SOLOMON GIZAW

Improved breeding practices and participatory health services have been designed and implemented by a partnership between national and international institutions in various parts of Ethiopia since 2014. Based on a panel data of two waves, we have estimated the impact of these interventions on small ruminant fertility, offtake, return per head of animal, and gross income per adult equivalent. Different specifications of the difference-in-differences model revealed that access to small ruminant health services has increased offtake, return per head of sheep/goat, and gross income per adult equivalent. Participants in community-based small ruminant breeding have also higher offtake and gross income per capita than those who are not taking part. The findings of this study are expected to help understand the economic benefits that accrue to rural areas when livestock development interventions are made based on the right diagnosis. The results of this study will also be useful in informin...

The aim of this study was to identify breeding practices and trait preferences for indigenous sheep in three districts (Estie, Farta and Lay Gayient) located in the northwest highlands of Ethiopia. Questionnaire survey and choice experiment methods were used to collect data from 370 smallholder farmers. Respondents were selected randomly among smallholder farmers who own sheep in the aforementioned districts. A generalized multinomial logit model was employed to examine preferences for sheep attributes, while descriptive statistics and index values were computed to describe sheep breeding practices. Having the highest index value of 0.36, income generation was ranked as the primary reason for keeping sheep, followed by meat and manure sources. The average flock size per smallholder farmer was 10.21 sheep. The majority of the smallholder farmers (91%) have the experience of selecting breeding rams and ewes within their own flock using diverse criteria. Given the highest index value o...

Partners • University of Strathclyde in the UK • Amhara, Oromia and Somali regional and woreda livestock offices • Regional HEARD components in 3 regions • MoA | Private service providers Outcomes • A first version of the application is developed and tested • The tool will allow herd (or villages) monitoring and scoring based on baseline and endline data • Facilitate to give feedback to farmers/pastoralists and training

A study on genetic evaluation of 3 678 Menz (M) lambs born to 85 sires and 3 021 Awassi x Menz (A x M) crossbred lambs of 28 sires, was conducted. Data collected during 1993-2000 at Amed Guya and Shena centers in the central highlands of Ethiopia, were used for the study. Traitli studied included birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT). 6 month weight (6WT), yearling weight (12WT); average daily weight gains from birth to weaning (ADG1), birth to 6 months (ADG2), weaning to 6 months (ADG3) and 6 month to yearling age (ADG4). Heritability estimates ranged from 0.09±0.11 for ADG4 to 0.33±0.11 for 12WT in M sheep, and 0.31±0.08 for ADG 1 to 0.78±0.23 for ADG2 in A x M crosses. The genetic correlations between growth traits ranged from 0.07±0.26 (betweenBWT and 6WT) to 0.96±0.18 (between 6WT and 12WT) for M sheep and from 0.35±0.24 (between WWT and 6WT) to 0.88±0.26 (between 6WT and 12WT) for A x M crosses. Repeatabilities ofBWT, WWT and ADG1 were of moderate magnitude. The results sug...

Livestock diseases are a priority problem for livestock keepers throughout Ethiopia. Livestock keepers have also singled out poor animal health service delivery, which is largely the domain of the public sector, as the major constraint to improving animal health and productivity. In the current study, we describe the animal health service delivery system and compile from five questionnaire surveys involving 4,162 livestock keepers to characterize animal health service delivery in Ethiopia. The mapping of the animal health service delivery system along the livestock value chain clearly highlights the role of informal animal health services and variations of roles of the private sector. Also, the survey results clearly showed that livestock keepers' access to, use of and satisfaction with animal health services significantly varied across livestock production systems, geographic locations, socioeconomic strata, and service providers. Livestock keepers in crop-livestock and agropas...

Improved breeding practices and participatory health services have been designed and implemented by a partnership between national and international institutions in various parts of Ethiopia since 2014. Based on a panel data of two waves, we have estimated the impact of these interventions on small ruminant fertility, offtake, return per head of animal, and gross income per adult equivalent. Different specifications of the difference-in-differences model revealed that access to small ruminant health services has increased offtake, return per head of sheep/goat, and gross income per adult equivalent. Participants in community-based small ruminant breeding have also higher offtake and gross income per capita than those who are not taking part. The findings of this study are expected to help understand the economic benefits that accrue to rural areas when livestock development interventions are made based on the right diagnosis. The results of this study will also be useful in informin...

staff training and retention, and engagement of clinical personnel with the lab proved to be manageable challenges. Key external challenges include in-country supply-chain management issues, lack of competition among distributors, and foreign-currency exchange distortions. Conclusions: Using a relatively low-intensity intervention based on existing training tools and accreditation schemes, we demonstrate that establishment of reasonable-quality clinical bacteriology is not only within reach but also a critical step toward assessing the burden of AMR in settings like this one and implementing effective stewardship strategies.

