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During the post-Green Revolution era, numerous improved wheat varieties were released and disseminated to enhance tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and increase productivity. Still, in the wheat-based farming systems of the Global South, gender-based and other social inequalities continue to undermine equitable access to improved varieties, especially for women, poor, and marginalized farmers. Here, we present a case for gender-sensitive technology development, dissemination, and evaluation as part of wheat varietal improvement programs. We take stock of the various challenges that persist in the uptake of modern wheat varieties by male and female smallholders. We focus on Ethiopia and India, two geographies with substantive wheat economies, widespread poverty, and gender inequalities. The socio-economic literature on wheat is relatively thin with limited and dated gender-sensitive evaluation studies on varietal technologies in these countries. Varietal technology evaluations could ideally cover gender differences in relation to wheat varietal trait preferences, technology adoption, and associated decision-making and labor-use changes related to new varieties and complementary technologies, as well as nutritional and economic benefits. The paper calls for a need to change the institutional arrangements in wheat research-and-development (R&D) programs to understand and pursue better paths for wheat improvement to proactively contribute toward gender equity and inclusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-resource settings often have limited use of local data for health system planning and decision-making. To promote local data use for decision-making and priority setting, we propose an adapted framework: a data-informed platform for health (DIPH) aimed at guiding coordination, bringing together key data from the public and private sectors on inputs and processes. In working to transform this framework from a concept to a health systems initiative, we undertook a series of implementation research activities including background assessment, testing and scaling up of the intervention. This first paper of four reports the feasibility of the approach in a district health systems context in five districts of India, Nigeria and Ethiopia. We selected five districts using predefined criteria and in collaboration with governments. After scoping visits, an in-depth field visit included interviews with key health stakeholders, focus group discussions with service-delivery staff and record review. For analysis, we used five dimensions of feasibility research based on the TELOS framework: technology and systems, economic, legal and political, operational and scheduling feasibility. We found no standardized process for data-based district level decision-making, and substantial obstacles in all three countries. Compared with study areas in Ethiopia and Nigeria, the health system in Uttar Pradesh is relatively amenable to the DIPH, having relative strengths in infrastructure, technological and technical expertise, and financial resources, as well as a district-level stakeholder forum. However, a key challenge is the absence of an effective legal framework for engagement with India's extensive private health sector. While priority-setting may depend on factors beyond better use of local data, we conclude that a formative phase of intervention development and pilot-testing is warranted as a next step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite a global recognition from all stakeholders of the gravity and urgency of health worker shortage in Africa, little progress has been achieved to improve health worker coverage in many of the African human resources for health (HRH) crisis countries. The problem consists in how policy is made, how leaders are accountable, how the World Health Organization (WHO) and foreign donors encourage (or distort) health policy, and how development objectives are prioritized in these countries.Methods: This paper uses political economy analysis, which stems from a recognition that the solution to the shortage of health workers across Africa involves more than a technical response. A number of institutional arrangements dampen investments in HRH, including a mismatch between officials' tenure in office and program results, the vertical nature of health programming, the modalities of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) in health, the structures of the global health community, and the weak capacity in HRH units within Ministries of Health. A major change in policymaking would only occur with a disruption to the political or institutional order.Results/conclusions: The case study of Ethiopia, who has increased its health workforce dramatically over the last 20 years, disrupted previous institutional arrangements through the power of ideas-HRH as a key intermediate development objective. The framing of HRH created the rationale for the political commitment to HRH investment. Ethiopia demonstrates that political will coupled with strong state capacity and adequate resource mobilization can overcome the institutional hurdles above. Donors will follow the lead of a country with long-term political commitment to HRH, as they did in Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African livestock breeds are numerous and diverse, and typically well adapted to the harsh environment conditions under which they perform. They have been used over centuries to provide livelihoods as well as food and nutritional security. However, African livestock systems are dynamic, with many small- and medium-scale systems transforming, to varying degrees, to become more profitable. In these systems the women and men livestock keepers are often seeking new livestock breeds or genotypes – typically those that increase household income through having enhanced productivity in comparison to traditional breeds while maintaining adaptedness. In recent years genomic approaches have started to be utilized in the identification and development of such breeds, and in this article we describe a number of examples to this end from sub-Saharan Africa. These comprise case studies on: (a) dairy cattle in Kenya and Senegal, as well as sheep in Ethiopia, where genomic approaches aided the identification of the most appropriate breed-type for the local productions systems; (b) a cross-breeding program for dairy cattle in East Africa incorporating genomic selection as well as other applications of genomics; (c) ongoing work toward creating a new cattle breed for East Africa that is both productive and resistant to trypanosomiasis; and (d) the use of African cattle as resource populations to identify genomic variants of economic or ecological significance, including a specific case where the discovery data was from a community based breeding program for small ruminants in Ethiopia. Lessons learnt from the various case studies are highlighted, and the concluding section of the paper gives recommendations for African livestock systems to increasingly capitalize on genomic technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water supply and sanitation (WASH) service providers in most towns of developing countries, such as Godey Town in Ethiopia, the case study reported in this paper, deliver less than basic services. The costs for meeting the more ambitious WASH targets of the Sustainable Development Goals will be much higher than what has previously been invested in the sector. This study showed that a tariff structure designed using affordability and willingness-to-pay data would provide higher revenues than one solely based on estimated customers' affordability, or Ethiopian government's tariff guidelines. As in previous studies in Ethiopia, this study highlights government's low willingness-to-charge amidst a high customers' willingness-to-pay. Yet, there is need to increase water tariffs in developing countries, hence, moving towards financial sustainability and supplementing the other two Ts – taxes and transfers. Based on accurate and updated socio-economic data, the tariff can also be optimised to fulfil the social equity objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Now a day's food security issues become one of the critical concern and top priority area for developing countries. Having clear picture on food security status and its major determinants helps policy makers and planners to devise new policies that enhance food security. Hence, this paper was designed to review the impact of climate change on food security status of Ethiopian households. The objectives of this review are to review the impact of climate change on household food security and to review determinants of Ethiopian Households' food Security. Ethiopian rural households are vulnerable to shocks, such as drought, that affects agricultural production. Famine and drought affect food security and livelihood of rural households in the country. Consequently, crop failure, water stress, crop disease and high food prices affect the population. Household size, age, offfarm income; credit, fertilizer use, livestock ownership, and participation in local savings groups are other important factors determining Ethiopian