Diatom community structure in relation to environmental factors in human influenced rivers and streams in tropical Africa.

The contemporaneous effect of natural and anthropogenic factors involved in a watershed contribution to the seasonal and spatial variation of diatom community composition is widely discussed in the scientific literature. Yet, there is a paucity of scientific evidence indicating the effect of these factors on diatoms in tropical African regions characterized by distinct dry and wet seasons and season associated human activities like rainfed agriculture are commonly practiced. We applied multivariate techniques to determine the spatio-temporal drivers of diatom assemblage and diatom species richness in human influenced rivers and streams in Ethiopia. We simultaneously collected water and diatom samples from 24 sampling points during the wet (July) and dry (February) seasons. Both water and diatom samples were processed following standard procedures. We identified 169 species belonging to 45 genera in the studied lotic systems. We found that both season and land use factors were important in defining diatom composition (PERMANOVA, p<0.05) and species richness (ANOVA, p<0.05) patterns. Diatom community composition was driven by conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and turbidity parameters (Monte Carlo permutation test, p<0.05). Besides, diatom species richness was driven by dissolved oxygen, soluble reactive phosphorus, and turbidity (GLMM, p<0.05). The study highlighted physicochemical parameters influenced by seasonal variation and human activity determined the composition of diatoms. This implies that the unique feature of heavy rain during the rainy season in the region followed by extensive flooding aggravated by the steep slope from the highlands to the lowlands plays a major role in shaping the diatom autecology in the region. Therefore, in applying biomonitoring in such regions considering the effect of runoff and dilution is imperative.

River Water Pollution Status and Water Policy Scenario in Ethiopia: Raising Awareness for Better Implementation in Developing Countries.

Despite the increasing levels of pollution in many tropical African countries, not much is known about the strength and weaknesses of policy and institutional frameworks to tackle pollution and ecological status of rivers and their impacts on the biota. We investigated the ecological status of four large river basins using physicochemical water quality parameters and bioindicators by collecting samples from forest, agriculture, and urban landscapes of the Nile, Omo-Gibe, Tekeze, and Awash River basins in Ethiopia. We also assessed the water policy scenario to evaluate its appropriateness to prevent and control pollution. To investigate the level of understanding and implementation of regulatory frameworks and policies related to water resources, we reviewed the policy documents and conducted in-depth interviews of the stakeholders. Physicochemical and biological data revealed that there is significant water quality deterioration at the impacted sites (agriculture, coffee processing, and urban landscapes) compared to reference sites (forested landscapes) in all four basins. The analysis of legal, policy, and institutional framework showed a lack of cooperation between stakeholders, lack of knowledge of the policy documents, absence of enforcement strategies, unavailability of appropriate working guidelines, and disconnected institutional setup at the grass root level to implement the set strategies as the major problems. In conclusion, river water pollution is a growing challenge and needs urgent action to implement intersectoral collaboration for water resource management that will eventually lead toward integrated watershed management. Revision of policy and increasing the awareness and participation of implementers are vital to improve ecological quality of rivers.

Ownership and utilization of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) for malaria control in Harari National Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION: Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) stood at center in the current efforts to prevent and control malaria at community and individual levels. Though ITNs are the most prominent measure for large-scale deployment in highly endemic areas their compliance in terms of ownership and usage needs attention. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the ownership and utilization pattern of ITNs in Harari Peoples National Regional state, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Harari National Regional State from September to October, 2012. A total of 784 households were included from malarious areas. Data were collected by using structured questionnaires and observational checklist. RESULTS: About 57.9% of participants had at least one ITNs. The utilization of ITNs based on history of sleeping under net in the previous night was 73.3%. Regarding proper use of ITNs, 57.9% of respondents demonstrated proper hanging and tucking. Those households with secondary school education (AOR: 1.775(1.047, 3.009)), knowledge about ITNs use (AOR: 2.400(1.593, 3.615)) and knowledge of malaria transmission by bite of mosquito (AOR: 1.653(1.156, 2.365)) have more likely hood to own ITNs. CONCLUSION: ITNs Ownership was low as compared to the target by Federal ministry of Health of Ethiopia. Though utilization of ITNs was promising, there are still significant number of participants who demonstrate hanging and tucking improperly. Therefore, health bureau need to work towards increasing the distribution of ITNs per household and also provide health information through health extension workers to enhance regular and proper usage of the ITNs.