According to the 2005 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey, HIV prevalence in Gambella region where Fugnido refugee camp is located is 6%, which is the highest prevalence data recorded in the country. Similarly, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Health Information System (HIS) demonstrates that Fugnido has the highest HIV prevalence compared to other refugee camps in Ethiopia and furthermore shows variation in prevalence among the two main ethnic groups in the camp, namely Agnuak and Nuer (about 8.5% and 2.3% respectively). The study seeks to investigate why a significant difference exists in the number of people with known HIV positive status among the Agnuak community compared to the Nuer community in the Fugnido refugee camp in Ethiopia. It does this by investigating factors that are presumed to explain HIV high risk-behaviour and vulnerability. This was a cross-sectional study of Agnuak and Nuer tribes living at the Fugnido refugee camp. The sampled population involved men and women refugees from the ages of 15 to 49 years. The study used a mixed method approach or methodological triangulation. Cluster sampling technique was used for the quantitative data collection. The sample size was 831 refugees (439 Agnuak and 390 Nuer). Seven (7) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and 3 Key Informant (KI) interviews was used for the qualitative data collection. Findings show that the Agnuak were almost 4 times (OR=3.8, 95% CI [1.9-7.4] p < 0.05) more likely to practice risky behaviour compared to 0.3 times (OR=0.3, 95% CI [0.1- 0.9] p < 0.05) likelihood among the Nuer refugees. Factors associated with differences in risky behaviour for both Agnuak and Nuer included, inter alia, primary education as the highest level of education attained, 50% among the Agnuak (OR=0.5, 95% CI [0.3-0.8] p < 0.05), compared to Nuer community’s 30% (OR=0.3, 95% CI [0.2-0.6] p < 0.05). Access to HIV and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services was lower for the Agnuak (OR=1.8, 95% CI [1.1-2.9] p < 0.05) compared to the Nuer (OR=2.9, 95% CI [1.6-5.1] p < 0.05). Unlike the Nuer refugees, the Agnuak refugees who had experienced forced sex (OR=7.3, 95% CI [2.9-18.8] p < 0.05) and had a positive attitude (lack of or reduced stigma) towards HIV (OR=2.1, 95% CI [1.3-3.7] p < 0.05) were more positively associated with risky 6 behaviour (than the Nuer). The Nuer had no factor associated with risky behaviour that was different from that of the Agnuak. The study revealed more Agnuak refugees than Nuer refugees had been engaged in risky sexual behaviour by having multiple sex partners and being involved in transactional sex. The Nuer was more closed and reserved to having sexual relations outside of their group than the Agnuak were which contributed to their relatively lower HIV prevalence. Furthermore, there was very low condom use among the Nuer community compared to the Agnuak community, which was based on differential attitudes between the two communities concerning trust of partner and monogamous relations. The study findings recommend that humanitarian workers and community partners need to collaborate to develop congruent HIV interventions that go beyond traditional strategies of distributing condoms and focus on correct and consistent use of condoms in the camp. Humanitarian and community workers’ understanding the socioeconomic context of the communities and the influence of cultural and other factors, including behaviour with intervention strategies,could also curb the epidemic. / Sociology / M.A. (Sociology)