household food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in almost any population because of their physical and emotional dependence on adults and social status. Their vulnerability is greater in many developing countries because of the higher incidence of poverty and nascent social protection mechanisms. Social protection can serve as a tool to perpetuate inequities or can be used to promote human rights, equality, and inclusiveness. This paper looks at how social protection evolving in four developing countries, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, affects the realization of children's rights. Each country's social protection efforts are analyzed according to the type of effort and then compared to indicators measuring the realization of children's rights. The analysis indicates that well-coordinated social protection systems with wide coverage that include social assistance, social insurance, as well as human capital and empowerment efforts are more likely to result in the progressive realization of children's rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries are balance‐of‐payments constrained. In this context, high‐value agricultural exports can make a greater contribution to structural change than development economists and developing country governments have typically acknowledged. This is thanks to dramatic recent changes in agricultural production, consumption and trade. These transformations are obscured by a simple classification system that has not adapted to changing patterns of global capitalist production. This article examines some recent efforts to rethink the basis of economic classification; it contributes to this emerging literature by proposing a way to think about the distinctions among economic activities that builds directly from the observation of production rather than a method of ex‐post mapping of trade data. A more accurate classification of economic activities would, the authors suggest, help policy officials design more coherent and growth‐enhancing industrial policies in support of accelerated structural change and productivity growth. The article draws on primary fieldwork in Ethiopia in particular, but also on fieldwork in South Africa and on secondary evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese special economic zones (SEZs) have played a key role in attracting massive foreign investment and in facilitating knowledge and technology transfer to local companies. This explains the mushrooming of Chinese‐led SEZs and industrial parks in parts of Southeast Asia and Africa since the early 2000s, and more recently its prominence in the planning of the economic corridors along the Belt and Road Initiative. Our interest in SEZs derives from the fact that they provide novel grounds to investigate the dynamics of knowledge transfer (KT) in South–South exchanges and the extent to which it diverges from more traditional exchanges. This study undertakes a comparative analysis of KT in the Eastern Industrial Zone (EIZ) in Ethiopia, and the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) in Cambodia. The case studies suggest that, although the provision of training by Chinese investors has added value to the labour force, its transformative impact is limited owing to the concentration on explicit KT modalities at lower skills levels and the top–down approach to KT by Chinese companies. These limitations are largely a function of the wide absorptive capacity gap between China and the host countries studied and the absence of more conducive industrial policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration as part of the livelihood of the rural farm household has got a recognition for its developmental effect. Currently, bringing smallholder farmers to the market through better agricultural productivity and market integration is the critical element for agricultural transformation in particular and rural transformation in general. To this effect, improving smallholder farmers' tendency towards commercialization through better technology adoption and input utilization has been seen to play significantly in various studies. However, in developing countries like Ethiopia, where low level of credit facilities and poor institutional arrangements are installed, adoption of productive agricultural technologies and input utilization is very low. Thus, among the various alternative livelihood diversification strategies for poor farmers, migration is the one which helps to bridge the financial gap and input requirements of the rural farmers and 'asset accumulation'. This study focused on intra-rural migration which is still dominant in size as well as a research segment which is buried in migration study. Cognizant to the interplay between migration and agriculture, this study had an attempt to examine the impact of intra-rural labour migration on crop output commercialization using primary first-hand original data with support of stringent econometric models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resource degradation poses a major challenge to the sustainable livelihoods of farmers in developing countries, hindering progress toward achieving sustainable rural development. Watershed development and management practices (WDMPs) are powerful tools for enhancing sustainable rural development in developing countries. These practices have been shown to significantly improve livelihoods and food security. This research examined how WDM programs help achieve sustainable development in rural areas, focusing on examples from Ethiopia. This study used a systematic literature review (SLR) approach following a PRISMA review protocol. The research question was formulated using the CIMO (context, intervention, mechanisms, and outcomes) approach: "Does the watershed development and management (WDM) initiative lead to sustainable rural livelihoods?" Considering this research question, the findings indicated that WDM contributes to the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of rural communities. It does this by enhancing households' livelihood in terms of income generation, employment opportunities, agricultural productivity, and improvements in social services and infrastructure, as evidenced by numerous studies, thereby leading to better livelihoods and food security. This research also emphasizes the importance of community participation and supportive policies and legal frameworks for successful WDM. Overall, the systematic literature review highlights the potential of WDMPs in promoting sustainable rural development in developing countries such as Ethiopia while also highlighting the need for a supportive policy and institutional environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization in emerging nations such as Ethiopia encourages participants in the area to consider the sustainability and balanced growth of metropolitan centers from a variety of angles and to offer suitable solutions. This study aims to comprehend how urban land use influences the efficiency and connection of road networks, which in turn affects how accessible different parts of the city are, to determine the influencing factors and critical indicators that enable a systematic categorization of subcity accessibility from the perspectives of urban land use. Geographic information system (GIS) techniques are used to gather and analyze precise geographical data on road networks, land use patterns, and other pertinent properties. In addition, a regression model is created to measure the effect of land use features on the accessibility of the road network. The primary questionnaire data are used to estimate the current situation of road accessibility and are used in the study validation process. This research has incorporated qualitative and quantitative approaches to sustainability. The findings imply that residential areas are 90% significant in making transport along the city, and 98% of the accessibility of the road network is dependent on land use features, including road density and subcity areas. Among the subcities, Bole, Kirkos, and Arada have 87% road network accessibility and better access to public transportation. Overall, these techniques emphasize the value of spatial analytic tools in planning procedures to better comprehend and control the intricate relationships between transportation and land use dynamics and to assist in the sustainable design and growth of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this study, the authors investigate how institutions influence the adoption and implementation of a quality management practice (QMP) that was originally developed for Western developed countries but is being used in sub-Saharan African firms. The authors' aim is to contribute to the literature on how local and broader institutions in sub-Saharan African firms impact the adoption of QMP (specifically ISO 9001:2015) and how the firm's situated rationalities shape the associated change in management accounting practices. Design/methodology/approach: The authors applied the extended Burns and Scapens framework and employed a case study research approach. The authors collected empirical data through semi-structured interviews and secondary sources and used direct content analysis to analyse the