Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Exclusive Breast Feeding Among Inhabitants of Ginjo Guduru Kebele, Jimma Town, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Appropriate feeding practices are fundamental importance for the survival, growth, development and health of the infant and young children. However; exclusive breastfeeding remains a challenge because of many factors. It was suggested that mother's knowledge, attitude and practice determines the effectiveness of exclusive breastfeeding. This research is a cross-sectional study aimed to assesses mother's knowledge, attitude and practice towards optimal breastfeeding among Ginjo Guduru kebele. The survey was conducted from June 29-July30, 2018, from a total of 315 mothers who had children under one (1) year age, 190 mothers were selected using simple random sampling. Structured pre-tested questionnaires, as well as the in-depth interview, was used to collect the data on the socio-economic, demographic characteristics, knowledge attitude and practice towards exclusive breastfeeding. Among mothers studied about 73.94% had good knowledge of effective breastfeeding, 63.99% of mothers had a positive attitude on effective breastfeeding, and 69.69% had a good practice of effective breastfeeding. About 24.06% of mothers had poor knowledge of effective breastfeeding, approximately 36.11% of mothers had a poor level of attitude on effective breastfeeding, and about 31.31% of mothers had a poor practice of effective breastfeeding. Health service delivery staffs Policymakers, administrators and Non-governmental organisation collaborates to draw strategies to enhance the awareness of mothers about effective breastfeeding

The role of blockchain technology in promoting traceability systems in agri-food production and supply chains

Due to recurring food quality and safety issues, growing segments of consumers, especially in developed markets, and regulators in agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) require a fast and trustworthy system to retrieve necessary information on their food products. With the existing centralized traceability systems used in AFSCs, it is difficult to acquire full traceability information, and there are risks of information loss and data tampering. To address these challenges, research on the application of blockchain technology (BCT) for traceability systems in the agri-food sector is increasing, and startup companies have emerged in recent years. However, there have been only a limited number of reviews on the application of BCT in the agriculture sector, especially those that focus on the BCT-based traceability of agricultural goods. To bridge this knowledge gap, we reviewed 78 studies that integrated BCT into traceability systems in AFSCs and additional relevant papers, mapping out the main types of food traceability information. The findings indicated that the existing BCT-based traceability systems focus more on fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy, and milk. A BCT-based traceability system enables one to develop and implement a decentralized, immutable, transparent, and reliable system in which process automation facilitates the monitoring of real-time data and decision-making activities. We also mapped out the main traceability information, key information providers, and challenges and benefits of the BCT-based traceability systems in AFSCs. These helped to design, develop, and implement BCT-based traceability systems, which, in turn, will contribute to the transition to smart AFSC systems. This study comprehensively illustrated that implementing BCT-based traceability systems also has important, positive implications for improving AFSC management, e.g., reductions in food loss and food recall incidents and the achievement of the United Nations SDGs (1, 3, 5, 9, 12). This will contribute to existing knowledge and be useful for academicians, managers, and practitioners in AFSCs, as well as policymakers

Swedish Consumers’ Perception of Food Quality and Sustainability in Relation to Organic Food Production

Consumers’ demand for locally produced and organic foods has increased in Sweden. This paper presents the results obtained from the analysis of data acquired from 100 consumers in Sweden who participated in an online survey during March to June 2016. The objective was to identify consumers’ demand in relation to organic food and sustainable food production, and to understand how the consumers evaluate food quality and make buying decisions. Qualitative descriptions, descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Chi-square test (with alpha value of p < 0.05 as level of significance), and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used for analysis. About 72% of participants have the perception that organic food production method is more sustainable than conventional methods. Female consumers have more positive attitudes than men towards organic food. However, age difference, household size and income level do not significantly influence the consumers’ perception of sustainable food production concepts. Regionality, sustainable methods of production and organic production are the most important parameters to characterize the food as high quality and make buying decisions. On the other hand, product uniformity, appearance, and price were found to be relatively less important parameters. Food buying decisions and food quality were found to be highly related with Pearson’s correlation coefficient of r = 0.99