Animal health interventions tend to focus on transboundary or zoonotic animal diseases and little attention is given to diseases that mainly affect livestock production and productivity which are of concern for smallholder farmers. To understand disease priorities of men and women livestock keepers and how these impact households, this study used participatory methods to elucidate priorities, reasons for prioritization, knowledge on small ruminant diseases and their transmission pathways. The study was conducted in 23 sites distributed across 14 districts in four regional states of Ethiopia. Ninety-two focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with men or women only groups. Various tools, such as semi-structured interviews, simple scoring and proportional piling were used to facilitate the process. A follow-up household survey involving 432 households/interviewees collected in-depth data on key small ruminant diseases. Each focus group identified and scored their top five diseases. During analysis, the diseases were grouped in to seven major categories based on local names and clinical signs reported. Highest scores in proportional piling (out of 100 counters) were obtained for respiratory diseases and gastrointestinal parasites in highland areas (mixed crop-livestock systems) with strong agreement among respondent groups using Kendall's coefficient of concordance (W) (W = 0.395, p < 0.01); whereas in lowland areas (pastoral and agro-pastoral systems), the priorities were respiratory and neurological diseases, also with very strong agreement (W = 0.995, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between men and women in prioritizing disease constraints. The reasons for prioritization were also used to define categories of impact of disease. The household survey confirmed disease priorities and highlighted the role of mortality for respiratory diseases. Despite differences in household roles, both men and women unvaryingly described the clinical signs in live animals the same way and reported similar observations of disease in carcasses of slaughtered animals. Overall, both men and women farmers had low awareness of zoonotic diseases. In conclusion, the priorities of national disease control programs do not fully match priorities of farmers. Such participatory tools should therefore, play a pivotal role when designing sustainable livestock health interventions.

The performance of indigenous Begait cattle (498 cows, 284 calves, and 48 heifers) in northern Ethiopia was studied. System of herd management significantly (P &lt; 0.01) influenced all production traits. Calves in medium-input herds (MIHM) grew faster than those in low-input herds (LIHM), by 232 g/d from birth to 9 months (Gain) and by 385 g/d from 9 to 12 months (Gain). Cow&#39;s dry period, calving interval (CI), and age at first calving (AFC) were 234, 222, and 343 days shorter for MIHM than for LIHM. Compared with LIHM, cows from MIHM had 74% higher daily milk yield (DMY) and 91% higher lactation milk yield (LMY). Calves born at wet season grew faster by 14 and 10% than those calves born in the dry season at Gain and Gain. The subsequent CI of cows calved in the wet season had 77 days shorter, 0.45 kg DMY, and 93 kg LMY increment. The differences between production systems can be attributed to differences in management skills and access to better quality feeds. Technical interv...

Glycoconjugates are directly or indirectly involved in many biological processes. Due to their complex structures, the structural elucidation of glycans and the exploration of their role in biological systems have been challenging. Glycan pools generated through release from glycoprotein or glycolipid mixtures can often be very complex. For the sake of procedural simplicity, many glycan profiling studies choose to concentrate on a single class of glycoconjugates. In this paper, we demonstrate it feasible to cover glycosphingolipids, N-glycans, and O-glycans isolated from the same sample. Small volumes of human blood serum and ascites fluid as well as small mouse brain tissue samples are sufficient to profile sequentially glycans from all three classes of glycoconjugates and even positively identify some mixture components through MALDI-MS and LC-ESI-MS. The results show that comprehensive glycan profiles can be obtained from the equivalent of 500-μg protein starting material or poss...

Exosomes are extracellular nanosized vesicles with lipid bilayers encapsulating nucleic acids and proteins, both with and without glycosylation. While exosomal nucleic acids and proteins have previously been explored to identify cancer biomarkers with some promising results, little information has been available concerning their glycoconjugate content. Exosomes were isolated from normal urine samples through multistep differential centrifugation. The isolated exosomes have an average size of 146 nm and a spherical shape, as determined by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. N-Glycans were enzymatically released from the isolated vesicles. After being reduced and permethylated, N-glycans were measured by MALDI mass spectrometry. Paucimannosidic, high-mannose, and complex type glycans were identified and their relative abundances were determined. Some detailed structures of these glycans were revealed through liquid chromatography/tandem mass sp...

