Soil Erosion Control and Moisture Conservation Using Contour Ridge Tillage in Bougouni and Koutiala, Southern Mali

Soil erosion is among the critical environmental constraint for crop production in southern Mali. Contour ridge tillage (CRT), a water conservation technique had been locally applied since 1990. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of CRT compared with farmer conventional agriculture practice (NoCRT) on runoff, soil loss, nutrient loss, moisture conservation and cereals yields under rainfed conditions in two Southern Mali sites, in 2016 and 2017 in farmer fields. Measurements were performed on erosion plots composed of CRT and NoCRT plots from which water samples were collected to determine sedimentation levels, concentration and nutrients losses using pairwise comparison. Average runoff coefficient in NoCRT plots was 35.62% compared to 19.25% for the CRT plots explaining a runoff reduction of 46%. Mean soil losses of 12,095 t·ha−1 and 4970 t·ha−1 were respectively measured in NoCRT and CRT plots. Losses in calcium, magnesium and potassium nutrients in the NoCRT plots were 80%, 66%, 75% higher compared to CRT ones, respectively. Sorghum grain yield was at least two folds higher in CRT plots compared to the NoCRT plots. Maize average grain yield was 87% higher in CRT plots than in the NoCRT. For sustained soil productivity, CRT is advocated as a better soil and water management technique than the NoCRT one

New Africa RISING geospatial maps show cropping patterns and land use changes in Mali

Africa RISING and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT) Geospatial Unit in Patancheru, India, have developed land use maps of Africa RISING project intervention sites in southern Mali. The new maps, which were produced in mid-August 2015, will ease the process of identifying and visualizing different crop domains and possible natural resource management (NRM) sites within the Africa RISING intervention villages in Mali. The maps were produced using high resolution imagery from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “These maps will show us where to focus our sustainable intensification efforts in Mali; they will also guide preparation of country strategies for sustainable primary productivity,” explains Birhanu Zemadim. “We will use the ground survey data they provide to prepare geospatial products associated with land use/land cover, crop intensity, length of growing periods, land use changes over the period, and NRM technologies.” he adds..

Glycogenic control and associated factors among diabetic patients visiting Adama specialized Hospital, Oromiya, Ethiopia: A facility based cross sectional study

Introduction: Although glycaemic control is essential in diabetes management, evidences are lacking in resource limited settings. Therefore, this study was intended to assess the level of glycaemic control and associated factors among diabetic patients.Methods: The data were collected from 332 diabetic patients in Adama Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia from February to March 2012. A patient was included in the study if he/she was 15 years and above. The data were collected using structured questionnaires; a medical card review and anthropometric measurement was done by trained nurses. SPSS version 16.0 was used to analyze the data.Results: The study revealed that 180 (55.9%) of the respondents were adequately controlled their glycaemic level. The remaining were poorly controlled their glycaemic level. Poor glycaemic control was found among rural residents, type I diabetic patients, older age groups (>46 years), those who consumed alcohol and less restricted simple sugar intake, don’t adhere to their meal time and had been prescribed oral hypoglycaemic drug alone (p<0.05). On the other hand, being physically active, obtaining advice from health workers and self monitoring blood glucose level significantly helped patients to control their gylcaemic level (p<0.05).Conclusions: Significant proportions of diabetic patients were not able to control their glycaemic level and poor diabetic control was mainly found in patients with poor self care practices. Thus, health care providers should deliver individualized patient education and support those with elevated glycaemic level to help them better controls their conditions.Keywords: Diabetic, Glycaemic control, EthiopiaAfr J Health Sci. 2013; 26:302-31

The Challenges of Rainfed Agricultural Practices in Mali-Redefining Research Agenda- A Short Communication

Mali is one of the least developed countries with an economy that relies heavily on rainfed cereal production. Rural communities are faced with extreme poverty as a result of unpredictable rainfall pattern and lack of appropriate agricultural intervention practices. Most agronomic practices in support of development in the past had emphasized farm-level productivity issues with limited scope for managing interactions among components and actors beyond the level of the farm. Several studies showed different techniques practiced at farm level to improve the agricultural productivity. However rural communities at large are unable to cope with the impacts of climate change and other shocks related to agricultural input supplies and market access. In this short communication paper recent findings related to the challenges of rainfed agricultural practices were discussed to inform policy makers, researchers and development practitioners to re-define approaches towards sustainable agricultural development. In addition new research agenda was discussed that aim to integrate interactions among components and actors beyond the level of the farm to improve rural resilience

