Predictors of obesity among school-age children in Debre Berhan City, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Obesity causes a serious diet-related chronic disease, including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and certain forms of cancer. In Sub- Saharan Africa including Ethiopia, most nutritional interventions mainly focused on a child undernutrition and ignored the impacts of obesity among children. In Ethiopia, the magnitude and associated factors of obesity among school-age children were not clearly described. Therefore this study assesses the predictors of obesity among school- age children in Debre Berhan City, Ethiopia, 2022. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was conducted from June to July, 2022. Participants were selected by using multistage sampling method. Data were collected using pre-tested and structured questions. Data were coded and entered in Epi-data version 4.6 and exported and analyzed using SPSS version 25. RESULT: A total of 600 children were participating in the study. The prevalence of obesity was 10.7% (95% CI: 8.3, 13.2). In this study, attending at private school (AOR = 4.24, 95% CI: 1.58, 11.32), children aged between 10-12years (AOR = 2.67, 95% CI: 1.30, 5.48), soft drink available in home (AOR = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.25,18.13), Loneliness (AOR = 1.67 95% CI: 1.12, 3.15) and mothers with occupational status of daily labour (AOR = 8.54 95% CI: 1.12, 65.39) were significantly associated with childhood obesity. CONCLUSION: In this study, the overall magnitude of childhood obesity was (10.7%) which means one in eleven children and relatively high as compare to the EDHS survey. Therefore, more attention should be given to strengthening physical activities, providing nutritional education, and creating community awareness about healthy diets as well as other preventive measures.

Dynamics of soil properties as impacted by contrasting lithology, slope class, and land use types: a case study in semi-arid highlands of northern Ethiopia.

Soil characterization is crucial in creating sustainable platforms for land users to identify areas vulnerable to anthropogenic activities. This study was conducted to investigate the impacts of lithology, slope, and land use on soil properties of a semi-arid highland in northern Ethiopia. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples collected from 0 to 30 cm depth were analyzed. Most of the assessed physical and biochemical soil properties varied significantly (p < 0.05) with lithology, slope class, and land use type. Shale-originated soils were richer in nutrients than soils of other lithologies. A decrease in slope gradient accounted for an increase in most soil properties, while a reverse trend was observed for sand content, bulk density (BD), water stable aggregates (WSA), mean weight diameter (MWD), structural stability index (SSI), soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and available phosphorus (AP). Silt and clay fractions, total porosity, moisture content at field capacity and wilting point, visual evaluation of soil structure, pH, electrical conductivity, calcium carbonate, exchangeable bases, cation exchange capacity, and percent base saturation were found to be higher for cultivated land soils compared to grass land and shrub land soils. Shrub land soils, in contrast, had higher WSA, MWD, SSI, SOC, TN, and AP relative to grass land and cultivated land soils. In summary, slope class and land use type stood out as the major drivers influencing the dynamics and distribution of soil properties other than lithology and their interactions in semi-arid highlands of northern Ethiopia. Thus, from sustainability point of view and in the light of their nutrient retention capability and limitation, more attention should be paid toward ensuring periodic assessment and sustainable management of soils in steep cultivated lands.

Potentials of legumes rotation on yield and nitrogen uptake of subsequent wheat crop in northern Ethiopia.

Nitrogen has becoming the most limiting nutrient in the northern highlands of Ethiopia due to continuous cropping with application of limited external inputs. To improve soil nutrient availability, farmers have been using legumes in crop rotation. However, the roles of various legumes on subsequent wheat (Triticum aestivum) crop are unknown in northern Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to investigate impacts of legumes on yield and N uptake of subsequent wheat crop. Experiment was conducted at farmer's field with faba bean (Vicia faba L.), 'dekeko' field pea (Pisum sativum var. abyssinicum), field pea (Pisum sativum), lentil (Lens culinaris) and wheat (Triticum spp.) in the first season and all plots were rotated by wheat in the second season. Yield of subsequent wheat crop was recorded and N uptake was analyzed. The result revealed that grain yield and dry biomass yields of subsequent wheat crop were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the legume-wheat rotations than in the wheat-wheat rotation. The wheat yield is increased by 2196, 1616, 1254 and 1065 kg ha-1 and the N uptake is increased by 71.4%, 51.0%, 49.2% and 29.8% in the faba bean-wheat, 'dekeko'-wheat, field pea-wheat and lentil-wheat rotation plots compared to the wheat continuous cropping, respectively. The findings indicated that legumes improved yield and N uptake of the subsequent wheat crop. Thus, soil fertility management policy need to consider legume crop rotations as nutrient management option to improve sustainable soil fertility and yield.

