Browsing by Author "Getachew Alemu"

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    A Critical Analysis of Urban Environmental Health Discourses in Promoting Community Participation: Focus on Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2013-06) Getachew Alemu ; Hailom Banteyerga
    This study analyzed environmental health, particularly sanitation discourses with a critical discourse analysis approach to see how community participation is promoted. Since the adoption of the Alma-Ata Declaration in 1978, community participation has been promoted as a global discourse of health promotion. This is based on the belief that health is a matter of life and death and it has to be owned by the people. Drawing on Norman Fairclough’s (2003) approach to discourse analysis, global views on environmental health and approaches to the promotion of community participation, power relations in environmental sanitation discourses have been focused for investigation in this study. The study employed mixed methods design although the emphasis is on the qualitative data. The required qualitative data were taken from 5 key policy and strategy documents, 13 environmental health communication resources, 4 scripts of environmental sanitation education lesson observations, 13 scripts of individual in-depth interviews and 4 scripts of focus group discussions. Survey data from 250 respondents were also used to complement the qualitative data. All in all, the study involved 281 participants including seven key informants, six individual in-depth interviewees, 18 FGDs discussants and 250 survey respondents. Participants were selected using multi forms of strategies. The data analysis utilized mainly latent level content and critical discourse analyses. The findings revealed that though community participation has consistently been promoted as a nodal policy discourse of environmental health in general, and environmental sanitation in particular, communities were not participating in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs and interventions as intended. The analysis also showed that in the environmental health education materials, as well as during the actual communication practices, the promotion of community participation has been left aside. The environmental sanitation packages and the awareness raising lessons were found dominated by bio-medical information; whereas, community participation is a social practice which requires behavioral change. Moreover, though the policy discourses acknowledged the role of communities’ indigenous knowledge to maintain sustainable environmental sanitation, the waste management and disposal oriented environmental sanitation discourses demonstrated the usual top-down flow of information. It also emerged from the analysis that the unspoken exclusion of communities from the process of designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating their respective environmental health activities as promised in the policy and program documents resulted in silence and resistance. This is to say that communities were not empowered to develop attitudes of responsibility and participation essential to own the environmental sanitation interventions. They rather considered participation as political affiliation and developed sense of mistrust. The communities took the health extension workers as political agents of the government and resisted to take part even at grass-root level activities. In Ethiopia, low community participation is a contributing factor to poor environmental sanitation observed in the capital. Finally, it is recommended that the Ethiopian government needs to use participatory communication where communities participate in agenda setting, operational strategies and accountability of results. The present health communication strategy is top down and does not impact change of behavioral practices towards environmental sanitation. It is also suggested that more research needs to be done on community health communication discourses to get better insight into community assumptions and beliefs of health in general and environmental sanitation in particular. There should be more studies on communication strategies and ways of operationalization of health communication activities and community actual responses to such communications. The author strongly believes that unless we bring transformation on community perceptions and beliefs on development, where health is an important component, we cannot ensure sustainable growth and better life style.
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    Determinants of Adoption of Vermicomposting Technology among Smallholder Farmers in Walmara Woreda, Oromia Region, Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2023-11) Getachew Alemu; Aseffa Seyoum (PhD)
    The majority of the workforce in Ethiopia is employed in agriculture, which also has the largest economic contribution. However, agriculture is relied small-scale subsistence farming systems which practiced on infertile soil. Because of this low agricultural production owing to infertility problem, many people have been facing food insecure. Using vermicompost is among important solution for reducing such soil fertility problem and vulnerability to food insecurity although the practice is not adopted by farmers at expected level. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze factors influencing the adoption of vermicomposting technology in Walmara woreda. To achieve the objective of the study, data were collected from 184 householders (HHs) where (76 vermicompost adopters and 108 non-vermicompost adopters HHs). In addition, key informants and focus group discussions were conducted to support the survey data. The quantitative data analysis were analysed using both descriptive and econometric methods. Data analysis was done using both descriptive and econometric methods. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the determinants of adoption of vermicomposting technology. The analysis revealed that age, education status, field demonstration, distance to nearest farmland, access to credit and the extent of soil fertility problem were the variables that were significantly affected. The studies also showed that vermicompost has a positive role to increase soil fertility, and thereby boosted crop production and productivity. The analysis showed the main challenge of adoption of vermicomposting technology in the study area are lack of awareness, interest, labour, vermin box, access of technology, land, government support, and capital. The study determined that vermicompost is the main possible solution to increase soil fertility and production in the study area. Thus, it is advised that vermicomposting technology be given priority by governments as well as other interested participants in order to increase soil fertility, production, and productivity.
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    Prevalence of Malaria and its influencing factors in Awassa District, Southern Ethiopia.
