Multi-criteria decision analysis for wind farm location selection in Bahir Dar City and its surroundings, Northwestern Ethiopia.

While there is a consensus on the multifaceted advantages of wind farms, only a handful of developing countries harness it to the fullest potential. Among the various factors that contributed to the low development of wind farms in those countries, the dearth of methods for identifying a suitable site is the leading one. Studies conducted elsewhere on wind farm industry identifies criteria such as slope, wind speed, land use/land cover, geology, distance from electric transmission grids, roads, and settlements. However, the relative magnitude of each factor to the optimum location of the wind farm is inadequately examined. This study focuses on the combined use of geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for selecting the most appropriate sites for wind-farm development. Using a pairwise comparison method of the analytical hierarchical process, we computed the relative importance and weight of parameters affecting wind farm sites in a weighted overlay technique. Based on the analysis of pertinent data collected from Bahir Dar City and its surroundings, northwestern Ethiopia, we categorized the study area into five suitability classes ranging from extremely suitable to not suitable. Our result, revealed a spatial pattern of the potential sites suitable for wind farm investments that are economical, environmentally sound, and aesthetically amenable. We recommend replicating the method developed in this study in other areas of developing countries where transitioning to renewable energy sources through windfarm development is sought.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of health professionals working in emergency units towards disaster and emergency preparedness in South Gondar Zone hospitals, Ethiopia, 2020.

Introduction: catastrophe is a thoughtful community's well-being problem nowadays. Tragedies of any kind can strike at any time and have claimed many lives. Because, the emergency unit is at the frontline of disaster/emergency response system and helps as initial point to the most proper care of causalities, health professionals who are working in this area are the first caregivers, main players, and upfront role in calamity responses after pre-hospital medical services to disaster victims. The aim of this study was to assess emergency unit health professionals´ knowledge, attitude, practice, and related factors towards disasters and emergency preparedness at hospitals in the South Gondar Zone, Ethiopia, 2020. Methods: institution-based cross-sectional study with the census method was conducted at South Gondar Zone hospitals. All health professionals working in emergency units of South Gondar Zone hospitals were taken as a sample. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. EPI-data version 4.2 and SPSS version 25 were used to enter and analyze data, respectively. The result was presented by narration, tables, and charts. Binary logistic regression was employed to determine the relations between dependent and independent variables. Results: the majority of the respondents (58.3%) were male. Regarding their profession, 52.2% were nurses, followed by physicians, 18.5%, while the rest were others. The mean age of the respondents was 29.48 ± 6.34 years. A substantial proportion (58.9%) of the study participants didn´t know whether their hospitals had a disaster management plan or not. In general, fifty-one-point seven percent´s (51.7%) of the study participants had poor knowledge toward disaster/emergency preparedness. Concerning their attitude, 55.0% had a negative attitude toward disaster preparedness. Regarding their levels of practice, 67.5% had inadequate practice disaster/emergency preparedness. Age category and profession of the respondents had a significant effect on the knowledge and attitude of respondents at P-value 0.05. Conclusion: more than half of the study participants had poor knowledge, negative attitudes, and inadequate practice about disaster/emergency preparedness.