Soil organic carbon, total nitrogen stocks and CO2 emissions in top- and subsoils with contrasting management regimes in semi-arid environments.

This study aims to investigate soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents and stocks, CO2 emissions and selected soil properties in croplands, grazing lands, exclosures and forest lands of semi-arid Ethiopia. Sampling was done at 0-30, 30-60 and 60-90 cm soil depths and concentration and stocks of SOC, TN and selected soil properties were determined using standard routine laboratory procedures. There were variations in distribution of SOC and TN stock over 90 cm depth across land use types and locations, decreasing from topsoils to subsoil, with average values ranging from 48.68 Mg C ha-1 and 4.80 Mg N ha-1 in Hugumburda cropland to 303.53 Mg C ha-1 and 24.99 Mg N ha-1 in Desa'a forest respectively. Forest sequestered significant higher SOC and TN stock, decreasing with depth, compared with other land use types. In Desa'a and Hugumburda, the conversion of forest to cropland resulted in a total loss of SOC stock of 9.04 Mg C ha-1 and 2.05 Mg C ha-1, respectively, and an increase in CO2 emission of 33.16 Mg C ha-1 and 7.52 Mg C ha-1 yr-1, respectively. The establishment of 10 years (Geregera) and 6 years (Haikihelet) exclosures on degraded grazing land increased SOC stock by 13% and 37% respectively.

Establishment and validation of site specific fertilizer recommendation for increased barley (Hordeum spp.) yield, northern Ethiopia.

Establishing model based balanced nutrient requirements for barley (Hordeum spp.) in the northern Ethiopia can solve the fertilizer recommendation problems and enhance crop yield. The Quantitative Evaluation of Fertility of Tropical Soils (QUEFTS) model was used to estimate balanced nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) requirements for barley production in Alaje, northern Ethiopia. The objectives were to (i) quantify soil N, P and K supply and recommend fertilizers using QUEFTS model; (ii) investigate response of QUEFTS fertilizer application on yield and nutrient uptake and (iii) validate QUEFTS model performance. The experiment had four treatments: (T1) model based fertilization; (T2) blended fertilization; (T3) farmers' fertilization practices and (T4) control/no fertilizer. Soil information of the experimental plots were analyzed and used as model input to estimate soil nutrient supplies and recommend fertilizer. Yield and agronomic data were recorded and nutrient uptake and use efficiencies were analyzed. Model performance and accuracy were also checked using root mean square error, coefficient of determination, index of agreement and percent bias. The result revealed that the N, P and K soil supply ratio in the field experimental plots were 9:1:6. The higher grain yield of 4747 kg ha-1 was recorded in the QUEFTS based fertilization plots. Validation results indicated that there is a good correlation between the QUEFTS predicted and observed grain yields implying that the QUEFTS model can be a base for development of simple and cost-effective decision support tools for nutrient management and fertilizer recommendations. Thus, the model performance and prediction accuracy is promising and can help farmers to adjust fertilizer application rates based on crop requirements.

Potential, quality and quantity assessment of sesame plant residue in dry land vertisols of Tigrai, Ethiopia; Approach for sustainability of dry-land farming.