    (Addis Abeba University, 2006-06) Getachew Alemu; Ahmed Ali
    Malaria is a leading public health problem in Ethiopia where an estimated 68% of the population lives in malarious areas. In 2005, malaria has been reported as the first leading cause of morbidity & mortality accounting for 48% of out patient consultation, 20% admissions and 24.9% inpatient deaths. It has also been documented in the nationwide child survival study that malaria affected school attendance by 20% and contributes to 47% of the child deaths in Ethiopia. Knowledge on local malaria situations is an important step in planning intervention and control activities since the transmission dynamics and determinants differ from place to place and in time. In the study area there is scarcity of community based studies which could provide recent information on the epidemiology of malaria for planning and implementation of effective prevention and control activities. A cross sectional study was carried out in Bushulo, Awassa District ,Sidama Zone, SNNPR from February 2006 to May 2006 with the objective to estimate prevalence of malaria and Factors influencing it. A total of 487 children and 200 households were studied from four rural localities selected by simple random sampling and using proportional to size allocation to each locality. The response rate was 98.2%. Household and clinical data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and a format was used for laboratory data. Blood samples were taken with aseptic technique from 487children 2 -9 years of age for microscopy. Results of the study revealed that malaria parasite rate was 3.9% (95% CI: 2.4-6.1) where as fever rate and spleen rates were 9% (95% CI: 6.7-12) and 10.9% (95%CI: 8.3-14) respectively. Household ITNs prevalence was 39%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to identify risk factors and the result revealed that family size 5 (p value<0.05), child’s age 2-5 years (p value<0.05) and residing in houses with corrugated Iron sheet roofs (p value <0.05) were found to be associated with higher risk of getting malaria (parasite rate). Residing in a locality called “Finchawa” (p value<0.05) and distance of settlement within less than 1km from Lake shore of Awassa (p value<0.01) were associated with a higher risk of malaria (spleen rate). As the proportion of partially immune population is very low in hypoendemic areas, these localities are prone to waves of epidemics. In areas where the option of environmental manipulations may be difficult especially after the major rainy season, it is advisable to apply indoor residual spraying up to a distance of 1km to effectively use scarce resources and minimize environmental contamination. Awareness creation for the proper use of ITNs and community mobilization is needed for environmental manipulation where possible. Prompt diagnosis and effective treatment, as well as, where environmental manipulations are difficult as in communities residing near Lake Awassa, Indoor residual spraying is advised to be applied prior to the rainy season to prevent and control epidemic outbreaks.
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    A Study of the Content and Utilization of Instructional Television (ITV) Programs in Teaching English to Grade 9 Students
    (Addis Ababa University, 2003-06) Getachew Alemu ; Awole Edris
    The main purpose of this study was to explore to what extent instructional television (ITV) programs were utilized by classroom teachers when teaching English language to Grade 9 students. The required data were collected using content analysis, questionnaires and classroom observation. The contents of all the 20 ITV programs provided in the Teacher’s Guide for ITV were analysed. The purpose of analysing the ITV program contents was to give background information to the major concern of the study. Fifteen Grade 9 English teachers from Addis Ketema, Black Lion, Cathedral and Miskayehazunan Senior Secondary Schools completed the questionnaire. In order to increase the reliability of the information obtained from the teachers, a similar questionnaire was administered to 105 randomly selected students from the above schools out of which 90 students fully responded to the items. Among the 15 teachers 5 teachers were picked randomly and were observed (each 4 times) to see how they utilize ITV programs in the classrooms. In order to analyse the responses given to each item in both questionnaires and the results of the classroom observation, descriptive analysis using frequency and percentage was employed. The results of the analysis revealed that Grade 9 English teachers have been reluctant to synchronize ITV programs with their regular teaching of English language. They were not found utilizing the ITV programs in line with the suggested procedures stated in the Teacher’s Guide for ITV. Though the teachers claimed that they have been implementing the Before, During and After ITV programs activities, the students’ responses and the results of the classroom observation showed a mis-match between what actually happened in the classroom and the suggested procedures teachers were supposed to follow. Moreover, lack of awareness raising trainings or orientation, absence of encouragement on the part of school directors, providing support materials appeared to be the major reasons for the low utilization of ITV programs. Finally, it has been recommended that teachers should be provided with ITV utilization trainings as required, since ITV programs are relatively new to our secondary schools. Besides, school directors should set weekly-time-tables and see how teachers exploit them. Inspectors and experts at EMA must also visit schools and supervise whether or not ITV programs are successfully implemented. The Ministry of Education is also responsible for the practicality of ITV programs because a large amount of money, skilled manpower, time etc. have been spent in the preparation and broadcasting of ITV programs.