Poverty, migration and sex work: youth transitions in Ethiopia     

Lorraine van Blerk 《Area》2008,40(2):245-253

Despite an emerging body of work on youth transitions, research has yet to explore the often unconventional routes to adulthood for young people marginalised through poverty. By drawing on interviews with 60 young commercial sex workers in Ethiopia, this paper explores the connections between poverty, migration and sex work and demonstrates that sex work provides a risky alternative, but often successful, path to independence for some rural–urban migrants. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for policies that seek to support young sex workers by enabling them to maintain their independence while seeking different employment.  相似文献   

Responses of rural households to the impacts of population and land-use changes along the Eastern Escarpment of Wello,Ethiopia     

《Norsk geografisk tidsskrift. Norwegian journal of geography》2012,66(1):42-53

The article analyses the effects of changes in land cover and land use changes together with population changes on the livelihood of rural households, and also farming households' responses to these changes, in typical rural settings of north-eastern Ethiopia. The study shows that the immediate impact of shrubland and forest increase since the late 1970s, coupled with population increase, is an exponential fall of per capita cropland and grazing land, which are the principal physical assets of livelihoods of the rural farming community in the area. Furthermore, the study reveals that the scarcity of cultivated land in the area neither brings about agricultural intensification nor leads to diversification into non-farm activities, and farmers did not respond to the scarcity of cultivated land through large out-migration. In general, the Boserupian assumption of land-use intensification through improved labour and land productivity did not happen in the region. Rather, the Malthusian thesis seems appropriate. The majority of farming households are destitute, unable to satisfy their own food demands, and live in absolute poverty. This situation has been brought about not only due to population pressure but also as a result of the policies that have been applied in all systems since the 1950s.  相似文献   

The environmental significance of the remobilisation of ancient mass movements in the Atbara–Tekeze headwaters, Northern Ethiopia     

Jan Nyssen  Jan Moeyersons  Jean Poesen  Jozef Deckers  Mitiku Haile 《Geomorphology》2003,49(3-4):303-322

Old landslides are prominent features in the landscape around Hagere Selam, Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia. The available evidence suggests their Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene age and conditions of soil humidity. The affected geological layers, often silicified lacustrine deposits prone to sliding, rest upon or above the water holding Amba Aradam sandstone aquifer.Three examples of present-day (remobilisation of old) mass movements are illustrated and discussed. The aims of the study were to unravel the environmental conditions of the present-day remobilisation of ancient flows, as well as those of first-time landslides. The first two mass movements discussed are slumps, located in areas with vigorous regeneration of (grassy) vegetation. Their activation is thought to be the consequence of an increase in infiltration capacity of the soils under regenerating vegetation. One of these slumps had a horizontal movement of the order of 10–20 m in 1 day.The other case is the remobilisation of the May Ntebteb debris flow below the Amba Aradam sandstone cliff. The debris flow presently creeps downslope at a rate of 3–6 cm year⁻¹. Palynological evidence from tufa shows that the reactivation of the flow started 70 years ago. Shear resistance measurements indicate the danger for continuous or prefailure creep. From the soil mechanics point of view, the reactivation of the debris flow is due to the combination of two factors: (1) the reduction of flow confining pressures as a result of gully incision over the last hundred years, and (2) the increase of seepage pressure as a consequence of the cumulative effect of this incision and the increase in infiltration rates on the lobe since grazing and woodcutting have been prohibited 8 years ago. The role of such exclosures as possible landslide triggers is discussed.From the geomorphological point of view, the ancient movements and their present-day reactivation cannot be compared: the ancient movements led to the development of debris flows, whereas the reactivations relate to the dissection of these mass movement deposits.  相似文献   

Conductivity as a predictor of a total cations and salinity in Ethiopian lakes and rivers: revisiting earlier models     

Gebre-Mariam Zinabu  Lauren J. Chapman  Colin A. Chapman 《Limnologica》2002,32(1)

We used regression analyses of water samples from 18 lakes, nine rivers, and one spring in Ethiopia to (a) test the hypothesis that water bodies of relatively higher salinity (K₂₅>1000 μS cm⁻¹) have a different conductivity to salinity relationship than waters of lower salinity (K₂₅ < 1000 μS cm⁻¹), and (b) develop models to predict total cations and salinity from conductivity that can be used for Ethiopian waters and other African aquatic systems of similar chemical composition. We found no statistical difference in the bilogarithmic relationships (total cations vs. conductivity; salinity vs. conductivity) for waters of higher salinity (K₂₅ > 1000 μS cm⁻¹) and waters of lower salinity (K₂₅ < 1000 μS cm⁻¹). However, comparison among our models and models from the literature suggests that developing separate equations for low and high salinity water bodies has some merit. We believe that the equations developed in this study can be used for Ethiopian waters and other African waters within the range of conductivity in this study.  相似文献   

Ground cracks in Ethiopian Rift Valley: facts and uncertainties   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

L. Ayalew  H. Yamagishi  G. Reik 《Engineering Geology》2004,75(3-4):309-324

No accurate relationship has been obtained in this study between ground cracks in Ethiopian Rift Valley and the most common causes of earth fissures such as aquifer-system compaction and increased horizontal seepage stresses. This is due to the fact that the level of groundwater withdrawal responsible for these processes is still negligible in Ethiopia. If aquifer-system compaction and increased horizontal seepage stresses have a certain role, then it should be through the long-term effect of groundwater flow from basins to neighboring lakes. The ground cracks appeared also not to have a direct link with active faulting or distant earthquakes. Structurally, the Ethiopian Rift Valley is dominated by NE–SW-trending tensional faults, but no evidence is obtained in this study to associate the process of surface cracking with major tectonics. However, an aseismic elastic strain, which originates at depth and propagates upward through sediments without the formation of bedrock faults, could result in conditions conducive to the development of cracks. Then, fissures might ultimately be created after heavy rainfalls by near-surface processes such as piping and hydrocompaction along water-line sources.  相似文献   

