Degefa Tolossa

Some realities of the urban poor and their food security situations: a case study of Berta Gibi and Gemechu Safar in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This paper, based on qualitative research within two communities in Addis Ababa, identifies factors that impoverish households and expose them to chronic food shortages, and assesses their coping and survival strategies. A sustainable livelihood framework is used to explore how context, shocks, assets, institutions, activities and strategies interact in multiple ways to affect well-being and food security. Households were found to be vulnerable to a range of environmental factors and economic shocks, including poor sanitation, unhygienic environments, overcrowding, unemployment and limited access to financial capital. Their survival strategies include diversification of sources of income, living in slum areas and migration of household members.

Description of long-term climate data in Eastern and Southeastern Ethiopia

This article presents long-term analyzed climate data from nine weather stations in eastern and southeastern parts of Ethiopia. At the outset of this data process, unrefined meteorological data was obtained from National Meteorological Agency (NMA) of Ethiopia for the analysis. The analyzed data in this article shows patterns of rainfall variability, frequency of drought years, seasonal concentration of precipitation and temperature conditions. As issues related to climate conditions are very intricate, different techniques and indices were applied to analyze and refine the data. The analysis reveals that eastern and southeastern parts Ethiopia are severely affected by recurrent droughts, erratic rainfall, and high and increasing temperature conditions. The long-term (1981–2009) mean annual total rainfall had been fluctuating between about 850 mm and 1350 mm. Most stations receive maximum rainfall in summer (June, July and August) except Gode which gets over 50% of its rainfall in spring season (March, April and May). The inter-annual rainfall difference was found to be very high. The Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) is greater than 11 for all the stations showing that rainfall is concentrated in a few months. PCI is extremely high (greater than 20) for very dry stations such as Gode. Food production and consumer price index were found to be fluctuating with rainfall patters.

IWRM as a System Approach to Water Security: Evidence from the Awash River Basin of Ethiopia

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is one of the system thinking approaches 11 emerged in the 1990s. Since then it has been applied in various countries and contexts. However, the 12 implementation of the IWRM is contested. There are paucity of literature and guidelines as to how the 13 concept can be operationalized. In Ethiopia, there is no evidence that IWRM is successfully instituted. 14 Particularly, IWRM has never been implemented in the Awash River Basin. The study generated data 15 from household and institutional surveys, in-depth interviews, focused group discussions, workshops, 16 and secondary sources. Multiple sources of data were triangulated and thematically summarized. We 17 found that pragmatic water resources management through system approach helps to recognize river 18 basin as a bigger system in which the natural and human systems function. This resolves the problem of 19 fragmentations among among various actors, sectors, interest and priorities. That it facilitates the 20 coordination of various subsystems. The operationalization of IWRM as a system to secure water 21 resources require the establishment and/or strengthening of the interactions of various systems, 22 subsystems, and the elements within the entire basin system. Finally, enabling institutional environments 23 should be considered as a medium of realizing IWRM. 24

Water institutions in the Awash basin of Ethiopia: the discrepancies between rhetoric and realities

ABSTRACT This paper strived to describe the features of water institutions in the Awash basin from a historical perspective based on reviews of water laws, policies, and administrative documents, as well as interviews with water actors using snowball techniques. The result revealed that institutions had rapidly been changing but not coherently built. The most centralized duties and powers of institutions, coupled with financial and technical limitations created difficulty in enforcing the laws. The policy was comprehensive and inculcated the principles of Integrated Water Resource Management. Yet, it did not properly cascade down to the lower level as it was fundamentally top-down. Several stakeholders were not involved in the policy-making process. Water institutions were overwhelmingly more rhetoric than action oriented. Customary water institutions were undermined. Therefore, critical steps need to be taken towards enforcing formal water institution, recognizing the role of customary practices, and involving the key stakeholders, and building the capacity of actors to minimize water insecurity in the basin.