data. Findings: The authors' findings suggest that although personal values and commitments to modernising the business are the main drivers of change, the continued dominance of traditional accounting logic restricts the necessary change in management accounting to support effective QMP implementation. Practical implications: This study emphasises the importance of aligning institutional logics to fully realise the benefits of new strategies and identifies technical competencies, access to information and communication technology, and clarity about the role of management accounting in modernising management practices as critical success factors. Originality/value: This study is original in that it provides insights into the impact of contextual factors in less developed countries on institutionalising QMP and management accounting change, demonstrating the importance of aligning management accounting change with proposed organisational strategies to fully realise their benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospice and palliative care development, in terms of availability and services, occur to varying degrees in the developing world. In this paper, the evolution of palliative care practices in four developing nations ( Nigeria, Georgia, Ethiopia and Tanzania) is described. By highlighting common problems as well as the unique individual perspectives of each country's practice, this paper aims at increasing global awareness of palliative care in the developing world. While the call for palliative care to become a fundamental human right is sustained, it is also hoped that this article will stimulate a global discussion on the best possible way to encourage the establishment and growth of palliative care services in other developing countries where hitherto it has not been in existence, with policymakers and healthcare professionals taking the lead through the institution of sound national policies to promote and provide palliative care to all citizenry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the question of whether parental death always has a strongly negative effect on children's outcomes using quantitative and qualitative data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty in Ethiopia. It investigates the validity of potential mediating factors identified by other studies in Sub-Saharan Africa using data from the whole sample ( n = 973) and explores these processes in-depth through the experiences of three orphans in one community in Addis Ababa. The paper concludes that the outcomes of orphans and non-orphans in poor communities are not significantly different, supporting the need to address vulnerability at a societal level. Nonetheless, specific groups, for example, older female children who have lost their mothers, may face particular risks that should be addressed with targeted interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently there is increasing recognition of the need for research in developing countries where disease burden is high. Understanding the role of local factors is important for undertaking ethical research in developing countries. We explored factors relating to information and communication during the process of informed consent, and the approach that should be followed for gaining consent. The study was conducted prior to a family-based genetic study among people with podoconiosis (non-filarial elephantiasis) in southern Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal Findings: We adapted a method of rapid assessment validated in The Gambia. The methodology was entirely qualitative, involving focus-group discussions and in-depth interviews. Discussions were conducted with podoconiosis patients and non-patients in the community, fieldworkers, researchers, staff of the local non-governmental organisation (NGO) working on prevention and treatment of podoconiosis, and community leaders. We found that the extent of use of everyday language, the degree to which expectations of potential participants were addressed, and the techniques of presentation of information had considerable impact on comprehension of information provided about research. Approaching podoconiosis patients via locally trusted individuals and preceding individual consent with community sensitization were considered the optimal means of communication. Prevailing poverty among podoconiosis patients, the absence of alternative treatment facilities, and participants' trust in the local NGO were identified as potential barriers for obtaining genuine informed consent. Conclusions: Researchers should evaluate the effectiveness of consent processes in providing appropriate information in a comprehensible manner and in supporting voluntary decision-making on a study-by-study basis. Author Summary: Informed consent to biomedical research in developing countries is a highly topical issue. When consent forms and processes are simply borrowed from developed countries, obtaining genuine informed consent becomes extremely challenging. This paper examines how a quick and relatively simple intervention (Rapid Assessment) can influence the design and implementation of informed consent processes in the context of biomedical research involving poor, socially stigmatized and illiterate communities in a developing country. The paper goes on to discuss the effect of social, cultural, and economic factors identified by the intervention in a particular context and demonstrates how knowledge of these influences helped to develop a socially relevant and practical consent process prior to conducting a programme of community-based genetic research. The paper concludes that this intervention is an effective and economical means by which to ensure the efficacy and ethical integrity of consent processes when recruiting participants to new research sites, even within countries with which researchers are already acquainted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an analytical review of the prospects and challenges of developing securities markets in Ethiopia. With the fall of communism and the emergence of capitalism, many countries around the world are moving toward market-oriented economies and securities markets are springing up on all continents around the globe. Securities markets have come to symbolize to many the essence of capitalistic economic relations. When studying the economies of developing countries, the first thing that becomes apparent is the existence of immense and, to a considerable extent, unemployed human resources as well as an acute shortage of capital. Shortage of capital is a major constraint in the realization of economic development. Recognizing the role that securities markets play in mobilizing capital, more than a dozen African countries have established stock markets. Ethiopia is not one of them. There is little current research which focuses on Africa's securities markets. This study helps to contribute to that effort by focusing on Ethiopia, the second largest country in sub-Saharan Africa plagued with major economic problems. The paper concludes by recommending the establishment of a stock market and providing suggestions on how to do it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mobile phone based applications are considered by many as potentially useful for addressing challenges and improving the quality of data collection in developing countries. Yet very little evidence is available supporting or refuting the potential and widely perceived benefits on the use of electronic forms on smartphones for routine patient data collection by health workers at primary health care facilities.Methods: A facility based cross sectional study using a structured paper checklist was prepared to assess the completeness and accuracy of 408 electronic records completed and submitted to a central database server using electronic forms on smartphones by 25 health workers. The 408 electronic records were selected randomly out of a total of 1772 maternal health records submitted by the health workers to the central database over a period of six months. Descriptive frequencies and percentages of data completeness and error rates were calculated.Results: When compared to paper records, the use of electronic forms significantly improved data completeness by 209 (8%) entries. Of a total 2622 entries checked for completeness, 2602 (99.2%) electronic record entries were complete, while 2393 (91.3%) paper record entries were complete. A very small percentage of error rates, which was easily identifiable, occurred in both electronic and paper forms although the error rate in the electronic records was more than double that of paper records (2.8% vs. 1.1%). More than half of entry errors in the electronic records related to entering a text value.Conclusions: With minimal training, supervision, and no incentives, health care workers were able to use electronic forms for patient assessment and routine data collection appropriately and accurately with a very small error rate. Minimising the number of questions requiring text responses in electronic forms would be helpful in minimizing data errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In public procurement large extent of budget is translated into service through government's