The aim of this diploma thesis is tree planting method comparison of water retention improving technology (Improve pits) and non-improving technology (Pits). Research was realized on the „Sustainable management of soil, forest and water resources as the pilot model for the rural development in SNNPRS, Ethiopia“ project areas. This project was realized by Mendel university in Brno. Terrain investigations, experimental plot set up and soil sample collection and analyses were realized by devised methodology. Terrain works took a place during July and August 2016. When comparing resulting values, it became clear that the Improve pits technology shows positive effect on soil water retention capacity and its gradual release. This effect creates more suitable conditions for regeneration of damaged vegetation.

Résumé of the master thesis: Contemporary Terrorism in Ethiopia: its Origins and Motivation. Pavel Nováček This paper focuses on the factor of terrorism in Ethiopia. There is suspicion, repeatedly declared by the Ethiopian government, that there are groups operating on its territory, that are using terrorism as a method of combat. Some of those groups are suspected to be affiliated to the global jihadist network that is active in the neighbouring Somalia. Ethiopia takes an active part in the US-led war on terror, and is the most important ally of the US in the region. This has resulted in a flow of humanitarian aid to Ethiopia, and the US is also providing military training, building their counter-terrorism capacities and providing Ethiopia with analytical support and other military aid. However, there is suspicion that Ethiopia is abusing its participation in the war on terrorism in order to oppress the legitimate opposition, by describing some of the rebel groups as terrorist, and even as affiliated to the global jihadist network in Somalia. This is despite the possibility that these ethnic based groups might be legitimately fighting to gain the right of self- determination, something that is granted to all people living in Ethiopia by the constitution. The government however, systematically attacks the...

The research in this thesis concerns with the ecology and behaviour of an endangered fossorial rodent, the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), in the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia, and the results are discussed in relation with available ecological data on other fossorial/subterranean rodents. Firstly, this theses is focused on investigating the ecological role of the giant root-rat. The evaluation of root-rat's impact on various ecosystem features, in the first study, highly contributed to the knowledge not only about the species itself but also about the functioning of the ecosystem it inhabits. In fact, the results of the study indicated that the giant root-rat acts as an ecosystem engineer in the Afroalpine grasslands. Secondly, this thesis involves a pilot radio-telemetry study on the giant root-rat focusing on its temporal and spatial activity. Specifically, the results of the second study brought new light to giant root-rats' daily activity, its pattern, amount and seasonal change demonstrating the difference in activity patterns between strictly subterranean rodents and subterranean rodents with aboveground habits such as the giant root-rat. In the third study, we described the space-use patterns of the giant root-rat and revealed several trends in its spatial behaviour that can serve as a strategy to cope with the harsh and changeable environmental conditions in the Afroalpine ecosystem.

The diploma thesis titled Barriers of Development in Ethiopia: Structural Conditions and Strategies for Adaptation is focused on analysis of environmental risk factors and their impact on economic development of Ethiopia. It further evaluates the effectiveness of concrete adaptation measures on both official policy level and community level. The thesis departs from refined version of Jared Diamond's five point framework for analysis of collapse of complex societies. Contemporary scholarly discourse of rapid population growth, deforestation & land degradation and climate variability is formalized into causal schemes and supported by current statistical data. The thesis concludes that adopted measures have had only limited effect on elimination of the respective risk factors. Thus, Ethiopia remains a long-term recipient of foreign humanitarian assistance, without which it would fall into state of economic collapse. To overcome this situation Ethiopia needs to transform its subsistence agricultural production system.