Understanding of the significance of posttranslational glycosylation in Alzheimer&#39;s disease (AD) is of growing importance for the investigation of the pathogenesis of AD as well as discovery research of the disease-specific serum biomarkers. We designed a standard protocol for the glycoblotting combined with MALDI-TOFMS to perform rapid and quantitative profiling of the glycan parts of glycoproteins (N-glycans) and glycosphingolipids (GSLs) using human AD&#39;s post-mortem samples such as brain tissues (dissected cerebral cortices such as frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal domains), serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The structural profiles of the major N-glycans released from glycoproteins and the total expression levels of the glycans were found to be mostly similar between the brain tissues of the AD patients and those of the normal control group. In contrast, the expression levels of the serum and CSF protein N-glycans such as bisect-type and multiply branched glyc...

... 1 Taxonomy of personalisation for Generating personalised content in Technical Support ForumsSolomon Gizaw University of Limerick Localisation Research Center, Solomon.gizaw@ul.ie Jim Buckley University of Limerick Localisation Research Center, ... 3 T ab le 1 - P erso ...

A study was conducted to describe the production systems and management practices and investigate the physical linear body measurements of Washera sheep in the traditional farming systems in the western highlands of the Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. Data was collected using focus group discussion and field measurements. The agricultural production system in the study area was mixed crop-livestock. Livestock production and crop production complement each other in such a way that livestock are used as a source for draft and manure for crop production and from crop production the crop residues, straws and aftermath serve as main components of livestock feeds in the study areas. The main component of feed for sheep is communal pasture. Farmers house their sheep throughout the year together with other livestock separated by a woodlot. Breeding is allowed year round. Docking the fat tail of ewe lambs, for ease of mating, is a common practice. The average flock size per househo...

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works to impr ove food security and reduce poverty in developing countries thr ough research for better and more sustainable use of livestock. ILRI is a member of the CGIAR Consor tium, a global research partnership of 15 centres working with many partners for a food-secure future. ILRI has t wo main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in East, W est and Southern Africa and South, Southeast and East Asia. ilri.org CGIAR is a global agricultural r esearch partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consor tium in collaboration with hundr eds of partner organizations. cgiar.org

In the cool highlands of Menz area the predominant production system is a mixed sheep-crop production system. Due to frost and unreliable rainfalls crop production is limited and therefore many families depend on food aid. These effects are becoming more severe as climate changes and human population increases. Consequently, some farmers tend to shift from the sheep-crop production system to sole sheep production. Thus, to recommend the appropriate management system in this agro-ecological zone, understanding of the current production system and the interrelationship between system components are required. This study compares the ecological sustainability and economic viability of alternative production systems. System dynamics considers dynamic interaction between the elements of the studied system and can help to understand their behaviour over time with the use of stocks and flows. Dynamic system modelling software STELLA 9.0.2. (High performance Systems, Inc., Hanover, New Hamps...

Accurate information on the genetic and phenotypic characteristics and diversity of the indigenous Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) is the basis on which their present and future sustainable utilization and conservation should be made. The paper describes the objectives, structure, functionality, content, utility and future prospects of the Country- Domestic Animal Genetic Resources Information System (DAGRIS) of ILRI. This electronic database is designed to cater for the needs of researchers, policy makers, development practitioners, teachers, students and farmers in developing countries for efficient aces to available published and grey literature from past and present research results on the origin, distribution, diversity, present use and status of selected Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) of the countries. Development of the country modules of c-DAGRIS in English and French for Anglophone and Francophone countries is finalized and ready to be used.

Huntington&#39;s disease (HD) is an autosomal, dominantly inherited and progressive neurodegenerative disease, nosologically classified as the presence of intranuclear inclusion bodies and the loss of GABA-containing neurons in the neostriatum and subsequently in cerebellar cortex. Abnormal processing of neuronal proteins can result in the misfolding of proteins and altered post-translational modification of newly synthesized proteins. Total glycomics, namely, N-glycomics, O-glycomics, and glycosphingolipidomics (GSL-omics) of HD transgenic mice would be a hallmark for central nervous system disorders in order to discover disease specific biomarkers. Glycoblotting method, a high throughput glycomic protocol, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight/mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) were used to study the total glycome expression levels in the brain tissue (3 mice of each sex) and sera (5 mice of each sex) of HD transgenic and control mice. All experiments were p...