procurement of goods and service. Besides this, several developed countries have taken steps recently to revise their public procurement systems to improve their efficiency and generate savings. However, developing countries like Ethiopia have been left behind in attention due to decentralised procurement system they were practicing within numerous public organisations so that government cannot benefit the society in terms of using scarce resource in these countries. Recently, Government of Ethiopia has practiced implementing the centralised procurement system at federal and some regional states in which all budgetary public organisations are made possible to procure under single organisation and contract system for those goods which are commonly procured among a number of public institutions. By taking this unease under consideration the study assessed the significance of framework agreement and its efficiency in public procurement by identifying use of work force in procuring quality goods, providing goods on time, and minimising administrative costs as main focus of this paper. This study has employed semi-structured interview and questionnaire as primary data source, and review of key official documents, organisational reports as secondary source of in formations. The result identified that, there is frustration in providing goods on time, procuring variety of item and quality products, and using trained professionals/experts. On the other hand, there is significance achievement in minimizing price of goods and cost of processing procurement. Based on these findings, the study suggested that, the concerned bodies should work in collaboration with each other, increasing types of items identified for procurement, employing qualified experts, and there should be expedition among the suppliers and public organisations. In addition, strengthening the competency levels of domestic suppliers and upgrading the capacity of work force by giving long term and short term training accordingly will help public entities in achieving expected outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While China's experience of using special economic zones (SEZs) for advancing economic development is a model increasingly adopted in other developing countries, the processes involved in replicating this model elsewhere and the outcomes of such replication remain little understood. This review article's nested examination of three relevant strands of literature and two case studies of India and Ethiopia indicates that successful replication of China's SEZ-led development would involve deliberate processes of adaptation from the original model. Replication must be "smart," by taking into account the temporal, systemic, and other discrepancies between the Chinese model and the replicating country; replicating the benefits of China's approach whilst avoiding the drawbacks; and maximising the positive effects of direct Chinese involvement and investments while reducing negative repercussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass media, radio and television, have been playing a very important role in the formal education of Ethiopian children for a quarter of a century. The chronological development and future plans of their use for educational purposes are described in this paper. Ethiopia is unique among most Third World countries in the sense that the mass media in Ethiopia function under the Ministry of Education, not under the Ministry of Information, and cover almost ninety percent of the population of the country. This might be an example for other Third World countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a stochastic frontier production function which has additive, heteroscedastic error structure. The model allows for negative or positive marginal production risks of inputs, as originally proposed by Just and Pope (1978). The technical efficiencies of individual firms in the sample are a function of the levels of the input variables in the stochastic frontier, in addition to the technical inefficiency effects. These are two features of the model which are not exhibited by the commonly used stochastic frontiers with multiplicative error structures. An empirical application is presented using cross-sectional data on Ethiopian peasant farmers. The null hypothesis of no technical inefficiencies of production among these farmers is accepted. Further, the flexible risk models do not fit the data on peasant farmers as well as the traditional stochastic frontier model with multiplicative error structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizations instantiate multiple institutional logics, which operate in a nested fashion across levels of analysis. A demand on organizations in the Global South from aid donors is to adopt new management systems. Management systems like kaizen, a Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement, have an inherent logic. Kaizen's adoption in Ethiopia, a postsocialist state, can be rendered ceremonial if its logic is not fully instantiated along with prevailing logics within recipient organizations. Our examination of the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation is an application of Besharov and Smith's 2014 framework. We assume there is a high degree of centrality in this state-owned enterprise, because any managerial logic absorbed would have to adhere to the state logic. We conducted interviews, supplemented by archival data review, to illustrate what actors do to improve compatibility with state logic. Our findings suggest three institutional logics were instantiated, in order: the macro logic of developmental authoritarianism; micro logics of production order and social control; and the meso logic of knowledge brokerage. We propose the concept of layered logic, or ordering of institutional logics, each serving a distinct purpose yet fitted with the others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethiopia's primary export, coffee, has been instrumental in its economic growth. A blockchain multinational company named Cardano advocated for the adoption of their technology in Ethiopia. However, instead of fostering development, the push for blockchain by developed nations perpetuates structural imperialism. This stems from disparities in economic distribution and ICT knowledge. This study examines Cardano's influence on Ethiopia's coffee sector in 2018, revealing a dynamic where developed countries exert influence over developing ones. Cardano's technological prowess positions it at the center, impacting Ethiopia as a peripheral player in blockchain adoption for coffee trade enhancement. Despite Ethiopia's coffee exports tripling in value, the collaboration also benefits Cardano, leading to unequal labor division and economic gains. Furthermore, Cardano's initiatives spawn additional blockchain applications, extending its influence across various sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adama is the second most populous city in Ethiopia and experiences frequent flash floods that have a detrimental impact on the community's livelihood. To this effect, this study emphasizes the significance of conducting a comprehensive investigation to identify flood-resilient neighborhoods in Adama City. By considering the existing spatial pattern and morphology that are resilient to urban flooding, the city can enhance its flood management strategies in the future. The findings of this study demonstrate varying levels of spatial connectivity within Adama City. Detailed examination of two neighborhoods identified through space syntax analysis with high and low spatial connectivity revealed important insights into flood resilience. The high-connective neighborhoods exhibited well-interconnected street systems with manageable street spacing, facilitating efficient runoff flow and effective flood management during flooding events. These neighborhoods also had shorter block sizes with frequent intersections, promoting better water drainage and reducing the risk of flooding during heavy rain events. The grid pattern observed in these areas allowed for efficient water runoff through multiple drainage paths, including the street surfaces. On the contrary, neighborhoods with low spatial connectivity exacerbated urban flooding. The lack of connectivity and abundance of dead-end streets posed challenges for flood evacuation during emergencies. Irregular block arrangements disrupted the natural drainage system, aggravating the potential for urban flooding. These findings have implications for other flood-prone areas of neighborhoods in Adama City and similar urban areas in the global south on how human settlements are arranged spatially to mitigate urban flood vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Child mortality is a crucial indicator reflecting a country's health and socioeconomic status. Despite significant global improvements in reducing early childhood deaths, Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa still bear the highest burden of newborn mortality. Ethiopia is one of five countries that account for half of new-born deaths worldwide. Methods: This study examined the relationship between specific reproductive factors and under-five mortality in Ethiopia. A discrete-time