In dryland areas, the increasing demand for sustainable production needs to effectively utilize and manage residue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential, quality, and quantity assessment of sesame residue in dryland areas. Quantification of residue potential was performed at <650, 650-850, 850-1050, and >1050 m elevation by summing the weight of stack, standing residue, and straw. Whereas, assessment in the residues nutrient content was performed at <650, 650-850, 850-1050, and >1050 m elevation and age of residue (fresh and old). The TN, S and P in the residue were determined by Kjeldahl digestion Method, wet acid digestion Method, and two percent acetic acid (CH3COOH) as extracting to extract PO4 respectively. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to determine micronutrient cations such as Fe, Zn, and Cu. B was determined by extraction using a mixture of hydrochloric (HCl) and hydrofluoric (HF) acids to plant tissue digests. The nutrient potential was calculated by multiplying nutrient content in residue with the amount of residue estimated ha-1. R software (R version 3.5.2) was used to analyze the data. The result indicates that during the last 20 years, the total cultivated land size covered by sesame was 170,000 (ha) and total grain yield of 0.09 Mt. This implies that the size of cultivated land put under sesame cultivation has increased by 79.5%. On average 2.01 t ha- 1 of residue was produced annually and about 0.34 Mt yr-1 of residue was harvested from sesame production. The age of residue differed significantly (p < 0.05) on TN, S, P, Zn, Fe, Cu, and B content of sesame residue. Nutrient content in residue was ranged from 34.55-24.53 g TN/kg, 9.6-4.2 g S/kg, 5.2-4.3 g P/kg, 23-14.6 mg Zn/kg, 130.23-94.78 mg Fe/kg, 17-6.2 mg Cu/kg and 10.67-9.12 mg B/kg during fresh and old residue analysis respectively. Elevation differed significantly (p < 0.05) for TN, S, P, Zn, and Fe. Nutrient content in residue was ranged from 27.1-32.2 g TN/kg, 6-8.5 g S/kg, 6.6-4.1 g P/kg, 20.8-17 mg Zn/kg, 109-116 mg Fe/kg, 12.9-10.4 mg Cu/kg and 10.1-9.6 mg B/kg for the elevation range of <650 m and >1050 m respectively. The TN, S, P, Zn, Fe, Cu, and B potentially produced from sesame residue were in the range of 49.4-69.6 kg N ha-1, 8.5-19.3 kg S ha-1, 8.7-10.5 kg P ha-1, 294-463 mg Zn ha-1, 1.99-2.62 g Fe ha-1, 125-342 mg Cu ha-1 and 183-214 mg B ha-1 respectively. This study clearly concludes that fresh and old residue as well as elevation are critical factors that need to be considered for exploring crop residue and its nutrient potential, quality, and quantity aspects in dryland farming systems.

Understanding spatial patterns of soils for sustainable agriculture in northern Ethiopia's tropical mountains.

Knowledge of the geographical distribution of soils is indispensable for policy and decision makers to achieve the goal of increasing agricultural production and reduce poverty, particularly in the Global South. A study was conducted to better understand the soilscapes of the Giba catchment (900-3300 m a.s.l.; 5133 km2) in northern Ethiopia, so as to sustain soil use and management. To characterise the chemical and physical properties of the different benchmark soils and to classify them in line with the World Reference Base of Soil Resources, 141 soil profile pits and 1381 soil augerings at representative sites were analysed. The dominant soil units identified are Leptosol and bare rock (19% coverage), Vertic Cambisol (14%), Regosol and Cambisol (10%), Skeletic/Leptic Cambisol and Regosol (9%), Rendzic Leptosol (7%), Calcaric/Calcic Vertisol (6%), Chromic Luvisol (6%) and Chromic/Pellic Vertisol (5%). Together these eight soil units cover almost 75% of the catchment. Topography and parent material are the major influencing factors that explain the soil distribution. Besides these two factors, land cover that is strongly impacted by human activities, may not be overlooked. Our soil suitability study shows that currently, after thousands of years of agricultural land use, a new dynamic equilibrium has come into existence in the soilscape, in which ca. 40% of the catchment is very suitable, and 25% is moderately suitable for agricultural production. In view of such large suitable areas, the Giba catchment has a good agricultural potential if soil erosion rates can be controlled, soil fertility (particularly nitrogen) increased, available water optimally used, and henceforth crop yields increased.

Conservation of the Ethiopian church forests: Threats, opportunities and implications for their management.

In the central and northern highlands of Ethiopia, native forest and forest biodiversity is almost confined to sacred groves associated with churches. Local communities rely on these 'church forests' for essential ecosystem services including shade and fresh water but little is known about their region-wide distribution and conservation value. We (1) performed the first large-scale spatially-explicit assessment of church forests, combining remote-sensing and field data, to assess the number of forests, their size, shape, isolation and woody plant species composition, (2) determined their plant communities and related these to environmental variables and potential natural vegetation, (3) identified the main challenges to biodiversity conservation in view of plant population dynamics and anthropogenic disturbances, and (4) present guidelines for management and policy. The 394 forests identified in satellite images were on average ~2ha in size and generally separated by ~2km from the nearest neighboring forest. Shape complexity, not size, decreased from the northern to the central highlands. Overall, 148 indigenous tree, shrub and liana species were recorded across the 78 surveyed forests. Patch α-diversity increased with mean annual precipitation, but typically only 25 woody species occurred per patch. The combined results showed that >50% of tree species present in tropical northeast Africa were still present in the 78 studied church forests, even though individual forests were small and relatively species-poor. Tree species composition of church forests varied with elevation and precipitation, and resembled the potential natural vegetation. With a wide distribution over the landscape, these church forests have high conservation value. However, long-term conservation of biodiversity of individual patches and evolutionary potential of species may be threatened by isolation, small sizes of tree species populations and disturbance, especially when considering climate change. Forest management interventions are essential and should be supported by environmental education and other forms of public engagement.