According to the 2005 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey, HIV prevalence in Gambella region where Fugnido refugee camp is located is 6%, which is the highest prevalence data recorded in the country. Similarly, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Health Information System (HIS) demonstrates that Fugnido has the highest HIV prevalence compared to other refugee camps in Ethiopia and furthermore shows variation in prevalence among the two main ethnic groups in the camp, namely Agnuak and Nuer (about 8.5% and 2.3% respectively). The study seeks to investigate why a significant difference exists in the number of people with known HIV positive status among the Agnuak community compared to the Nuer community in the Fugnido refugee camp in Ethiopia. It does this by investigating factors that are presumed to explain HIV high risk-behaviour and vulnerability. This was a cross-sectional study of Agnuak and Nuer tribes living at the Fugnido refugee camp. The sampled population involved men and women refugees from the ages of 15 to 49 years. The study used a mixed method approach or methodological triangulation. Cluster sampling technique was used for the quantitative data collection. The sample size was 831 refugees (439 Agnuak and 390 Nuer). Seven (7) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and 3 Key Informant (KI) interviews was used for the qualitative data collection. Findings show that the Agnuak were almost 4 times (OR=3.8, 95% CI [1.9-7.4] p < 0.05) more likely to practice risky behaviour compared to 0.3 times (OR=0.3, 95% CI [0.1- 0.9] p < 0.05) likelihood among the Nuer refugees. Factors associated with differences in risky behaviour for both Agnuak and Nuer included, inter alia, primary education as the highest level of education attained, 50% among the Agnuak (OR=0.5, 95% CI [0.3-0.8] p < 0.05), compared to Nuer community’s 30% (OR=0.3, 95% CI [0.2-0.6] p < 0.05). Access to HIV and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services was lower for the Agnuak (OR=1.8, 95% CI [1.1-2.9] p < 0.05) compared to the Nuer (OR=2.9, 95% CI [1.6-5.1] p < 0.05). Unlike the Nuer refugees, the Agnuak refugees who had experienced forced sex (OR=7.3, 95% CI [2.9-18.8] p < 0.05) and had a positive attitude (lack of or reduced stigma) towards HIV (OR=2.1, 95% CI [1.3-3.7] p < 0.05) were more positively associated with risky 6 behaviour (than the Nuer). The Nuer had no factor associated with risky behaviour that was different from that of the Agnuak. The study revealed more Agnuak refugees than Nuer refugees had been engaged in risky sexual behaviour by having multiple sex partners and being involved in transactional sex. The Nuer was more closed and reserved to having sexual relations outside of their group than the Agnuak were which contributed to their relatively lower HIV prevalence. Furthermore, there was very low condom use among the Nuer community compared to the Agnuak community, which was based on differential attitudes between the two communities concerning trust of partner and monogamous relations. The study findings recommend that humanitarian workers and community partners need to collaborate to develop congruent HIV interventions that go beyond traditional strategies of distributing condoms and focus on correct and consistent use of condoms in the camp. Humanitarian and community workers’ understanding the socioeconomic context of the communities and the influence of cultural and other factors, including behaviour with intervention strategies,could also curb the epidemic. / Sociology / M.A. (Sociology)

This study examines rural household food security and its determinants in drought-prone Amhara Region of Ethiopia by focusing on Lay Gaint district as a case study site. A range of factors from physical environmental circumstances to policy and institutions-related issues determine households‟ vulnerability to food insecurity and livelihood outcomes. The survey results showed that the majority (74%) of the sampled households experienced food insecurity. The situation was worse among female-headed households such that 86% of them were food insecure. The study revealed that, despite the low level of productivity related to local environmental constraints, rural livelihoods remain undiversified with small scale rain-fed agriculture to provide the primary source of livelihood for the large majority of households (~93% of respondents). Only about 25% of the respondents participated in some form of non-farm or off-farm activities, but with only little contribution to their total annual incomes. Food insecurity is a chronic problem in that, on average, households in the study area consume from own production for only about six months. The study found out that the majority of households (about 80%) perceived annual rainfall to be inadequate to support the growing of crops and grazing of animals. The main adaptive strategies employed by the majority of households included diversifying livestock kept, planting trees and diversifying crops. The study revealed that incidence, depth and severity of food insecurity of the food insecure households showed that Woina-Dega and Kolla agro-ecologies are prone to vulnerability to food insecurity. This suggests that development interventions that are geographically differentiated; and build household assets will improve household food security in the study area, and in other similar environments in the country. / Geography / D.Phil.