survival model was applied to analyze data collected from four Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys (EDHS) conducted between 2000 and 2016. The study focused on investigating the individual and combined effects of three factors: preceding birth interval, maternal age at childbirth, and birth order, on child mortality. Results: The study found that lengthening the preceding birth interval to 18–23, 24–35, 36–47, or 48+ months reduced the risk of under-five deaths by 30%, 46%, 56%, and 60% respectively, compared to very short birth intervals (less than 18 months). Giving birth between the ages 20–34 and 35+ reduced the risk by 34% and 8% respectively, compared to giving birth below the age of 20. The risk of under-five death was higher for a 7th-born child by 17% compared to a 2nd or 3rd-born child. The combined effect analysis showed that higher birth order at a young maternal age increased the risk. In comparison, lower birth order in older maternal age groups was associated with higher risk. Lastly, very short birth intervals posed a greater risk for children with higher birth orders. Conclusion: Not only does one reproductive health variable negatively affect child survival, but their combination has the strongest effect. It is therefore recommended that policies in Ethiopia should address short birth intervals, young age of childbearing, and order of birth through an integrated strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erosion is a major issue due to the global availability of land cover change and inadequate land use throughout the world. The topmost fertile soil is predominantly removed via erosion, which lowers both the productivity of the land and the storage capacity of reservoirs. This consequence has a large influence on the global economy; as a result, soil conservation practice is currently being used as a crucial solution to this issue. It is challenging, particularly for developing nations, to carry out soil conservation in a large basin without a significant investment. Therefore, it is essential to determine the most susceptible regions to erosion and implement the necessary remedial measures for those areas in order to lower the investment cost and enhance the efficiency of the work. In this study, erosion-prone areas are identified using the SWAT model. This model has a high level of acceptance globally for managing, allocating, and predicting water resources. However, there is some uncertainty with the model, and this uncertainty may come from the measured data, model structure, or input data. Therefore, extensive sensitivity analysis, uncertainty prediction, and model calibration are required to achieve good simulation results. Model calibration, sensitivity analysis, and prediction of uncertainty are conducted with SUFI-2, ParaSol, GLUE, and PSO, which are integrated with SWAT-CUP software. For this study, SUFI-2 algorithm gives the best simulation results out of the four algorithms, with R2 values of 0.76 and 0.85 under streamflow and R2 values of 0.8 and 0.66 under sediment for calibration and validation, respectively. From the final simulation of 34 subbasins, five subbasins were identified as the most sensitive areas for erosion; these subbasins are 1, 3, 5, 14, and 17, and they have a mean annual sediment yield of 23 tons/ha/year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: The question of industrial policy has gained prominence in the policy agenda over the last decade, despite its persistently ambiguous and incomplete definition. The lack of a firm definition is problematic because it prevents scholars and policy‐makers from comparing and monitoring the impact of industrial policy across developing countries. This vague definition also fails to account for issues that are relevant to the impact and usefulness of industrial policy in the process of economic development. Research Question: What is the effect of an inadequate definition and implementation of industrial policy for structural transformation in underdeveloped economies? Methods: We undertake both a critical literature review of industrial policy and a policy review, and use insights from 86 structured interviews with manufacturing businesses and government officials in Ethiopia, to illustrate how industrial policy could be more effective. Findings: The article finds that there is no clear and exhaustive understanding of what the definition of industrial policy entails. In part this is also a result of a limited and incoherent use of the concept of structural transformation in the definition and policy formulation of industrial policy. Conclusions: Using a case study of Ethiopia, we show how an inadequate and incoherent definition and implementation of industrial policy can lead to limited upgrading, learning and innovation in an underdeveloped economy. Policy Implications: For Ethiopia, and for other underdeveloped economies, the findings imply a reconfiguration of industrial policy, rather than more industrial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: In 2010, the Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia (FMOH) has developed standard Basic Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (BEmONC) in-service training curricula to respond to the high demand for competency in EmONC. However, the effectiveness of the training curricula has not been well documented. A collaborative intervention project in Addis Ababa has trained providers using the standard BEmONC curricula where this paper presents Krikpartick level 1 and level 2 evaluation of the training., Methods: The project has been conducted in 10 randomly selected public health centers (HC) in Addis Ababa. Providers working in the labour wards of the selected HCs have received the standard BEmONC training between May and July 2013. Using standard tools, trainees' reaction to the course and factual knowledge during the immediate post-course and six months after the training were assessed. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were done., Results: Of the total 82 providers who received the training, 30 (36.6%) were male, 61 (74.4%) were midwives. Providers' work experiences ranged from 1 month to 37 years. Seventy-four (89%) providers reported that the training was appropriate for their work, 95% reported that the training have updated their knowledge & skills, while 27 (32.9%) reported that the training facilities & arrangements were unsatisfactory. The mean immediate post-course knowledge score was 83.5% and 33 (40%) providers did not achieve knowledge-based mastery in their first attempt. The midwives were more likely to achieve knowledge-based mastery than the nurses (p < 0.05). The mean knowledge score six-months post-training was 80.2% and 40% have scored knowledge based mastery., Conclusions: Being one of the first papers reporting the implementation of the standard in-service BEmONC training curriculum, we have identified an important limitation on the course evaluations of the curriculum, which need urgent consideration. The majority of the trainees has reported favourable reaction to the training, but many of them did not achieve knowledge-based mastery in the immediate post training although the knowledge retention six months post training was encouraging.

We use data from the Young Lives surveys, in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam, to highlight an underappreciated phenomenon—that a substantial proportion of students in developing countries are the first in their families to go to school. We term these students first‐generation learners (FGLs). We both propose a simple "static" definition of FGL status—where a child's parents have no education attainment—and utilize the panel dynamics of the Young Lives data set to look at a "dynamic" definition—where the child, in any given round of data collection, is enrolled at a level which his or her parents did not reach. We show descriptive statistics on the scale of this problem across the four countries. We find strong, consistent patterns of relative educational deprivation for FGLs. We tentatively explore the pathways through which FGL status may affect outcomes and find possible explanations through an inability to support with homework and lower aspirations. We look at how becoming an FGL affects the probability of being in school using child fixed‐effects estimations and find it increases the vulnerability of children to drop out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Ethiopia, like most developing countries, the majority of households depend on wood and charcoal as their cooking energy resources. This energy has a direct impact on the forest coverage and its emissions have significant health issues. Biogas technology has introduced to address these problems and reduce energy poverty in developing countries. However, the success of this technology depends on many factors such as technology appropriateness, available skill, proper introduction, and government support to create favorable financial incentives. The objective of this paper is to make an overview assessment of biogas development programs in Ethiopia, identify development barriers and provide suggestions to mitigate these barriers. The national and regional biogas program of Ethiopia has implemented