Environmental conditions and human drivers for changes to north Ethiopian mountain landscapes over 145 years.

As quantitative or spatially distributed studies of environmental change over truly long-term periods of more than 100 years are extremely rare, we re-photographed 361 landscapes that appear on historical photographs (1868-1994) within a 40,000 km(2) study area in northern Ethiopia. Visible evidence of environmental changes apparent from the paired photographs was analyzed using an expert rating system. The conditions of the woody vegetation, soil and water conservation structures and land management were worse in the earlier periods compared to their present conditions. The cover by indigenous trees is a notable exception: it peaked in the 1930s, declined afterwards and then achieved a second peak in the early 21st century. Particularly in areas with greater population densities, there has been a significant increase in woody vegetation and soil and water conservation structures over the course of the study period. We conclude that except for an apparent upward movement of the upper tree limit, the direct human impacts on the environment are overriding the effects of climate change in the north Ethiopian highlands and that the northern Ethiopian highlands are currently greener than at any other time in the last 145 years.

Rural livestock asset portfolio in northern Ethiopia: a microeconomic analysis of choice and accumulation.

Livestock fulfill different functions. Depending on their livelihood strategies, households differ in their choice of what type of animal to keep and on accumulation of the chosen animal overtime. Using a panel data of 385 rural households in a mixed farming system in northern Ethiopia, this paper investigates the dynamic behavior of rural households' livestock holding to identify determinants of choice and accumulation of livestock overtime. Choice is analyzed for a principal animal, the animal that constituted the largest value of livestock assets a household possessed, using a multinomial logit model. Results indicate that rural households differ in their choice of what type of animal to keep. Agro-climatic conditions, sex and age of household head, presence of an adult male member in a household, and liquidity are the major factors that influence the type of principal animal households keep. Conditional on the principal animal selected, we analyzed the factors that determine the accumulation of the chosen animals by correcting for selection bias. Area of land cultivated is the most significant factor that explains the number of animals households keep. Other factors include sex of household head, diversification into nonfarm self-employment, and shocks.

Desertification? Northern Ethiopia re-photographed after 140 years.

A collection of sepia photographs, taken during Great Britain's military expedition to Abyssinia in 1868, are the oldest landscape photographs from northern Ethiopia, and have been used to compare the status of vegetation and land management 140 years ago with that of contemporary times. Thirteen repeat landscape photographs, taken during the dry seasons of 1868 and 2008, were analyzed for various environmental indicators and show a significant improvement of vegetation cover. New eucalypt woodlands, introduced since the 1950s are visible and have provided a valuable alternative for house construction and fuel-wood, but more importantly there has also been locally important natural regeneration of indigenous trees and shrubs. The situation in respect to soil and water conservation measures in farmlands has also improved. According to both historical information and measured climatic data, rainfall conditions around 1868 and in the late 19th century were similar to those of the late 20th/early 21st century. Furthermore, despite a ten-fold increase in population density, land rehabilitation has been accomplished over extensive areas by large-scale implementation of reforestation and terracing activities, especially in the last two decades. In some cases repeat photography shows however that riparian vegetation has been washed away. This is related to river widening in recent degradation periods, particularly in the 1970s-1980s. More recently, riverbeds have become stabilized, and indicate a decreased runoff response. Environmental recovery programmes could not heal all scars, but this study shows that overall there has been a remarkable recovery of vegetation and also improved soil protection over the last 140 years, thereby invalidating hypotheses of the irreversibility of land degradation in semi-arid areas. In a highly degraded environment with high pressure on the land, rural communities were left with no alternative but to improve land husbandry: in northern Ethiopia such interventions have been demonstrably successful.