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Gender Roles in Enset Product Marketing: The Case of Wonchi District, South West Shoa Zone, Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 3, September 2023
Pages:
36-41
Received:
29 June 2023
Accepted:
1 August 2023
Published:
10 August 2023
Abstract: In Ethiopia, enset is one of the indigenous root crops widely cultivated in the south and south western parts, particularly in Wonchi district. Enset product specifically kocho is a major source of food and cash income for majority of smallholder farmers. Enset processing and its product marketing is left for women regardless of the tediousness of the process. Though, it is considered as female’s work by the community, concrete evidence about the gender role in enset product marketing is not well documented. This study aimed to identify gender role enset product marketing in Wonchi District. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data were collected from randomly selected 184 sample enset producers through two stages sampling technique. The data were analyzed by descriptive methods. The results indicated that both genders participated at different activities in kocho marketing. The production stage is practiced mainly by males while enset processing, kocho marketing and controlling generated income from kocho marketing are dominantly performed by females. The study recommends provision of awareness creation to change the work division culture and perception difference between men and females in kocho marketing and rising experience producers through experience sharing on the enset production.
Abstract: In Ethiopia, enset is one of the indigenous root crops widely cultivated in the south and south western parts, particularly in Wonchi district. Enset product specifically kocho is a major source of food and cash income for majority of smallholder farmers. Enset processing and its product marketing is left for women regardless of the tediousness of ...
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Effect of Ni Concentration in Cu-Fe-Ni Alloys Coating on Mild Steel Substrate Prepared by Electrochemical Deposition
Abbas Ayoub,
Naseeb Ahmad,
Muhammad Haseeb-U-Rehman,
Muhammad Abbas
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 3, September 2023
Pages:
42-48
Received:
10 July 2023
Accepted:
24 July 2023
Published:
13 September 2023
Abstract: Mild steel has applications in construction, mechanical engineering, general-purpose fabrication, fencing, furniture components for different shapes, and other industries. Cu-Fe-Ni alloy coating with different concentrations of Ni was produced on low carbon steel substrate by electrodeposition in this research. Electrochemical deposition (also known as electrodeposition) is one of the most commonly used techniques for the preparation of adherent metallic coatings used to improve the different properties of the base material. The electrolytic bath contained the 31.92 gl-1 CuSO4, 54.2 gl-1 FeSO4, NiSO4.7H2O (0.00 gl-1, 14.04 gl-1, 28.08 gl-1, 42.12 gl-1) and 15.4 gl-1 H3BO3 as buffer to maintain pH at 3. The electrodeposition is done at suitable deposition parameters. The effect of Ni concentration on the surface morphology, structure, and mechanical properties of the coating was revealed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis with a 45 kV accelerating voltage and a 40 mA current, and Vicker hardness tester respectively. Obtained results showed that with the increase in Ni content, grain size increases from 65.898 nm to 94.770 nm and elongation decreases from 39.780% to 37.033% while the mechanical properties increase. The thickness of deposited Cu-Fe-Ni alloys has a decreasing trend of thickness with increasing Ni contents. The coating thickness decreased from 82.73 μm to 34.98 μm.
Abstract: Mild steel has applications in construction, mechanical engineering, general-purpose fabrication, fencing, furniture components for different shapes, and other industries. Cu-Fe-Ni alloy coating with different concentrations of Ni was produced on low carbon steel substrate by electrodeposition in this research. Electrochemical deposition (also know...
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Community Forest Resource Utilization and Associated Land Degradation in Eswatini – The Case of Ezikhotheni and Ngcayini Chiefdoms
Saico Sibusiso Singwane,
Heinrich Reinhard Beckedahl,
Absalom Mganu Manyatsi
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 3, September 2023
Pages:
49-62
Received:
31 July 2023
Accepted:
23 August 2023
Published:
13 September 2023
Abstract: This study assessed community forest resource utilization and associated land degradation in Eswatini using Ezikhotheni and Ngcayini chiefdoms as case studies. Noteworthy is that, Eswatini is faced with a host of environmental challenges which include deforestation and forest degradation; excessive hunting, overgrazing, soil degradation, as well as limited potable water resources. In turn, these challenges collectively hinder the economic growth of the country. Given that 63% of the population in the Kingdom of Eswatini lives below the poverty line, most people rely on the vegetation for a livelihood, and the vegetation itself relies on geology and soil for its survival, hence land degradation is inevitable. Therefore, due to heavy reliance on forest resources, forest lands continue to be degraded while grasslands are overgrazed and most wild animal species are being eradicated with only some being protected in the country’s conservation areas. In response to land degradation, in some rural areas such as Ngcayini and Ezikhotheni, afforestation programs have been initiated to rehabilitate degraded land and supplement timber products’ requirements. Worth noting is that, these chiefdoms are severely threatened by land degradation; hence plantation-style community forests were established between 2001 and 2003. However, nothing has been documented regarding the effectiveness of the interventions. Therefore, the present study aims to determine the change in land cover and the extent of land degradation over time at Ngcayini and Ezikhotheni in order to establish the effectiveness of the interventions in controlling land degradation. Notably, in this study effectiveness is measured by an increase in the size of the plantation-style community forest and a decrease in size of a rehabilitated gully. On the other hand, a decrease in size of the plantation-style community forest and a non-rehabilitating (or increasing) gully indicates a failure of the interventions in controlling land degradation in the study sites. The study also focuses on the utilization of the forest resources derived from the plantation-style community forests. Data collection involved household interviews and calculation of the area of plantation-style community forests and gullies on Google Earth images for 2008, 2013 and 2017 as well as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat satellite images. The findings indicate that the forests and the NDVI were generally increasing from 2008 to 2017 in both chiefdoms, which indicate effectiveness of the afforestation intervention.
Abstract: This study assessed community forest resource utilization and associated land degradation in Eswatini using Ezikhotheni and Ngcayini chiefdoms as case studies. Noteworthy is that, Eswatini is faced with a host of environmental challenges which include deforestation and forest degradation; excessive hunting, overgrazing, soil degradation, as well as...
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