Bahir Dar is one of the rapidly growing Ethiopian cities characterized by the rise of informal settlements. The expansion of spontaneous neighbourhoods in Bahir Dar is, among other things, conditioned by land management policies and practices. Thus, the intention of this research was to explore the influences of land management on the prevalence of informal settlements in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. So as to meet the study targets this research employed mixed method approach, and the data were gathered from various sources by applying different methods. The quantitative data was drawn from 156 random samples through household surveys. It was collected from four FGDs, interview of eight community elders, sub-cities and municipality officials and code enforcement professionals. Furthermore, case studies, published and unpublished documents, photographs, and satellite images were used to enrich the analysis. To analyse quantitative data, SPSS statistical software was used to extract descriptive statistics, to test hypotheses and to draw tables and various types of graphs. Content analysis was employed to analyse qualitative data. It was found that expansion of informal settlements in Bahir Dar was caused, among others, by Poverty of inhabitants, rural-urban migration, limited capacity of the city to deliver basic services, low housing supply and high housing demand, and limitations in land lease laws, as well deficiency of essential amenities like water, sanitation and electricity. The influences of land management policies and practices that resulted to prevalence of informal settlements were found to be the subjective implementation of housing and land leasing policies, harsh government farm expropriation and very low compensation payments, weak governance practices in land administration, frequent demolishing of houses and precarious security of tenure. Even though informal settlements help to address the housing shortage in the city and contribute to environmental management in some areas of the city, it is largely intimidating environmental management, deteriorating the livelihoods and thus brought about the unsustainable city development. In order to address the challenges of informal settlements, it was suggested that legal framework to formalize informal settlements, develop an effective and efficient land administration system, improving good governance in land administration, establish land and housing policies favouring low-income population, and bring about attitude change favourable to urban development are essential. / Environmental Sciences / D. Litt. et Phil. (Environmental Management)

Mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and West Nile virus are serious problems in many parts of the world, especially in Africa, and partially in Ethiopia. Millions of people become infected and several hundred thousand people die worldwide from these diseases every year. The most conventional methods for mosquito vector control target female adult mosquitoes in a reactive way using insecticides. However, it is possible to perform proactive vector control through source reduction. The main focus of this study was to investigate if there are any associations between characteristics of managed still water bodies and the presence of mosquito larvae in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. This was done by measuring twelve variables, both abiotic and biotic; pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, phosphate, sulphate, carbonate, depth and presence of algae as well as collecting and counting mosquito larvae in ten different sites, during a time series of five weeks. The most common managed waters believed to serve as efficient breeding habitat for mosquitoes were ponds and ditches used for irrigation, drainage or cultivation. A total of 204 mosquito larvae were collected, where 95% were found in four of the ten sites, three of them were managed waters and the last one was unmanaged. Statistical analyses were performed in order to examine potential correlations and differences among the sites. Wilcoxon test was performed to investigate differences between managed and unmanaged waters. Simple linear regression analyses were performed to identify driving variables for the presence of mosquito larvae. The main results from the group tests were significant differences in mosquito larvae density between managed and unmanaged sites. Significant differences between mosquito sites and zero-sites for dissolved oxygen and sulphate were found. Simple linear regression revealed pH and dissolved oxygen as driving variables for mosquito larvae presence. It was concluded that resources should be put on treatment or manipulation of ponds, which were considered the preferred mosquito breeding habitats. However, if conflicts arise among interests concerning food production, measures must be planned and performed thoughtfully or focus should be put on less controversial breeding habitats. Among the driving variables, dissolved oxygen was the suggested variable to manipulate in order to reduce mosquito larvae populations. / Myggburna sjukdomar som malaria, denguefeber, gula febern och West Nile viruset orsakar allvarliga problem i många delar av världen, särskilt i Afrika, och till viss del Etiopien. Miljontals människor världen över blir smittade och flera hundratusen dör varje år till följd av dessa sjukdomar. De konventionella metoderna för att kontrollera och minska spridningen av myggburna sjukdomar handlar om att kontrollera vuxna myggor med insektsmedel. Det är dock möjligt att utföra en mer förebyggande vektorkontroll genom att minska populationen. Fokus för denna studie var att undersöka om det fanns några samband mellan mygglarvsförekomst och egenskaperna hos mänskligt reglerade eller oreglerade vatten i och kring Bahir Dar i Etiopien. Detta gjordes genom att mäta tolv variabler, både abiotiska och biotiska såsom; pH, konduktivitet, löst syre, turbiditet, biokemisk syreförbrukning, nitrat, fosfat, sulfat, karbonat, djup och algförekomst, samtidigt som mygglarver samlades in och räknades, vilket utfördes på tio olika platser under fem veckor. Den vanligaste typen av reglerade vatten som potentiellt skulle kunna utgöra effektiva mygglarvshabitat ansågs vara dammar och diken som används för bevattning, dränering eller odling. Totalt samlades 204 mygglarver in och 95 % av dem fanns i enbart fyra av de tio etablerade mätplatserna, där tre var reglerade och den sista var oreglerad. Statistiska analyser utfördes för att undersöka potentiella samband och skillnader i mygglarvsförekomst och uppmätta variabler bland de tio mätplatserna. Wilcoxons metod användes för att undersöka om det fanns skillnader mellan reglerade och oreglerade ytvattensamlingars larvförekomst och egenskaper. Enkel linjär regressionsanalys utfördes för att hitta eventuella drivvariabler som därmed anses styra mygglarvsförekomsten. De huvudsakliga resultaten i studien var att det förekom en signifikant skillnad i mygglarvsdensitet mellan reglerade och oreglerade ytvattensamlingar. Signifikanta skillnader i löst syre och sulfat förekom även mellan myggsiter och nollsiter. Enkel linjär regression visade på att pH och löst syre var de mest drivande variablerna för mygglarvsförekomsten i denna studie. Slutsatsen var att dammar utgjorde de mest tilltalande habitaten i samband med mygghonors äggläggning och därför borde prioriteras med avseende på resursfördelning vid planering och utförande av vektorkontroll. Om det skulle uppstå konflikter mellan olika intressen som kan äventyra matproduktionen bör insatser planeras och genomföras med försiktighet eller istället göras i andra mindre kontroversiella mygglarvshabitat. Den drivvariabel som ansågs vara den mest lämpliga att manipulera var löst syre.

