Gambella Regional State Research Articles

Institutional Challenges in Sustainable Forest Management: Evidence from the Gambella Regional State of Western Ethiopia

This article explores the ambiguity over property rights to forest resources in the Mejengir Zone of Gambella Regional State in western Ethiopia. Household surveys and focus group discussions were used as data collection tools. Results indicate that the complexities in forest management are mainly attributable to diversity in livelihoods as well as users’ heterogeneity in perceptions and actions. Ambiguity was created both through the process of decentralization in forest management and the demarcation of regional forest priority areas without public participation. The weakness of the state in undertaking effective supervision to overcome corruption has also exacerbated this problem. A lack of well-defined property rights has resulted in deforestation and loss of biodiversity, and unclear property rights, reflecting an ineffective local forest governance structure. The resulting behavioral uncertainty among users puts pressure on forest resources, which favors the conversion of forests into other land use models. State development programs were also found to be sources of ambiguity over property rights and thereby created challenges for collective forest management. Therefore, local institutional structures should be improved to help accommodate more traditional systems of forest management and to ensure sustainability in forest management practices.

Directly observed treatment short-course for tuberculosis control program in Gambella, Ethiopia

Background: Tuberculosis is still the leading cause of illness in the world which accounted for 2.5% of the global burden of disease, and 25% of all avoidable deaths in developing countries.The aim of study was to assess impact ofDOTS strategy on tuberculosis case finding and treatment outcome in Gambella Regional State, Ethiopia from 2003 up to 2012 and from 2002 up to 2011, respectively. Methods &Materials: Health facility-basedretrospective study was conducted.Data were collected and reported in quarterly basis usingWHO reporting format for TB case finding and treatment outcome from all DOTS implementing health facilities in all zones of the region to Federal Ministry of Health. Results: A total of 10024 all formof TB cases hadbeen registered between the periods from 2003 up to 2012. Of them, 4100(40.9%) were smear-positive pulmonary TB, 3164(31.6%) were smearnegative pulmonary TB and 2760(27.5%) had extra-pulmonary TB. Case detection rate of smear-positive pulmonary TB had increased from 31.7% to 46.5% from the total TB cases and treatment success rate increased from 13% to 92% with average mean value of being 40.9%(SD= 0.1)and 55.7%(SD=0.28), respectively for the specified year periods. Moreover, the average values of treatment defaulter and treatment failure rates were 4.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Conclusion: It is possible to achieve the recommended WHO target which is 70% of CDR for smear-positive pulmonary TB, and 85% of TSR as itwas already been fulfilled the targets for treatments more than 85% from 2009 up to 2011 in the region. However, it requires strong efforts to enhance case detection rate of 40.9% for smear-positive pulmonary TB through implementing alternative case finding strategies.

Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) for tuberculosis control program in Gambella Regional State, Ethiopia: ten years experience

BackgroundTuberculosis is still the leading cause of illness in the world which accounted for 2.5% of the global burden of disease, and 25% of all avoidable deaths in developing countries. The aim of study was to assess impact of DOTS strategy on tuberculosis case finding and treatment outcome in Gambella Regional State, Ethiopia from 2003 up to 2012 and from 2002 up to 2011, respectively.MethodsHealth facility-based retrospective study was conducted. Data were collected and reported in quarterly basis using WHO reporting format for TB case finding and treatment outcome from all DOTS implementing health facilities in all zones of the region to Federal Ministry of Health.ResultsA total of 10024 all form of TB cases had been registered between the periods from 2003 up to 2012. Of them, 4100 (40.9%) were smear-positive pulmonary TB, 3164 (31.6%) were smear-negative pulmonary TB and 2760(27.5%) had extra-pulmonary TB. Case detection rate of smear-positive pulmonary TB had increased from 31.7% to 46.5% from the total TB cases and treatment success rate increased from 13% to 92% with average mean value of being 40.9% (SD = 0.1) and 55.7% (SD = 0.28), respectively for the specified year periods. Moreover, the average values of treatment defaulter and treatment failure rates were 4.2% and 0.3%, respectively.ConclusionIt is possible to achieve the recommended WHO target which is 70% of CDR for smear-positive pulmonary TB, and 85% of TSR as it was already been fulfilled the targets for treatments more than 85% from 2009 up to 2011 in the region. However, it requires strong efforts to enhance case detection rate of 40.9% for smear-positive pulmonary TB through implementing alternative case finding strategies.