How farmers’ characteristics influence spontaneous spreading of stone bunds in the highlands of Ethiopia: a case study in the Girar Jarso woreda

This study aims to identify key differences between farmers who spontaneously implement stone bunds (i.e. farmers implementing stone bunds by their own initiative) and farmers who do not. Data were collected in the Girar Jarso woreda in the central highlands of Ethiopia, through a household survey with 80 farmers: 40 with spontaneously implemented stone bunds and 40 without. Independent samples t test, principal component analysis and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Results show that five key-factors explain differences between the two groups of farmers: (1) readiness to change, (2) available resources, (3) social capital, (4) type of family, and (5) commitment. These factors together explain 73% of the variance in the data set and show that particularly characteristics related to the farmer’s intrinsic motivation play a crucial role to spontaneously implement and integrate stone bunds into the farming system. Furthermore, results show that young farmers are most committed to soil conservation: they are often intrinsically motivated dynamic farmers who are ready to change their future and improve productivity and food security. The study suggests that government extension programmes should therefore focus more on these young and dynamic farmers and foster their readiness to change. This implies that extension workers and government officials should better understand the crucial role of farmers’ intrinsic motivation when dealing with sustainable land management, and also reformulate extension strategies and messages. This is particularly important when developing a scaling-up strategy that helps to sustainably increase agricultural production and achieve food security of small-holder farmers in Ethiopia.

Food insecurity of rural households in Boset district of Ethiopia: a suite of indicators analysis

BackgroundDespite several efforts made so farxa0to improve the overall food insecurity situation, the challenge is still a major problem inxa0Ethiopia since a long time ago. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the food insecurity situation and identify the determinants among the rural households of Boset district. To this end, 397 household heads were selected through systematic sampling technique from six sample kebeles. In addition, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and personal observations were also used to supplement the survey data. Then, the food insecurity status of households was measured with a suite of indicators.ResultsThe results revealed that 26.5%, 21.7%, and 41.3% of respondents were highly food insecure through Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, and Household Dietary Diversity Score, respectively. On top of these, 56.9%, 46.1%, and 64.0% of the respondents did not have access to water supply, not owned latrine, and dispose waste in an unsafe way, respectively. Furthermore, results from the inferential statistics showed that educational status, farmland size, total annual income, distance from health facilities, and the availability of supporting organizations were positively associated with household food security situation, while access to irrigable land, frequent drought, distance to input/output markets, and distance to road transport were negatively associated.ConclusionFrom the study findings it can be observed that all the dimensions of food (in)security should be focused for effective intervention. More specifically, those determinants with both positive and negative associations with food security may deserve the attention of the local authorities. Similarly, there is a need for a reorientation of an approach which is beyond a quick and simple fix. Besides, an integration of efforts between different sectors at both local and national levels is sought to bring a lasting solution to food insecurity.

Water security: stakeholders’ arena in the Awash River Basin of Ethiopia

Water insecurity is a growing challenge manifested from global to local scales. This paper examines stakeholders and their roles to tackle the challenges of water insecurity in the Awash basin of Ethiopia. The empirical evidence is based on stakeholder analysis employing key informant interviews with water experts using snowball techniques, focused group discussions with water user associations, and local communities. Moreover, secondary data sources were used to supplement the field data. The study is informed by Institution of Sustainability (IoS) to understand stakeholders’ arena in water security goal. The government institutions, private institutions, external bodies, and the local community were the key stakeholders. They engaged in water use, allocation, distribution, policy making, advocacy, and setting rules and regulations, development and management, and financing of water sector–water transaction processes. Nevertheless, it was found out that the stakeholders are not acting synergistically andxa0coordinated to tackle the anthropogenic and natural factors affecting water quality, quantity, and access to safe water on a sustainable basis. Poor coordination fragmented the endeavours of various stakeholders and constrained effective participation. Power asymmetryxa0among the actors limited their collaboration. In addition, there is little enforcement of water rules and regulations to surmount such challenges. Given these challenges, the dire water insecurity is a conspicuous manifestation inxa0the basin. The potential of enforcing existing laws, engagement of pertinent stakeholders, as well as coordinating the action of these actors must be exploited to achieve sustainable water resources management and thereby water security. The political commitment is a sine qua non in the entire endeavour.