Mental distress among university students in Ethiopia: a cross sectional survey

Introduction: Mental distress is becoming a common health problem among university students .There is limited information in this regard in Ethiopia. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of mental distress among students in Adama University.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in March2011. Four hundred and thirteen students were participated in the study. Simple random sampling technique was applied to select the study participants. Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20(SRQ-20) was used to assess the mental distress. Respondents who had a score of eleven and above on the SRQ-20 were considered as mentally distressed. Results: The prevalence of mental distress was 21.6%. Family history of mental illness (AOR=2.30, 95%CI: 1.10 - 4.81), frequent conflicts with fellows (AOR=2.26, 95%CI: 1.10 - 4.85), Khat (Catha Edulis) chewing (AOR=2.23, 95% CI: 1.14 - 4.35) and not attending religious program regularly were factors associated with mental distress. Being in second year of their education less likely associated (AOR=0.41, 95%CI: 0.18 - 0.91) with mental distress.Conclusion: About one fifth of the students were found to be mentally distressed. Designing prevention sand treatments programs addressing the identified factors is important.Key words: Mental distress, substance Use, university, tertiary educatio

Implicit prices of indigenous cattle traits in central Ethiopia: Application of revealed and stated preference approaches

The diversity of animal genetic resources has a quasi-public good nature that makes market prices inadequate indicator of its economic worth. Applying the characteristics theory of value, this research estimated the relative economic worth of the attributes of cattle genetic resources in central Ethiopia. Transaction level data were collected over four seasons in a year and choice experiment survey was done in five markets to generate data on both revealed and stated preferences of cattle buyers. Heteroscedasticity efficient estimation and random parameters logit were employed to analyse the data. The results essentially show that attributes related to the subsistence functions of cattle are more valued than attributes that directly influence marketable products of the animals. The findings imply the strong need to invest on improvement of attributes of cattle in the study area that enhance the subsistence functions of cattle that their owners accord higher priority to support their livelihoods than they do to tradable products

Simulation of Alternative Plans for Community Based Goat Breeding Program in Arid, Semi-Arid and Mixed Production Systems in Ethiopia

On station small ruminant researches in Ethiopia were ineffective due to various factors. As alternative, community based breeding program (CBBP) has emerged. In the current CBBPs, sire side selection only (SN1) is practiced. The objective of the present work was to compare SN1 by simulating alternative breeding scenarios for Abergelle (AB), Centeral Highland (CH) and Woyto-Guji (WG) goat breeds in Ethiopia. Three scenarios including selection on dam side (SN2) in addition to SN1, application of genomic selection (SN3) onto SN1 and use of sires from SN1 for mating in additional flocks (SN4) were simulated and compared with SN1 based on the predicted annual genetic gain (PAGG) and discounted profits. The breeding objective traits or selection criteria were six month weight (6mw, kg) for all breeds, average daily milk yield (ADM, kg) and survival to six month of age (SURV) for AB, litter size at birth (LSB) for CH and WG, litter size at weaning (LSW) for CH and kidding interval (KI, days) for WG. ZPLAN+ software was used for the simulation. The PAGG for 6mw (kg) ranged from 0.087 (SN4) to 0.25 (SN3) for AB where it ranged from 0.47 (SN4) to 0.97 (SN3) for ADM (kg) for same breed. PAGG in 6mw (kg) ranging from 0.13 (SN4) to 0.47 (SN3) and from 0.20 (SN4) to 0.31 (SN3) for CH Gonder and Ambo sites, respectively were simulated whereas this parameter ranged from 0.10 (SN4) to 0.27 (SN3) for WG. The alternative breeding scenarios to SN1 resulted in better PAGGs, especially for 6mw in three of the goat breeds and for ADM in AB. Based on the PAGGs and profitability, we recommend SN2 over SN1. However, SN4 could also be applied, compared to SN1, in view of suitability of addressing emerging demands

Participatory definition of trait preferences for designing village breeding schemes for goats in harsh environments of Ethiopia

There is critical need to improve productivity of indigenous goat breeds in order to sustain supply of food and income to communities living in harsher areas that are coming to relay more and more on the drought tolerant commodity; goats, due to changing climate. To this end, a community-based goat breeding project is being implemented in 5 zones of Ethiopia by ILRI and its partners. Designing of the breeding programs proceeded phenotypic and molecular characterization of the indigenous Ethiopian goat breeds. The characterization studies revealed that ample genetic diversity exists between and within the indigenous goat breeds pointing hug potential to tap for improving productivity amid a changing climate. Participatory definition of trait preferences was undertaken to pave the way for deriving economic weights of traits to develop selection indices

The Development of Nursing Care Services Model for Low Birth Weight Infants

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) infants deal with various problems during transitional period from intra-uterine and extra-uterine because of immature organs\u27 functions. This leads to LBW as the second death cause in Indonesia, particularly in the fi rst seventh days of infants\u27 lifes. The problem continues to occur at home when the infants have discharged. This research was aimed to develop the nursing care services model for LBW infants and to test the model. Method: The research design was an action research using quantitative and qualitative approach. This design was chosen as it facilitated improvement in health care system, which was involving nurses and other health providers. Results: Nursing care services provided by the nursing team are hindered by several factors, such as various level of nurses\u27 knowledge, not optimal health education activities, incomplete standard operational procedure, ethical dilemma, paramedic functions, and documentation system. This model was developed based on conservation and becoming a mother/maternal role attainment theory, family-centered care principles, and input from the experts through focus group discussion. Discussion: The result of this research is going to increase the quality of nursing care for LBW infants by achieving nurses\u27 and parents\u27 satisfaction in giving care for their infants which can lead to lower infant death rate

Farmers' willingness to pay for a village poultry vaccine service in Ethiopia: prospect for enhancing rural livelihoods

This research examines farmers’ willingness to pay for village poultry vaccine programmes using data from 400 household heads from two districts in Ethiopia, Horro and Jarso. The study applied a contingent valuation method to elicit farmers’ willingness to pay for village poultry vaccine services. Two hypothetical vaccine programmes were designed for Newcastle disease and Gumboro disease. Both parametric and non-parametric approaches were employed in data analysis. The results show that farmers recognise the benefits of the vaccine programme and that many would be willing to pay for it. Results from non-parametric estimates produced households’ mean willingness to pay Ethiopian Birr (ETB) 80 up to ETB 87 per year based on vaccine programme type. This demonstrates the potential and prospect of reducing the impact of infectious poultry diseases and enhancing rural livelihoods through village poultry. Exponential probit analysis revealed that farmers’ willingness to pay for village poultry vaccine service is influenced by age, education level, and region of respondents. Younger and more-educated farmers were more likely to pay for village poultry vaccine services and farmers from Horro, a relatively food secure and educated area, were more likely to pay than those from the less food secure Jarso district

Ethiopia Social Accounting Matrix 2015/16

A Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) is a comprehensive and economy-wide database recording data on all transactions between economic agents in a certain economy during a certain period of time; its interest is twofold. First a SAM is a standard database for most whole economy modellers as it provides comprehensive data for economic modelling (multi-sectorial linear models or more complex CGE models). Second a SAM shows a complete and intuitive snapshot of the economy at hand. This report presents the Social Accounting Matrix of Ethiopia for the year 2015/16, describing its specific structure and the basis for its estimation. In this sense, it is necessary to highlight the special structure of this SAM to reflect the Home Production for Home Consumption (HPHC) issue and a high disaggregation of agricultural and food sectors, both aspects so relevant in developing countries. Finally, a complete on-line application is presented, both for the download of the SAM, and for the visualization of some indicators derived directly from it.JRC.D.4-Economics of Agricultur