This is a media ethnographic bachelor thesis. It examines journalism students at Bahir Dar University’s perceptions about how television can influence their identities but also cultures and lifestyles in Ethiopia in general. Ethnographic observations, time-use diaries, group interviews and individual interviews were used to gather data. However, the individual interviews are our main method. Our results showed that the journalism students believe that television influence them in various ways: their way of dressing and looking, acting, thinking and being. They also believe that televisions’ ability to change their identities in a bigger context means that cultures and traditions in Ethiopia are changing. The journalism students talk about different phenomenons that have arisen in Ethiopia during the last years, for example homosexuality, new techniques and appliances and new kind of clothes and food. And they say that they believe these phenomenons have arisen in Ethiopia because of media globalization.

The aim of this research is to determine what physical evidence can be found on the body of the perpetrator to link the suspect with the crime of rape. Regarding this, the researcher was trying to introduce a number of important concepts such as forensic investigation, chain of custody, evidence, information, identification, individualization, crime scene and the Locard Principle. This research will explain the meaning of forensic investigation, the objective of criminal investigation, the difference between information and evidence and individualization and identification. An important principle which all investigators and prosecutors should know is the Locard Principle. It says: "Every contact leaves a trace". The principle further explains that, whenever two objects come into contact with one another, material from the first would be transferred to the second and material from the second would be transferred to the first. Although this principle is important for investigators as well as prosecutors, most of them do not know the principle. The other important thing is the consideration of the body of the perpetrator as a crime scene to prove a crime. A crime scene is defined as an area where a criminal act has taken place. If we get evidence from the body of the perpetrator, we can then consider it as a crime scene. Lastly, regarding the legal rights to collect evidence on the body of the perpetrator, there should be specific laws in Ethiopia. However, there is no specific law. In addition to this, there is no DNA investigation in Ethiopia. Hence, this research will enhance the skills of investigators and prosecutors will benefit from what I have discovered through the research and I am very pleased to be the first Ethiopian in the introduction of the field of forensic investigation to the readers. / Forensic Investigations / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

The aim of this research is to determine what physical evidence can be found on the body of the perpetrator to link the suspect with the crime of rape. Regarding this, the researcher was trying to introduce a number of important concepts such as forensic investigation, chain of custody, evidence, information, identification, individualization, crime scene and the Locard Principle. This research will explain the meaning of forensic investigation, the objective of criminal investigation, the difference between information and evidence and individualization and identification. An important principle which all investigators and prosecutors should know is the Locard Principle. It says: "Every contact leaves a trace". The principle further explains that, whenever two objects come into contact with one another, material from the first would be transferred to the second and material from the second would be transferred to the first. Although this principle is important for investigators as well as prosecutors, most of them do not know the principle. The other important thing is the consideration of the body of the perpetrator as a crime scene to prove a crime. A crime scene is defined as an area where a criminal act has taken place. If we get evidence from the body of the perpetrator, we can then consider it as a crime scene. Lastly, regarding the legal rights to collect evidence on the body of the perpetrator, there should be specific laws in Ethiopia. However, there is no specific law. In addition to this, there is no DNA investigation in Ethiopia. Hence, this research will enhance the skills of investigators and prosecutors will benefit from what I have discovered through the research and I am very pleased to be the first Ethiopian in the introduction of the field of forensic investigation to the readers. / Forensic Investigations / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)