de l\u2019adoption de vari\ue9t\ue9s am\ue9lior\ue9es de bl\ue9 sur la productivit\ue9 du bl\ue9 et au niveau des producteurs de bl\ue9 dans le pays du revenu agricole. L\u2019\ue9tude a utilis\ue9 la m\ue9thode score de correspondance de propension \ue0 mener \ue0 bien l\u2019\ue9tude d\u2019impact. Il a \ue9t\ue9 constat\ue9 que le taux d\u2019adoption de vari\ue9t\ue9s am\ue9lior\ue9es de bl\ue9 en 2013 \ue9tait de 56%. mod\ue8le Probit a montr\ue9 que le sexe du chef de famille et la propri\ue9t\ue9 de l\u2019\ue9levage am\ue9lior\ue9 l\u2019adoption de vari\ue9t\ue9s am\ue9lior\ue9es, tandis que le niveau d\u2019instruction du chef de m\ue9nage affect\ue9 n\ue9gativement dans l\u2019am\ue9lioration de l\u2019adoption de vari\ue9t\ue9s am\ue9lior\ue9es de bl\ue9. Selon le r\ue9sultat de la m\ue9thode score de correspondance de propension, l\u2019am\ue9lioration du bl\ue9 vari\ue9t\ue9 adoption sur la productivit\ue9 moyenne du bl\ue9 a augment\ue9 des adoptants d\u2019environ 1 \ue0 1,1 t ha-1 que les non-adoptants. De m\ueame, le r\ue9sultat des estimations d\u2019appariement des scores de propension a montr\ue9 que le revenu moyen des adoptants est de 35 \ue0 50% plus grand que les r\ue9sultats non-adopters.The fournir des preuves empiriques que l\u2019adoption de la technologie agricole peut contribuer \ue0 am\ue9liorer la productivit\ue9 et l\u2019augmentation du revenu des m\ue9nages agricoles

Feed resources in the highlands of Ethiopia: A value chain assessment and intervention options

Global Affairs Canad

Evaluation of Two Estrus Synchronization Protocols in Dairy Cattle at North Shoa Zone Ethiopia

This study was initiated to change the hesitation of the farmer on the effectiveness of estrus synchronization under their (Ethiopian small holder) livestock management system using two synchronization protocols. Non-pregnant animals with normal reproductive tract and that fulfilled the preconditions for estrus synchronization were considered for treatment & assigned into two synchronization protocols (single PGF2α injection; and double PGF2α injection). Among 94 (27 heifer and 67 cows) synchronized cows using one and two injections of PGF2α protocols 26 heifers and 63 cows (89/94.7%) were exhibited estrus by visual observation and rectal palpation the remaining 5 (5.3%) did not illustrate heat. The overall pregnancy was 59.6 % with overall birth 94.3 %. High pregnancy was obtained in the double injection of PGF2α treatment group (63.1 %) than animals treated with one shot protocol 55.8 % there were statistically significant difference between treatments (p<0.05). Higher pregnancy was obtained from cross breed animals than local breeds. More over most of the animals come to estrus greater than 96 hrs. There was also significant difference between technicians on detecting the CL and conception. The estrus response, conception rate, pregnancy rate and calving rate was higher in both protocols so producers or farmers can use either the two protocols to achieve remarkable result but tight follow-ups and more resources are need to be exploited at farmer level

Genetic diversity and population structure among sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, L.) germplasm collections from Western Ethiopia

The Western Ethiopian region harbors a unique set of sorghum germplasm adapted to conditions not conventional to sorghums grown in other parts of the world. Accessions from the region possess unique resistance to multiple leaf and grain diseases. This study is aimed at exploring the extent of genetic variation and population structure among accessions of this region. A total of 123 accessions comprising 111 from Western Ethiopia (62 from Asosa and 49 from Pawe) and 12 U.S. adapted lines were genotyped using 30 sorghum simple sequence repeat markers (SSR). Genetic diversity and population structure were analyzed using PowerMarker and STRUCTURE software, respectively, based on 23 polymorphic SSR markers. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to view the variability in multi-dimensional space. Population structure analysis revealed considerable admixtures between Pawe and Asosa accessions, while the PowerMarker analysis grouped the accessions into three distinct clusters largely based on collection regions. The PCA did not clearly differentiate Asosa and Pawe accessions, but U.S. adapted lines were clearly separated from the rest. The study indicated the presence of marked genetic variability among accessions from Western Ethiopia and also provided clues on shared genetic events among accessions adapted to the two areas in Western Ethiopia.Keywords: Sorghum, genetic diversity, population structure, SSR, Ethiopi

High seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among Ethiopian healthcare workers

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has a devastating impact on the economies and health care system of sub-Saharan Africa. Healthcare workers (HWs), the main actors of the health system, are at higher risk because of their occupation. Serology-based estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HWs represent a measure of HWs' exposure to the virus and could be used as a guide to the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the community and valuable in combating COVID-19. This information is currently lacking in Ethiopia and other African countries. This study aimed to develop an in-house antibody testing assay, assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among Ethiopian high-risk frontline HWs. METHODS: We developed and validated an in-house Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for specific detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain immunoglobin G (IgG) antibodies. We then used this assay to assess the seroprevalence among HWs in five public hospitals located in different geographic regions of Ethiopia. From consenting HWs, blood samples were collected between December 2020 and February 2021, the period between the two peaks of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected using questionnaire-based interviews. Descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the overall and post-stratified seroprevalence and the association between seropositivity and potential risk factors. RESULTS: Our successfully developed in-house assay sensitivity was 100% in serum samples collected 2- weeks after the first onset of symptoms whereas its specificity in pre-COVID-19 pandemic sera was 97.7%. Using this assay, we analyzed a total of 1997 sera collected from HWs. Of 1997 HWs who provided a blood sample, and demographic and clinical data, 51.7% were females, 74.0% had no symptoms compatible with COVID-19, and 29.0% had a history of contact with suspected or confirmed patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The overall seroprevalence was 39.6%. The lowest (24.5%) and the highest (48.0%) seroprevalence rates were found in Hiwot Fana Specialized Hospital in Harar and ALERT Hospital in Addis Ababa, respectively. Of the 821 seropositive HWs, 224(27.3%) of them had a history of symptoms consistent with COVID-19 while 436 (> 53%) of them had no contact with COVID-19 cases as well as no history of COVID-19 like symptoms. A history of close contact with suspected/confirmed COVID-19 cases is associated with seropositivity (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.8; p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence levels were observed in the five Ethiopian hospitals. These findings highlight the significant burden of asymptomatic infection in Ethiopia and may reflect the scale of transmission in the general population