to give energy for cooking and to some extent for lighting. However, it has shown limited success over the years. The National Biogas Programme of Ethiopia has shown an overall 50% achievement while the Tigray region registered 55% achievement. In addition, the owner of the biogas facility in Tigray reported a 57% functionality rate but the lowest satisfaction level of 15%. Generally, the region has shown relatively better performance in terms of dissemination and functionality but a low satisfaction rate due to technical limitation, unsteady input, and financial factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a method developed to support feasibility assessments of urban anaerobic digestion (AD). The method not only uses technical assessment criteria but takes a broader sustainability perspective and integrates technical-operational, environmental, financial-economic, socio-cultural, institutional, policy and legal criteria into the assessment tool developed. Use of the tool can support decision-makers with selecting the most suitable set-up for the given context. The tool consists of a comprehensive set of questions, structured along four distinct yet interrelated dimensions of sustainability factors, which all influence the success of any urban AD project. Each dimension answers a specific question: I) WHY? What are the driving forces and motivations behind the initiation of the AD project? II) WHO? Who are the stakeholders and what are their roles, power, interests and means of intervention? III) WHAT? What are the physical components of the proposed AD chain and the respective mass and resource flows? IV) HOW? What are the key features of the enabling or disabling environment (sustainability aspects) affecting the proposed AD system? Disruptive conditions within these four dimensions are detected. Multi Criteria Decision Analysis is used to guide the process of translating the answers from six sustainability categories into scores, combining them with the relative importance (weights) attributed by the stakeholders. Risk assessment further evaluates the probability that certain aspects develop differently than originally planned and assesses the data reliability (uncertainty factors). The use of the tool is demonstrated with its application in a case study for Bahir Dar in Ethiopia., (Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Solid waste segregation plays a critical role in effective waste management; however, the practice remains at a low level in developing countries like Ethiopia. Despite the persistent nature of the problem, there are limited studies to date that can provide sufficient empirical evidence to support appropriate efforts by policy makers and practitioners, particularly in the context of the developing world. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to analyze household practices and determinants of solid waste segregation in the urban areas of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, data were generated through a household survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observations. The collected quantitative data were cleaned, encoded, and statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS, while thematic analysis was undertaken to evaluate and describe the qualitative data. The data analysis revealed that only 21.3% of respondents reported frequent solid waste segregation, while about half (45.5%) segregated solid waste rarely. Conversely, a considerable proportion (28.7%) of the respondents reported not segregating solid waste, and the remaining 4.5% of respondents were unsure about the practice. This implies that only one-fifth of the total sampled respondents actually implement solid waste segregation practices at the household level. The chi-square test showed that respondents' awareness/training (P = 0.000) and use of social organizations to discuss waste management (P = 0.001) are significantly associated with the practice of solid waste segregation. This highlights the need to focus on awareness-raising efforts among the general public in order to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of individual households and residents toward solid waste segregation practices. Additionally, enabling policies, sufficient infrastructure, and incentive mechanisms can also help enhance wider adoption of the practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are a basic source of income and employment opportunities for the least developed countries, more emphasis has recently been given to those enterprises, and a number of research studies have been conducted. Ethiopia, as one of the Least Developed countries, could also benefit from those MSMEs if the sector is supported enough. Accordingly, this research is conducted to identify the basic determinants of the performance of MSMEs in Ethiopia and to try to develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem mapping to connect those enterprises with the concerned stakeholders, which can contribute to the improvement of the performance of MSMEs. Primary data from randomly selected 400 sampled enterprises is analyzed using ordered logistic regression, and data collected from stakeholder interviews is analyzed using descriptive analysis to develop the ecosystem mapping. Accordingly, academic institutions, such as universities, financial institutions, such as banks and credit associations, non-governmental organizations, such as GIZ and Reach for Change, and government organizations are important actors in entrepreneurship in Ethiopia. Finally, the result of the ordered logit model indicates that access to finance, training, and raw materials, experience, level of education, and sectoral dummy are statistically significant factors that affect the performance of MSMEs. Based on the results, we recommend the government of Ethiopia give more emphasis to MSMEs in different forms, such as providing support in the form of financial, training, market, and raw material linkages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Smallholder poultry farming plays a major socio-economic role in Ethiopia and other African developing nations by securing food and income for local households. One way of trying to optimize smallholder poultry production is testing introduced commercial dual-purpose strains into new African environments. Different strains may be best suited for different environments of Ethiopia, which is a country with a wide range of agro-ecologies. A traditional way of investigating performance differences between strains and their new environments is statistical testing for genotype by environment interaction (G*E). Our G*E results suggest that body weight performance varies between chicken strains, and these differ depending on the Ethiopian region targeted for introduction. Decisions regarding which strain to keep in which respective environment can be aided by outcomes of statistical models used in this study. However, the final advice regarding which strain is preferable in which Ethiopian region needs to consider local farmer preferences and other performance traits. Ethiopia is a developing nation that could highly benefit from securing food via improved smallholder poultry farming. To support farmer and breeding decisions regarding which chicken strain to use in which Ethiopian environment, G*E analyses for body weight (BW) of growing male and female chickens were conducted. Research questions were (1) if a G*E is present for BW and (2) which strain performs best in which environment in terms of predicted BW. Analyses were performed using predicted BW at four different ages (90, 120, 150, and 180 days) of five strains (Horro, Koekoek, Kuroiler, Sasso-Rhode Island Red (S-RIR), and Sasso) tested in five Ethiopian regions (Addis Ababa, Amhara, Oromia, South Region, and Tigray) that are part of three Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) (cool humid, cool sub-humid, and warm semi-arid). The indigenous Horro strain was used as a control group to compare four other introduced tropically adapted strains. The dataset consisted of 999 female and 989 male farm-average BW measurements. G*E was strongly present (p < 0.001) for all combinations of strain and region analyzed. In line with previous research, Sasso was shown to have the highest predicted BW, especially at an early age, followed by Kuroiler. Horro had the lowest predicted BW at most ages and in most regions, potentially due to its young breeding program. The highest predicted BW were observed in Tigray, Oromia, and Amhara regions, which are in the main part of the cool sub-humid AEZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pre-existing, profit-driven theories of international development gave rise to the movement for humancentered development. In this review, an extensive analysis of Ethiopian perspectives on the theory of human development and its implementation there was carried out for the first time. There has not previously been a review of the theories, techniques, and practices related to Ethiopian human development. The goal of this review was to examine Ethiopian human development concepts, theories, techniques, and practices in order to make recommendations on how to enhance both the current situation of human development and