ABSTRACT Survival analysis applying proportional hazards models was used to investigate genetic and non-genetic factors affecting ewe longevity and lamb survival of sheep in Ethiopia. Data were obtained from an on-station closed nucleus breeding program of Menz sheep and an on-farm Awassi x Menz sheep crossbreeding project. A total of 695 ewes and 1890 lambs born from the nucleus population of Menz sheep were used for the analysis of ewe productive life and lamb survival to yearling age respectively. In addition, 5530 lamb records of purebred local and crossbreds with proportions of ~25–50% Awassi, collected from three locations were used for the analysis of lamb survival from birth to weaning age. The effects of year, ewe parity and litter weight at weaning were significant (p&amp;lt;0.05) for ewe productive life. On-station lamb survival to yearling was affected by year and breeding value of yearling weight of the lamb, indicating that faster growing animals had substantially higher survival rates. Animal model heritability estimates for lamb mortality ranged from 0.02 to 0.10. While there was a strong genetic trend for growth rate, as evidenced by estimated breeding values for different birth years, estimated breeding values for lamb survival were variable across years with decreasing trend. These results indicate no antagonism between growth rate and survival under conditions prevailing in the nucleus system. Routine genetic evaluation for survival is suggested. Under farmer conditions, the effects of year, season, sex and location effects were significant (p&amp;lt;0.05) on lamb survival to weaning age whereas breed composition (local versus crossbred) of dam as well as of the lamb were not significant. This seems to indicate that crossbreeding of local animals with Awassi sheep does not have an adverse effect on the survival of lambs under farmer conditions typical for the Ethiopian highland regions included in this study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative resistance of Menz and Washera sheep breeds to artificial infection with Haemonchus contortus. The challenge trial was conducted at the Debre Berhan Agricultural Research Center in Ethiopia. A total of 39 (Menz = 21, Washera = 18) lambs of about 6 months old were used for the trial. All lambs were initially treated against internal parasite using albendazole and Fasinex to free them from internal parasites and kept indoors. H. contortus third-stage larvae (L3) were prepared according to standard procedure from adult female parasite collected from abattoirs and recovered using the Baerman technique. Approximately 5000 infective larvae were inoculated to the experimental lambs at about 5 weeks after deworming. Fecal egg count (FEC), packed cell volume (PCV), FAffa MAlan CHArt (FAMACHA) score, lamb body weight, and survival of lambs were recorded at 28, 35, and 42 days after challenge. Breed effect was not significant (P &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; 0.05), whereas time of measurement and the interaction of breed and time had significant (P &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.05) effects on FEC and PCV. At 28 days after challenge, Menz sheep had lower FEC than Washera sheep, whereas at days 35 and 42, the Washera sheep had lower FEC than Menz lambs. The PCV decreased significantly throughout the post-challenge period. Despite their parasite burden, Menz sheep were able to maintain live weight during the 42 days of challenge. Chi-square tests for breed differences in lamb survival were not significant at any time (28, 35, and 42 days after challenge). Lower FEC at 28 days and delayed rise in FEC after infection in Menz lamb would allow in delaying anthelmintic treatment. In addition to maintain body weights during the infection period, sheep of both breeds exhibited substantial variability in PCV and FEC, suggesting opportunity to consider parasite resistance in selection program.

ABSTRACT A household survey and measurements of different body traits from 120 households and from 1 009 goats were collected to characterize the production system and morphological features of Western lowland and Abergelle goat breeds of Ethiopia. Goats were kept for multifunctional roles in both areas, but mainly to generate cash. The average ± SD of flock sizes per household were 10.8 ± 7.25 and 48.56 ± 52.21 for Western lowland and Abergelle, respectively. Production characters such as body conformation, multiple births and milk yield were reported as major selection criteria of breeding goats. The majority of Abergelle goats have red brown (23.8 percent) and brown (19.7 percent) coat colours with short and smooth hair. All Abergelle goats have horns, 11.1 percent have wattles, 8.0 percent of males have ruff. White (20.4 percent) and a mixture of white with other colours were the predominant coat colours of Western lowland goats. A total of 42.3 percent males and 5.1 percent females of the Western lowland population have ruff. The least square means of body weight, chest girth, body length and height at withers of Western lowland female goats were 24.00 ± 0.19 kg, 65.27 ± 0.23 cm, 54.8 ± 0.21 cm and 62.60 ± 0.22 cm, respectively. The corresponding values for Abergelle female goats were 18.34 ± 0.22 kg, 61.03 ± 0.27 cm, 51.00 ± 0.24 cm and 58.99 ± 0.25 cm, respectively. Breed improvement programmes in these areas should take into account the multifunctional roles of goats, goat breeding practices and traits preference of the farmers.