With an increasing rate of urbanisation in East Africa, and with the highest prevalence rate of undernourished population than any region in the developing world, the issue of food access insecurity in urban areas has received considerable attention. While there are noticeable differences between big, medium- and small-sized towns, the variation in the household’s response to food access insecurity across urban hierarchies remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the social, economic and demographic factors in coping with food access insecurity among households in urban slum areas of Ethiopia. The study used both secondary and primary data sources. The national surveys of household consumption and expenditure survey and welfare monitoring surveys of 2004/5, 2010/11, and 2015/16 was used to analyse the food security situation in Ethiopia across time and urban hierarchies. Primary data of 500 households and three focus group discussions were conducted from slum areas of Addis Ababa, Hawassa, and Sheki representing a big city, medium- and small-sized town, respectively. The household survey data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis and a standard regression model to investigate the relationship between factors such as household structure and composition, economic resources, social protection programmes and projects, and urban-rural linkages with coping with food access insecurity across urban hierarchies. A global model and three site-specific regression models were constructed. Descriptive results from both the primary and the secondary data sources have revealed that the proportion of the households affected by food shortage varies across the urban hierarchy that food insecurity was highest in the small-sized town as compared with the medium-sized town and the big city. The quality of food consumed was consistently low among female-headed households regardless of their socio-economic characteristics when compared with male-headed households. The result of the regression analysis for the global model has shown that economic resources (asset and source of income) predict nearly half of the variability in coping with food access insecurity. Household structure and composition such as gender and education of the head of the household, family structure (nuclear/extended), and the ratio of young children in the household predict a quarter of the variability in coping. Social protection programs and services predict one-tenth; the remaining variability in coping is explained by the combined effect of all the factors involved. The significance of these factors in predicting coping with food access insecurity, however, varies across the urban hierarchies. The contribution of economic factors in predicting coping is the highest at the big city (Addis Ababa); household structure and composition took the leading role in predicting coping at the small-sized town (Sheki); the significant factors in predicting coping at the mediumsized town (Hawassa) was the combined effect of all the factors involved. Household characteristics such as female headship, a higher ratio of young children, low education of the household head, lack of access to the financial loan, asset and income poverty, and weak linkages with kin structure at rural areas increase vulnerability to food insecurity and put households under stress to cope with food access insecurity. The study results show that the traditional urban-rural dichotomy may not suffice to portray the degree of food insecurity, as well as the mechanisms how food insecure households strive to cope with food access insecurity, which varies across the continuum of urban hierarchies. Those who wish to support food insecurity challenges need to be sensitive to the variability of factors in coping with food access insecurity across urban hierarchies. During policy, design and program implementation policymakers and international partners need to consider that the needs and coping mechanisms of urban households vary across urban hierarchies besides the other social, economic and demographic variables. / Development Studies / Ph. D. (Development Studies)

This study examines rural household food security and its determinants in drought-prone Amhara Region of Ethiopia by focusing on Lay Gaint district as a case study site. A range of factors from physical environmental circumstances to policy and institutions-related issues determine households‟ vulnerability to food insecurity and livelihood outcomes. The survey results showed that the majority (74%) of the sampled households experienced food insecurity. The situation was worse among female-headed households such that 86% of them were food insecure. The study revealed that, despite the low level of productivity related to local environmental constraints, rural livelihoods remain undiversified with small scale rain-fed agriculture to provide the primary source of livelihood for the large majority of households (~93% of respondents). Only about 25% of the respondents participated in some form of non-farm or off-farm activities, but with only little contribution to their total annual incomes. Food insecurity is a chronic problem in that, on average, households in the study area consume from own production for only about six months. The study found out that the majority of households (about 80%) perceived annual rainfall to be inadequate to support the growing of crops and grazing of animals. The main adaptive strategies employed by the majority of households included diversifying livestock kept, planting trees and diversifying crops. The study revealed that incidence, depth and severity of food insecurity of the food insecure households showed that Woina-Dega and Kolla agro-ecologies are prone to vulnerability to food insecurity. This suggests that development interventions that are geographically differentiated; and build household assets will improve household food security in the study area, and in other similar environments in the country. / Geography / D. Phil. (Geography)