its potential applications in Ethiopia. Ethiopia therefore had a lower human development index (HDI) than sub-Saharan African nations and those with low HDI. When compared to other emerging nations, it also has lower averages for predicted school years, mean school years, and birth weight. Also, on average, its gross national product per person is lower. Except for pension programs for government and military employees, there is no comprehensive, publicly funded welfare system. Most people run the risk of going hungry because they do not have access to enough food to survive. The government will therefore be urged to adopt policies that will increase society's output and productivity, as well as to implement human-centered development projects, a capability-based approach to development, a strategy for improving sustainable livelihoods, and stable environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers in many developing countries had been mandated to pursue the goal of reducing child mortality as one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper analyses the factors influencing child survival in Ethiopia using a 2011 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) dataset. Descriptive statistics and two-stage least square probit regression were employed for data analyses. Results showed that the majority of the children (82.19 per cent) were born to households in rural areas, while average household heads' age was 42.78 years. Using combined children data, fertility, age of household heads, residence in urban areas, drinking of alcohol and smoking significantly reduced probability of child survival, while altitude, education, male household headship, age at first birth and rendering of assistance on domestic chores by the husband increased it ( p < 0.05). It was concluded that efforts at reducing maternal fertility by promoting education of female children will go a long way in reducing child mortality in Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently few subjective measures of Quality of Life (QoL) are available for use in developing countries, which limits their theoretical, methodological, and practical contribution (for example, exploring the relationship between economic development and QoL, and ensuring effective and equitable service provision). One reason for this is the difficulty of ensuring that translated measures preserve conceptual, item, semantic, operational, measurement; and functional equivalence (Herdman, M., Fox-Rushby, J., & Badia, X. (1998). Quality of Life Research, 7, 331), which is illustrated by an account of the translation, pre-piloting, and administration of a new individualised QoL measure, the Global Person Generated Index or 'GPGI'. The GPGI is based on the widely used Patient Generated Index (Ruta, Camfield, & Martin, (2004) Quality of Life Research, 13, 1545.) and offers many of the advantages of the participatory approaches commonly used in developing countries, with added methodological rigour, and quantitative outcomes. It was successfully validated in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Ethiopia, using quantitative and qualitative methods--open-ended, semi-structured interviews (SSIs), conducted immediately post-administration. Both the measure and method of 'qualitative validation' described later in the paper offer an exciting alternative for future researchers and practitioners in this field. The quantitative results suggest the GPGI shows cultural sensitivity, and is able to capture both the areas that are important to respondents, and aspects of life one would expect to impact on QoL in developing countries. There were strong correlation between scores from the GPGI and SSIs for the area of health, and moderate correlations for 'material wellbeing' (MWB)('Material wellbeing' refers to respondents' perceptions of their achievement in the areas of farming, debt reduction, assets, crops, livestock, job, land, property, and agriculture) and children. Weak to moderate correlations were observed between the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the GPGI; however, the highest coefficient was between the GPGI and the most conceptually similar item. Statistically significant differences were seen in GPGI scores between rich and poor, urban and rural respondents, and different countries. Health and material wellbeing scores, derived from the SSIs, also showed a linear relationship with GPGI scores, with a suggestion of curvilinearity at the higher levels, as predicted by a general QoL causal model. In conclusion, the GPGI has great potential for use in this area, especially when supported by extensive interviewer training, and supplemented with a cognitive appraisal schedule.

Background: No more than 8% of HIV positive children needing treatment in low- and middle-income countries have access to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). Children presently account for about 4% of all treated patients, while for equitable access they should make up at least 13%., Aims: This study explores key issues, implications and interaction dynamics to boost production of easy-to-use and affordable fixed-dose combination (FDC) ARVs for children in the developing world. Potentials for equitable solutions are examined including priority steps and actions, appropriate treatment options and reliable forecasting methods for paediatric ARVs, as well as combination incentives to generic companies against market unattractiveness and enforced intellectual property (IP) rights. Moreover, implementation strategies to enhance the development and production of affordable ARV paediatric formulations and appropriate supply systems to ensure availability are investigated., Results: The current market for FDC paediatric ARVs is already substantial and will only grow with improved and scaled up diagnosis and monitoring of children. This provides an argument for immediate increase of production and development of FDC ARVs for children. These formulations must be low cost and included in the list of Essential Medicines to avoid children continuing to lag behind in access to treatment. Access-oriented, long-term drug policy strategies with the ability to pass muster of governments, the UN system, as well as generic and research-based enterprises are needed to let children gain expanded and sustained access to FDC ARVs. Under the requirements listed above, IP-bound Voluntary License (VL) flexibilities do appear, if coupled with substantial combination incentives to generic firms, as a fitting tool into the needs. Policies must consider enhancing human resource capacity in the area of caregivers and social and health workers aiming to spread correct information and awareness on effectiveness and rationale of FDC ARVs for children. Policies should urge that paediatric ARV treatment programmes entwine with extant interventions on prevention of mother-to-child transmission, as well as with HIV treatment initiatives focused on mothers and household members. Policies, again, should consider centralising functions and pooling resources to help overcome drug supply barriers. WHO's brokering role in VL-based agreements between wealthy and developing country industries, as well as its technical guidance in setting international standards should not be waived while looking for sustained access to optimised ARV treatments for children. Strategies discussed in this paper, while taking unavoidability of marketing and profit rules into account, look closely into the trade and drug policy directions of China and India according to frontier crossing implications of their IP management trends as well as their multi-faceted penetration strategies of both the wealthy and under-served markets the world over.

Women and the poor are disproportionately affected by common mental disorders (CMD), and women in low income countries are particularly at risk. Social capital may explain some of the geographical variation in CMD, but the association between social capital and CMD in low income countries has rarely been studied. This paper aims to explore the relationship between individual and ecological measures of social capital and maternal CMD in four low income countries. Cross-sectional data from the Young Lives (YL) study with information across 234 communities in Peru, Ethiopia, Vietnam and Andhra Pradesh (India) were used. The mental health of mothers of one-year-old children (n=6909), and the individual cognitive and structural social capital of all respondents was assessed. Ecological social capital was calculated by aggregating individual responses to the community level. Multi-level modelling was used to explore the association between individual and ecological (community level) social capital and maternal CMD in each of the four countries, adjusting for a wide range of individual and community level confounders. The analysis shows that individual cognitive social capital is associated with reduced odds of CMD across all four countries. The results for structural social capital are more mixed and culturally specific, with some aspects associated with increased odds of CMD. This suggests that structural social capital has context-specific effects and cognitive social capital more universal effects on maternal CMD.