'What a dolt one is': language learning and fieldwork in geography     

Elizabeth E Watson 《Area》2004,36(1):59-68

This paper discusses aspects of the theory and practice of foreign language learning for fieldwork in geography, a rarely discussed set of issues despite the personal investment that language learning requires from the researcher. In some cases of cross-cultural research, it may be particularly desirable to learn a vernacular language for which there are few (or no) study aids. However, there is little guidance about how learning such a language should be approached, or discussion of its significance for the subsequent research. Through a discussion of personal experience in Ethiopia, the paper describes one way of learning a vernacular language, and explores the advantages that this brought to the fieldwork and to the resulting research understandings.  相似文献   

Sustainable development and international cooperation in the Eastern Nile Basin     

Salah El-Din Amer  Yacob Arsano  Atta El-Battahani  Osman El-Tom Hamad  Magdy Abd El-Moenim Hefny  Imeru Tamrat  Simon A. Mason 《Aquatic Sciences - Research Across Boundaries》2005,67(1):3-14

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Distributional analysis of soil fauna data in the Ethiopian highlands and Arabian Peninsula     

A.M. Kheirallah  Wafai Z.A. Mikhail 《Journal of Arid Environments》1995,31(4)

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RAINFALL CHANGE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR BELG HARVEST IN SOUTH WOLLO, ETHIOPIA   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

STAFFAN ROSELL  BJÖRN HOLMER 《Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography》2007,89(4):287-299

Most farmers in the Ethiopian highlands depend on rain‐fed agriculture. Some areas have the favourable situation of having two rainy seasons, Belg (February‐May) and the long rainy season Kiremt (June‐October), which is the case in some parts of South Wollo. Tef (Eragrostis tef) is the staple crop that farmers prefer to grow and the 90‐day variety is suitable for growing during the short rainy season. One out of eight Ethiopians lives in tef potential areas which have Belg rainfall. The aim in this study is to analyse rainfall variation in South Wollo, in particular the area east of the small town of Hayk, and to study its effect on the ability to grow tef during the Belg season. Results from interviews showed that a more difficult farming situation had emerged during the past 40 years, largely due to deterioration of physical resources such as rainfall. Rainfall is analysed by comparing daily rainfall data from four stations in two periods, 1963 to 1982 and 1984 to 2003, for changes in totals, seasonal distribution and variability. Coefficient of variance, rainy days, rainfall intensity and dry spells were analysed. Results from this study show that there have been minor rainfall changes but greater rainfall variability. During fieldwork key informants were asked if they were able to harvest tef during the past nine years, a period that has been used in a model of rainfall influence on tef cultivation during the Belg season. In both 20–year periods, farmers were able to grow tef every second year. In spite of a greater variability in rainfall the farmers proved their knowledge and flexibility and were able to harvest tef in the same number of years during both periods.  相似文献   

The implications of ignoring smallholder agriculture in climate-financed forestry projects: empirical evidence from two REDD+ pilot projects     

A. E. C. Duker  T. M. Tadesse  T. Soentoro  C. de Fraiture  J. S. Kemerink-Seyoum 《Climate Policy》2019,19(6):S36-S46

ABSTRACT

Changes in agricultural practices can play a pivotal role in climate change mitigation by reducing the need for land use change as one of the biggest sources of GHG emissions, and by enabling carbon sequestration in farmers’ fields. Expansion of smallholder and commercial agriculture is often one of the main driving forces behind deforestation and forest degradation. However, mitigation programmes such as REDD+ are geared towards conservation efforts in the forestry sector without prominently taking into account smallholder agricultural interests in project design and implementation. REDD+ projects often build on existing re- and afforestation projects without major changes in their principles, interests and assumptions. Informed by case study research and interviews with national and international experts, we illustrate with examples from Ethiopia and Indonesia how REDD+ projects are implemented, how they fail to adequately incorporate the demands of smallholder farmers and how this leads to a loss of livelihoods and diminishing interest in participating in REDD+ by local farming communities. The study shows how the conservation-based benefits and insecure funding base in REDD+ projects do not compensate for the contraction in livelihoods from agriculture. Combined with exclusive benefit-sharing mechanisms, this results in an increased pressure on forest resources, diverging from the principal objective of REDD+. We note a gap between the REDD+ narratives at international level (i.e. coupling development with a climate agenda) and the livelihood interests of farming communities on the ground. We argue that without incorporating agricultural interests and a review of financial incentives in the design of future climate finance mechanisms, objectives of both livelihood improvements and GHG emission reductions will be missed.

Key policy insights

• REDD+ is positioned as a promising tool to meet climate, conservation and development targets. However, these expectations are not being met in practice as the interests of smallholder farmers are poorly addressed.

• REDD+ policy developers and implementers need more focus on understanding the interests and dynamics of smallholder agriculturalists to enable inclusive, realistic and long-lasting projects.

• For REDD+ to succeed, funders need to consider how to better ensure long-term livelihood security for farming communities.

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