Performing Guzo Adwa: Power, Politics and Contestations

This paper documents a history and politics of memory project called Guzo Adwa. It highlights how, over the last eight years, Guzo Adwa emerged as a popular, performative commemoration of the battle of Adwa. Organised spontaneously by ambitious young men, who are passionate about history and adventure, culture and national politics, art and memory, Guzo Adwa emerged as a political performative, poetic and symbolic pilgrimage of the victory of Adwa. In its multiplicity, Guzo Adwa, which could be roughly interpreted as ‘Journey Adwa’, added to the already contested memory landscape pertaining to Adwa. The particularity of the project is that it has been organised neither as a mode of rule nor as an instrument of resistance. Moreover, the paper highlights how even this annual ritualized journey, as the memory project, embraced official and marginal political narratives, serving as a stage where varied economic interests and political issues surrounding national history were transpired. The paper is based on both primary and secondary sources. A total of ten formal interviews were conducted with key informants participating in Guzo Adwa in addition to informal discussions with others who have played some role in in the event , and other related memory projects. Newspaper archival research was conducted considering Addis Zemen reporting of Adwa commemoration as an ethnographic site. An attempt is made to attend events organised by the Guzo Adwa, especially the farewell ceremony of the eighth journey to Adwa. Finally, we try to locate the particular history of this memory project into national politics of memory and theoretical and conceptual debates in memory studies

Prodotti alimentari biologici: definizione, principi e regole

I contenuti principali includono: - Definizione di alimenti biologici - Norme e procedure per la produzione di alimenti biologici - Percezione dei consumatori sul prodotto biologico - Vincoli e opportunità del metodo di produzione di alimenti biologic

Condition, use, and management of water resources among pastoralists in Harshin District of the Jijiga Zone, Ethiopia: A gender perspective

A study was conducted in Harshin district, Ethiopia to monitor the condition, use and management of water resources among Harshin pastoralists. For the study, three sub-districts (Kebles), Harshin, Medeweyin and Lanqerta, were selected. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected usinghousehold surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The study found that water supply in Harshin district is 100% surface water system through rain water harvesting in Birkas, and 63, 100 and 0% in Harshin, Medeweyin and Lanqerta, respectively, do not have Birkas. Besides, 76% of the respondents were not satisfied with the quality of drinking water. Moreover, existing water supply sources contamination is exacerbated by low latrine coverage of 96, 50 and 0% in Harshin, Lanqertaand Medeweyin, respectively. Among the respondents, only 55% cleaned their storage material once in a week, while 18% never cleaned. However, 100, 33 and 50% of the respondents in Harshin, Lanqerta and Medeweyin, respectively, purify the water. The study recommends that strong assistance is required in maintenance of birkas, construction of silt traps and separate drinking structure for livestock coupled by capacity building and awareness rising for cleaning the available scarce water.Key words: Water resources, pastoralists, rainwater, water-harvesting, gender

Evaluation of Performances of Intermodal Import-Export Freight Transport System in Ethiopia

Freight transport system that minimizes costs, increase conveniences, and environmentally safe has become the agenda worldwide since long before. This study was made with the main objective of assessing intermodal termed as “multimodal” freight transport service in Ethiopia. Data was collected by using structured questionnaire from randomly selected customers and multimodal freight transport section employees of Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise. The study was made in two stages using customers: first, they were asked to evaluate their satisfaction with the multimodal freight transport system; second, to evaluate their comparative satisfaction with the segmented/“uni-modal” freight transport system against five major freight transport performance indicators. Customers were also asked to identify and rank top ten problems of freight transport logistics in Ethiopia. Data were analyzed using SPSS and excel sheets with descriptive statistics and the results were depicted using charts and tables. The study indicated that majority of customers were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with many of the performance indicators. The employees evaluated their organization as well performing relatively on more performance indicators. Both customers and employees evaluated the documentation performances as satisfying but cost and convenience as dissatisfying performances. Customers identified repetitive custom checking and waste of time in custom inspections process as the most severe problem in freight transport logistics in Ethiopia. The implementation of intermodal freight transport system to bring better change in import-export freight transport logistics of Ethiopia was in bitter challenge for customers due to a number of problems, except documentation performance that showed betterment