EVALUATION OF SURGE AND CUTBACK FLOW FURROW IRRIGATION SYSTEMS FOR PEPPER (CAPSICUM ANNUUM) PRODUCTION

ABSTRACTThe aim of this field experiment was to evaluate surge, cutback and conventional flow furrow irrigation systems in terms of hydraulic, technical and agronomic performance measures for pepper production in Gambella Regional State, Ethiopia. The treatments consisted of two surges (SR1 = 1/3 cycle ratio and SR2 = 1/2 cycle ratio), one cutback (CB) and one conventional (C) flow furrow irrigation systems. The advance time ratios (ATR) recorded under the two surge treatments ranged from 0.57 to 0.70. Maximum application efficiency of 61.8%, storage efficiency of 95.1% and uniformity coefficient of 77.3% were recorded under SR1, whereas the lowest corresponding values of 52.8, 81.2 and 56.1% were recorded under C. Maximum deep percolation (23.6%) and tailwater (27.7%) losses were recorded from CB and C treatments, respectively, whereas SR1 and SR2, respectively, gave minimum deep percolation (14.3%) and tailwater (20.5%) losses. In terms of all agronomic performance measures, it was found that SR2 performed well, followed by SR1. However, the C treatment gave minimum yield (6450 kg ha−1), crop water productivity (17.5 kg ha−1 mm−1) and irrigation water productivity (11.3 kg ha−1 mm−1). From the findings of this study, it was concluded that surge and cutback flow furrow irrigation systems are promising technologies for pepper production in areas with minimal water use. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Community’s knowledge, attitudes and practices about tuberculosis in Itang Special District, Gambella Region, South Western Ethiopia

BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) is one of the primary public health problems in developing countries. HIV/AIDS, poverty, undernutrition, over-crowded living conditions and lack of knowledge about the disease have been known to increase the risk of spreading the bacteria and the risk of developing the disease. The objective of this study was to assess the level of TB knowledge, attitudes and practices of rural communities of Itang Special District of the Gambella Regional State of Ethiopia.MethodsBetween November 2011 and January 2012, a community-based cross sectional study was carried out in a randomly selected rural kebeles (i.e. the smallest administrative units) of Itang communities. The study participants were interviewed using pre-tested questionnaire. The overall knowledge, attitudes and practices of the study participants were assessed using the mean score of each outcome as a cut-off value. Having a score above the mean on each of the three target outcomes was equated with having a good level of knowledge, or having favorable attitude and good practices towards TB.ResultsOut of 422 study participants (58.5% males and 41.5% females) only 3.3% mentioned bacteria/germ as a cause of pulmonary TB (PTB) and 9.9% mentioned cough for at least two weeks as the sign of TB. Taking the mean knowledge score as the cut-off value, 57.6% (95% CI: 52.7% to 62.3%) of the study participants had good level of knowledge about TB, 40.8% (95% CI: 36.0% to 45.6%) had favorable attitude towards TB and 45.9% (95% CI: 41.1% to 50.9%) had good practices. Female participants were less likely to have good level of knowledge [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.33, 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.51, p < 0.001], less likely to have favorable attitude (AOR = 0.23, 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.37) and less likely to have good practices (AOR = 0.37, 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.57, p < 0.001) compared to male participants.ConclusionMajority of the study participants had no correct information about the causative agent of TB and the main symptom of PTB. Moreover, low level of overall knowledge, attitudes and practices about TB was associated with female participants. Hence, TB control strategy in the present study area should include community awareness raising component.