Ethiopia is planning to expand irrigated agriculture to help support its rapidly growing population and reduce its dependency on the import of sugar. The World Bank financed the Ethiopian Nile irrigation and drainage feasibility studies. The largest of the areas studied was in the Upper Beles river basin where water availability was substantially augmented by the completion, in May 2010, of the Tana Beles hydroelectric tunnel scheme which diverts water from the Tana basin. This paper focuses on the Upper Beles scheme and describes the creation of a digital elevation model from stereoscopic satellite imagery, the planning process used to delineate irrigation command areas (including irrigation and drainage layouts) and detailed engineering studies, including an assessment of the operating environment and challenges facing scheme operators. Social and environmental considerations were integrated in the proposed development, both in the planning process and in the identification of mitigation measures. The project team looked at irrigation schemes in Ethiopia and tried to build on successes to ensure informed recommendations were given in the feasibility study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insurance sector can play a critical role in financial and economic development. By reducing uncertainty and the impact of large losses, the sector can encourage new investments, innovation, and competition. As financial intermediaries with long investment horizons, insurance companies can contribute to the provision of long-term instruments to finance corporate investment and housing. There is evidence of a causal relationship between life insurance sector development and economic growth in developing country. However, there is no study examining the factors that affect the development of life insurance industry in developing country like Ethiopia. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the determinants of life insurance for a time series data for the period 1991-2010. The results show that life insurance is determined by per capita income, life expectancy, real interest rate and inflation. Life insurance is explained by this factor at 98%. It is suggested that life insurance industry in Ethiopia seriously consider these factors to bring growth in the insurance industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In countries where most deliveries occur at home and most available information is hospital-based, accurate information on neonatal mortality is difficult to obtain. This study was conducted in a rural community in Ethiopia that has been under monthly demographic surveillance since 1987. The analysis in this paper was based on data collected in the 1st decade (1987-96) and this database was used to calculate mortality incidence rates and analyse survival. The overall neonatal mortality rate was 27/1000 live births (95% CI 24.5-29.5). The rates in the early and late neonatal periods were 20 and 8/1000 live births, respectively (95% CIs 18.0-22.9 and 6.6-9.4). The mortality incidence rates show that, every day, three of every 1000 newborns die in their 1st week of life. Neonatal mortality accounted for 43% of infant mortality. If all neonates survived the 1st week of life, life expectancy would increase by 1 year. Increased risk of neonatal mortality was found to be associated with living in a rural lowland area, twin births and male gender. This paper also addresses the need for further identification of the complex environmental and behavioural risk factors for neonatal mortality and for instituting appropriate and affordable interventions to reduce neonatal mortality.

Background: Eighty-five per cent of the Ethiopian population lives in remote areas, without access to modern health services. The limited health care budget, chronic shortage of health care workers and lack of incentives to retain those in remote areas further jeopardize the national health care delivery system. Recently, the application of information communication technology (ICT) to health care delivery and the use of telemedicine have raised hopes. Objective: This paper analyzes the challenges, failures and successes encountered in setting-up and implementing a telemedicine program in Ethiopia and provides possible recommendations for developing telemedicine strategies in countries with limited resources. Design: Ten sites in Ethiopia were selected to participate in this pilot between 2004 and 2006 and twenty physicians, two per site, were trained in the use of a store and forward telemedicine system, using a dial-up internet connection. Teledermatology, teleradiology and telepathology were the chosen disciplines for the electronic referrals, across the selected ten sites. Results: Telemedicine implementation does not depend only on technological factors, rather on e-government readiness, enabling policies, multisectoral involvement and capacity building processes. There is no perfect 'one size fits all' technology and the use of combined interoperable applications, according to the local context, is highly recommended. Conclusions: Telemedicine is still in a premature phase of development in Ethiopia and other sub-Saharan African countries, and it remains difficult to talk objectively about measurable impact of its use, even though it has demonstrated practical applicability beyond reasonable doubts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for peaceful coexistence among states in Africa has been a turbulence issue among academia and policy makers. Much time has been devoted to the field of policy science towards finding a lasting solution to the problem of national integration in the continent of Africa. Studies have traced this issue from the perspective of colonisation and its impacts on the African people while little attention has been dedicated to the quest towards national integrations by Africans. However, this paper will interrogate these lapses and proffer solutions vis-à-vis Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa. The methodology used in gathering data in this investigation was secondary sources and the technique of content analysis was applied. The results showed that African leaders have devoted much time in sustaining their personal empires, self-aggrandizement against national interest, and these among others have led to crises of different types ranging from communal clashes to civil war, farmer and herdsmen clashes, and so on. The investigation has revealed that political or ethnic intolerance is an issue that has challenge the African people. This has been situated due to artificial creation of political entity against natural evolution of state in most African states. Hence, policies of national integration should be cognisance of the beliefs and history of developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study is to assess the linkages between climate-related measures and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Ethiopia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) within the scope of submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). Given the under-reporting of least developed countries' and emerging economies' issues with regards to climate change mitigation and adaptation, this study is important in studying how these three countries are integrating electrification goals (SDG7) with their INDC. The analysis explores the electricity mix, the expected greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation until 2030, and electrification and related metrics. The INDCs provide a platform to achieve universalization of electrification, catalysing climate finance. Given the bottom-up process inherent to the current climate agreement mechanism, the paper gives insights on how these countries have used the INDC to prioritize sustainable electricity access. The results show that the countries have different storylines as to their electricity access targets and INDC. Ethiopia aims at nearly 100% renewables for power, while Kenya only generates 54% of the total electricity with renewables in 2030. In the DRC, the percentage of renewables is very high, but the per capita electricity consumption remains low while the country becomes a power exporter. The three countries have set a target of 75% electricity access in 2030, but only Kenya comes halfway to the minimum of 2000 kWh/capita of economy-wide electricity generation, which is required for a reasonable level of welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many developing countries, there is a desire to switch from traditional fuel to renewable energy. However, the supply of renewable energy is often characterized by a severe lack of reliability. This paper seeks to answer if, and to what extent, power outages inhibit switching from fuelwood to hydropower based electricity supply, and factors that determine households' willingness to pay to reduce power outages using a unique combination of mixed logit and seemingly unrelated regression models. We find that frequency, duration, timing of power outages and advance notice are important characteristics determining whether households switch to electricity. The less reliable the electricity supply is the less likely households are to switch to it. Therefore, unreliability in electricity supply maintains the current use of fuelwood, resulting in continued environmental and health problems. Hence, policymakers should work to improve reliability to speed up the desired fuel switching process. • We study households' valuation of reliability of electricity in developing country. • We conducted a choice experiment with a sample of urban households in Ethiopia. • We combined mixed logit and seemingly unrelated regression models for the analysis. • Unreliable electricity make households shy away from fully switching to electricity. • Income, age, type and price of fuels are among the determinants of households' MWTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests the full insurance and related hypotheses using data from urban households in Ethiopia. Whereas consumption insurance tests have focused on rural areas of developing countries, much less is known about the urban poor who remain precariously positioned in terms of consumption insurance—owing both to weak social bonding that undermines informal arrangements and thin formal insurance and financial markets. Results from OLS and GMM estimations provide evidence to this effect and show that full insurance is strongly rejected for various income and consumption categories even at the local level. The results do suggest however that partial insurance may be taking place though only among the most vulnerable. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]