Analysis of the Supply Chain and Logistics Practices of Warqe Food Products in Ethiopia

Warqe (Enset) is a multipurpose perennial plant, domesticated and grown as a food crop only in Ethiopia. Kocho, bulla, and amicho are food products of warqe. This study analysed the supply chain and logistics practices of warqe foods. Supply chain management concept was used to analyse the warqe-based food chain. Eight supply chain actors were identified. It was observed that the supply chain of warqe foods and the relationship between chain actors was very complex, long and overlapping. The major constraints identified in the chain were poor information flow, poor transportation system, using perishable packaging, lack of cooperation between actors, a poor infrastructure such as road and warehouse services, and poor policies concerning the warqe market. There is a need for cooperation and coordination between the chain actors to create an effective information sharing system. Shared warehouses need to be built near producers and market places. Transportation, packaging and handling need to be improved. Research is required to develop an integrated, efficient and effective logistics for warqe supply and marketing chain

Transregional Conflict Crossing the Red Sea: The Horn of Africa

In diesem Beitrag werden die Sicherheitsinterdependenzen und Freund-Feind-Muster zwischen den Akteuren am Horn und am Golf diskutiert, um einige der besonders komplexen Konflikte am Horn von Afrika zu erklären. Der Einfluss der Golfstaaten auf die Konfliktdynamik am Horn steigt wieder und wird immer wichtiger. Dieser Einfluss ist nicht nur einseitig. Akteure am Horn treten zunehmend in der Rivalität am Golf auf. Einige Golfstaaten, vor allem Saudi-Arabien und die Emirate, zielen darauf ab, den Einfluss des Iran, der Türkei und Katars in der Region einzudämmen. Dies wird anhand von drei Fallbeispielen veranschaulicht: Die Sicherheit des Roten Meeres, die Intervention der Golfstaaten in die Konfliktdynamik in Somalia und der Golaktor bei der jüngsten Annäherung zwischen Äthiopien und Eritrea. Diese Fälle und zusätzlich die zunehmenden militärischen, diplomatischen und wirtschaftlichen Interventionen der Golfstaaten am Horn deuten darauf hin, dass beide Regionen enger zusammenrücken. Was wir also haben, ist eine aufkommende Sicherheitsinterdependenz, die durch ein sich zunehmend verfestigendes Muster von Freundschaft / Feindschaft gekennzeichnet ist. Da dies zwei Regionen umfasst, ist ein Regulierungssystem vermittels einer kooperativen Plattform erforderlich, die Staaten und Organisationen der aufstrebenden Region zusammenbringt.This contribution argues security interdependence and patterns of amity / enmity between Horn and Gulf actors help in explaining some of the peculiarly complex conflicts in the Horn of Africa. Gulf influence on conflict dynamics in the Horn is resurging, and is becoming more consequential. The influence is not merely unidirectional. Actors in the Horn are increasingly featuring in the Gulf’s own rivalry. Some Gulf countries, primarily Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, aim to curb the influence of Iran, Turkey and Qatar in the region. This is illustrated using three case studies: the Red Sea’s maritime security; Gulf intervention in conflict dynamics in Somalia, and the Gulf ‘factor’ in the recent Ethio-Eritrea rapprochement. These cases, on top of the Gulf’s increasing military, diplomatic and economic interventions in the Horn, indicate that the two regions are being knit tightly closer. What we have thus is an emergent security interdependence marked by an increasingly solidifying pattern of amity / enmity. As this straddles two regions, it calls for a regulatory scheme through a cooperative platform that brings together states and organizations representing the emerging region