This research explores the perception and practice of participatory communication for development. To this end, the study focuses on a leading local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) named Organisation for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA), Ethiopia. This qualitative case study was based on the participatory development communication model which has been assumed to bring about sustainable socio-economic change of a country (Melkote & Steeves, 2001; Mefalopulos, 2008; Servaes, 2008). The data were collected using in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussion (FGD), document analysis and field observation. The collected data were organised and analysed in the form of content and thematic analysis. The results revealed economic oriented and top down approach to development communication as the dominant conceptions, and majority of the research participants perceived the concept ‘participation’ as mere contributions of labour and materials which are not real participation, but co-option. Only a few of the management members of ORDA conceptualized the idea of ‘participation’ as an empowerment process in which the organisation’s official document is also stated. Besides, the results showed no genuine participation of the local community in ORDA’s development process. Generally, these results could lead us to conclude that participatory communication was the missing link in the development process. That is, communication was perceived as a transmission of development information and an image building activity, not a process of empowerment. The major communications practices of ORDA were also best described as one-way top down which could reveal the legacy of modernisation and dependency theories of the development literature. The study further indicated pressing factors such as individual, organisational and environmental related affecting the implementation of ORDA’s participatory development communication. The results of study further indicated that participatory development communication was not used a means of liberation from the chain of poverty, dependency syndrome and other underdevelopment problems which deeply persist in the region. Based on the findings, the study commends the mainstreaming of participatory development communication both at the perceptual and practical level for achieving sustainable development in rural Amhara region, Ethiopia. / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication) / Communication

Executive summary: last page (unnumbered) / The Sustainable Livelihood framework approach is a comprehensive method for determination of food insecurity and poverty at household level. The objective of this study was to determine the livelihood strategies and the coping mechanisms used by rural households in Abela Lida PA, Shebedino district, Southern Ethiopia. This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to estimate the contribution of different resources to total food access and cash income, detailing expenditure patterns, asset holdings and capacity to cope with shocks. Simple random sampling was used for selecting 72 households for the survey. The data was collected during the hunger season using the checklists designed for livelihood and coping strategies. The study showed only 30% households had all the adults as working members, due to poor work skill, low awareness and lack of job opportunities. The main sources of income are sale of cash crops mainly coffee (55.6%) followed by sale of cash crops plus livestock (18%), labour (12.5%), PSNP (8.3%). The average annual income for the households was found to be birr 4,727.92 (~$293.34) and agriculture is the main livelihood strategy. Awareness and access to basic social services has improved and escalated price of staple foods, has negatively affected poor households and safety net beneficiaries who rely on purchase. Seasonality has also affected agricultural activities, prices and employment opportunities. The increase in fuel price was found to be the main shock followed by coffee price fluctuations and failure in purchasing power of money. About (63%) households faced shortage of food or money to buy food, medical expenses, cooking fuel and school fees. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.A. (Human Ecology)

Executive summary: last page (unnumbered) / The Sustainable Livelihood framework approach is a comprehensive method for determination of food insecurity and poverty at household level. The objective of this study was to determine the livelihood strategies and the coping mechanisms used by rural households in Abela Lida PA, Shebedino district, Southern Ethiopia. This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to estimate the contribution of different resources to total food access and cash income, detailing expenditure patterns, asset holdings and capacity to cope with shocks. Simple random sampling was used for selecting 72 households for the survey. The data was collected during the hunger season using the checklists designed for livelihood and coping strategies. The study showed only 30% households had all the adults as working members, due to poor work skill, low awareness and lack of job opportunities. The main sources of income are sale of cash crops mainly coffee (55.6%) followed by sale of cash crops plus livestock (18%), labour (12.5%), PSNP (8.3%). The average annual income for the households was found to be birr 4,727.92 (~$293.34) and agriculture is the main livelihood strategy. Awareness and access to basic social services has improved and escalated price of staple foods, has negatively affected poor households and safety net beneficiaries who rely on purchase. Seasonality has also affected agricultural activities, prices and employment opportunities. The increase in fuel price was found to be the main shock followed by coffee price fluctuations and failure in purchasing power of money. About (63%) households faced shortage of food or money to buy food, medical expenses, cooking fuel and school fees. / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M.A. (Human Ecology)