Predictors of Treatment Seeking Intention among People with Cough in East Wollega, Ethiopia Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior: A Community Based Cross -Sectional Study

Background: Early treatment seeking for cough is crucial in the prevention and control of Tuberculosis. This study was intended to assess treatment seeking intention of people with cough of more than two weeks, and to identify its predictors.Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 763 individuals with cough of more than two weeks in East Wollega Zone from March 10 to April 16, 2011. Study participants were selected from eighteen villages by cluster sampling method. Data collection instruments were developed according to the standard guideline of the theory of planned behavior. The data were analyzed with SPSS 16.0. Multiple linear regression was used to identify predictors.Results: Mean score of intention was found to be 12.6 (SD=2.8) (range of possible score=3-15). Knowledge (β=0.14, 95%CI: 0.07-0.2), direct attitude (β=0.31, 95%CI: 0.25-0.35), belief-based attitude (β=0.03, 95%CI: 0.02-0.06) and perceived subjective norm (β=0.22, 95%CI: 0.13 -0.31) positively predicted treatment seeking intention. However, perceived behavioral control and control belief were not significantly associated with treatment seeking intention (p>0.05). Being smoker (β=-0.97, 95%CI:-1.65- (-0.37)) and higher family income (β=-0.06, 95%CI:-0.07-(-0.01) were significantly associated with lower treatment seeking intention.Conclusion: TPB significantly predicted treatment seeking intention among the study participants. Attitude and silent beliefs held by the respondents play an important role and should be given emphasize in prevention and control of Tuberculosis.Keywords: Tuberculosis, Cough, Intention, Treatment, Theory of Planned Behavio

Scaling up climate services for agriculture in Mali Initial findings from piloted implementation of PICSA approach in Africa RISING project intervention zone, southern Mali

The Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach, designed by the University of Reading (UoR), focuses on improving farmers' livelihood and resilience against the effect of climate change. It provides farmers with accurate, locally specific climate and weather information; coupled with diverse, locally pertinent options for crops, livestock and other livelihood activities; and the use of participatory planning tools to improve and enlighten their decision making based on their individual situations. PICSA is a step by step approach, primarily designed for field extensionists to help them integrate new tools in their activities with farmers and improve the efficiency and impact of those activities on farmer's enterprises

Modeling the probability of giving birth at health institutions among pregnant women attending antenatal care in West Shewa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia: A cross sectional study

Background: Although ante natal care and institutional delivery is effective means for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality, the probability of giving birth at health institutions among ante natal care attendants has not been modeled in Ethiopia. Therefore, the objective of this study was to model predictors of giving birth at health institutions among expectant mothers following antenatal care.Methods: Facility based cross sectional study design was conducted among 322 consecutively selected mothers who were following ante natal care in two districts of West Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Participants were proportionally recruited from six health institutions. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Multivariable logistic  regression was employed to develop the prediction model.Results: The final regression model had good discrimination power (89.2%), optimum sensitivity (89.0%) and specificity (80.0%) to predict the probability of giving birth at health institutions. Accordingly, self efficacy (beta=0.41), perceived barrier (beta=-0.31) and perceived susceptibility (beta=0.29) were significantly predicted the probability of giving birth at health institutions.Conclusion: The present study showed that logistic regression model has predicted the probability of giving birth at health institutions and identified significant predictors which health care providers should take into account in promotion of institutional delivery.Key word: Institutional delivery, intention, ANC, probabilit

Shallow wells, the untapped resource with a potential to improve agriculture and food security in southern Mali

Background Excessive rainwater during the rainy season and lack of water in the dry season have been challenging the agricultural productivity and food security for rural communities in southern Mali. Various soil and water conservation practices were implemented in the past to improve crop yields and income, and reverse the effect of land degradation. However, none of these efforts looked into the potential use of shallow wells at a spatial scale to improve the agricultural productivity and hence the food security in the region. Results In total 484 shallow wells were geo-referenced, mapped and studied in two districts, Bougouni and Koutiala, in southern Mali to understand the dynamics of groundwater recharge and relationship with rainfall in different seasons. The study found out that shallow wells were mainly utilized for household and livestock water consumption and not for agricultural water use. Well construction history followed the trend of the severe drought that hit the Sahel in the years of the 1970s and 1980s. Majority of wells (87 % in Bougouni and 84 % in Koutiala) were constructed after the drought period with significant variation of construction in the two districts (p value 0.032). Well depths ranged from 1 to 150 m, with the majority of wells (64 %) within the depth range of 6.5–14.5 m (p value 0.043). During the dry season water was available in the majority of wells (73 %) at a depth range from 5.5 to 15.5 m (p value 0.996). In the rainy season on average 84 % of wells in Bougouni and 94 % of wells in Koutiala experience water level rise within the range of 0.5–10.5 m (p value 0.423/Bougouni and 0.991/Koutiala). In few of the studied villages shallow wells were found to be fast recharging, thus enabling farmers to buffer the negative effects of drought conditions. Conclusion Shallow wells are important sources of water in rural Mali. The wells have adequate recharging capacity during the rainy season and insignificant water level variation during the dry season. Though accessing water from shallow wells was labour-intensive and mostly done by women and the youth, water is available within an average depth ranging from 5.5 to 15.5 m from most studied wells. The issue of water scarcity in different seasons was thus attributed to accessibility due to the lack of appropriate water lifting mechanisms. Groundwater was an untapped resource in Mali, and we suggest groundwater management needs to be given consideration along with other management practices in the changing climate condition to improve the agricultural productivity and food security

Water Demand Analysis and Irrigation Requirement for Major Crops at Holetta Catchment, Awash Subbasin, Ethiopia

The water demand and irrigation requirement of Holetta Catchment is not fully studied. In addition to this, due to scarcity of the available surface water and increase in water demand for irrigation, the major users of the river are facing a challenge to allocate the available water. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the water demand of the major users of Holetta River and to study the irrigation requirement for major crops at Holetta catchment using questionnaire survey, statistical methods, and CropWat model. Structured questionnaire was used to identify information such as the number of Holetta River users, major crops grown by irrigation and the total area coverage. The major users are Holetta Agricultural Research Center (HARC), Tesdey Farm and Village Farmers. CropWat model was used to calculate the irrigation water requirement for major crops. Based on the result of CropWat model and survey analysis, the total irrigation requirement of all three users of Holetta River was 0.305, 0.575, 0.995, 0.865, and 0.332 MCM for January, February, March, April, and May respectively. The analysis also indicated the total water demand of all three major users of Holetta River during the irrigation season from January to May. The total water demand was 0.313, 0.583, 1.004, 0.873 and 0.341 million cubic meters (MCM) for January, February, March, April, and May respectively. The available river flow from January to May was 0.749, 0.419, 0.829, 0.623 and 0.471 MCM respectively. From the five months, the demand and the supply showed a gap during February, March and April. The total shortage of supply during these months was 0.59MCM. During these months, there was also conflict between users at diversion and water allocation. Therefore, in order to solve water shortage, alternative source of water supply like ground water and water harvesting technologies should be studied and integrated water management system should be implemented. In addition to this, to improve the efficiency of irrigation water, different irrigation methods like drip irrigation should be improved in the area

Contour bunding technology-evidence and experience in the semiarid region of southern Mali

Land and water management practices have been widely implemented in rural Mali since the 1980s to improve agricultural productivity and erosion control. Under conditions of recurring droughts, these practices are expected to increase farmers’ ability to cope with shocks. One of the most common practices applied in the central and southern parts of Mali is contour bunding (CB). In this study the impact of the CB technology is evaluated with a focus on biophysical and socio-economic benefits. Data were collected in two agro-ecologies of southern Mali and were generated through field experimentation and household survey. Field experimentation involved implementation of contour lines with farm ridges, agronomic trails and runoff and erosion measurements. Agronomic data was collected on sorghum, maize, groundnut and millet for three consecutive years (2015 to 2017). Socio-economic data on the use of CB was obtained from individual farmer surveys. CB involves the layout of contour lines with land leveling devices to identify points of equal elevation and construction of contour lines with draught animals and human labor. The majority of the labor input to construct and maintain the CB comes from adult men who are head of the household (58%) and youth male (33%). Results indicate that with the application of CB yield of crops was higher with the highest increase in grain yield and biomass obtained for maize and millet (P < 0.01). CB application was useful in retaining soil water and reduced erosion rate. In treatment fields, 162mmof rainfall per year was saved as soil moisture and on average 13,090 kg per hectare of soil was lost from farm fields without CB, and CB implementation significantly reduced the soil loss by 163% (P < 0.01). The improvements in crops yield and biomass, and the retention of soil nutrients positively changed farm level productivity conditions. The majority of farmers (78%) perceived higher income from the sale of crops grown on CB plots. These results suggest the landscape wide application of CB