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The enset (Ensete ventricosum) gardens of Sidama: composition, structure and dynamics of a traditional poly-variety system

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Bizuayehu Tesfaye Abstract The composition and structure of 300 enset gardens from 10 different locations in Sidama were examined. Average size of the gardens was 0.74 ha. The gardens are composed of mixtures of various named enset varieties and different groups recognisable on the basis of ‘sex’ (male and female) and use (cooking and processing). The gardens exhibit high diversity, with a given garden containing up to 24 varieties (mean = 8.2). However, the components are not represented equally. Typically, the gardens consisted of one or two very abundant varieties and a much larger number of less common ones. Enset gardens are dynamic because the number and composition of varieties and different types changed from garden to garden, from location to location and across time. Their composition, structure and dynamics have been influenced by human, socio-economic factors (farm size, land per capita, cropping patterns and size of livestock), temporal circumstances and landscape

በዎንሾ ወረዳ በህብረተሰብ ተሣትፎ የተለያዩ የትምህርት ልማት ስራዎች ተከናወኑ

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አዋሳ ሚያዚያ 29/2005 በሲዳማ ዞን የዎንሾ ወረዳ አንድ ሚሊዮን ብር በሚገመት የህብረተሰቡ ተሣትፎ የተለያዩ የትምህርት ልማት ስራዎች መከናወናቸውን የወረዳው ትምህርት ጽህፈት ቤት አስታወቀ፡፡ የጽህፈት ቤቱ ኃላፊ አቶ ተሰማ ተፈራ ሰሞኑን እንደገለጹት በህብረተሰቡ የገንዘብና የቁሳቁስ ድጋፍ ከተሰሩት የትምህርት ልማት ስራዎች መካከል አራት አዳዲስ አንደኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤቶችና 52 ተጨማሪ የመማሪያ ክፍሎች ግንባታ ይገኙበታል፡፡ በተጨማሪም 50 ነባር የመማሪያ ክፍሎች፣ ስምንት ቤተመጻህፍት፣ አምስት ቤተ ሙከራዎችና ከአንድ ሺህ በላይ ወንበሮች ዕድሳትና ጥገና ከመደረጉም በላይ የተለያዩ ትምህርት ቤቶችን ደረጃ የማሳደግና የማስፋፋት ስራዎች መከናወናቸውን አስረድተዋል፡፡ ስድስቱን የትምህርት ጥራት ማረጋገጫ ፓኬጆችን በሁሉም ትምህርት ቤቶች ተግባራዊ ከማድረግ አንፃርም የትምህርት ባለሙያዎችና ሌሎች ባለድርሻ አካላት የበኩላቸውን ድርሻ እየተወጡ መሆናቸውን ተናግረዋል፡፡ የተማሪውን ውጤት ለማሻሻልም በየሳምነቱ በሳይንስና ቴክኖሎጂ የታገዘ የማጠናከሪያ ትምህርት እንደሚሰጥ አመልክተው በአንድ ለአምስት ቁርኝትና በትምህርት ልማት ሰራዊት በማደራጀት በውጤት ደከም ያሉትን የመደገፍና ክትትል የማድረግ ስራ ተጠናክሮ መቀጠሉን አስረድተዋል፡፡ ባለፈው የትምህርት ዘመን በ8ኛ፣ በ9ኛና በ10ኛ ክፍሎች በአማካኝ 65 በመቶ ማሳለፍ መቻላቸውን ጠቁመው ዘንድሮ 90 በመቶ ለማሳለፍ እቅስቃሴ በማድረግ ላይ መሆናቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡ በመምህራን በኩልም የሚስተዋሉ ክፍተቶችና የሚደግሙና የሚያቋርጡ ተማሪዎችን ቁጥር ለመቀነስ በየትምህርት ክፍሉ፣ በክበባትና በተማሪዎች ፓርላማ በመታገዝ ወቅታዊ ግምገማና ክትትል ስለሚደረግ ክፍተኛ ውጤት እየተመዘገበ መሆኑን አመልክተዋል፡፡ የጽህፈት ቤቱ ምክት

Hawassa and Shashemane

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Hawassa is a very pleasant lakeside town.  It is about 275 km from Addis Ababa on a good tarmac road (about 5 hours drive). The former capital of Sidamo region, the coffee is excellent, as you would expect. There are two lakeside hotels – the former Wabe Shabelle hotels have been privatised. One of them, the Midroc Zewed Village Hotel was being rebuilt when I visited, though you could drink coffee at the lakeside.  But people rave about the Lewi Piazza Hotel (see Bradt Guide for details). We had a very good Italian meal at the Dolce Vita restaurant, also recommended by Bradt and rightly so. Shashemane is 25km from Awassa.  It is a much less attractive town – more a transport junction and cross roads.  It was near here that the Emperor Haile Selassie gave a plot of land to Rastafarian families and there is still a big Rastafarian community here.  (Some of the local Ethiopian kids speak with a rich patois accent.) We stayed at the  Zion Train Lodge  in Shashemane, run by a Fr

Review of Ethiopia Sidama roasted by Social Coffee and Tea Company.

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THE RELIGIOUS CONVERSION PROCESS AMONG THE SIDAMA OF NORTH-EAST AFRICA

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Hamer, John H. This article analyses the conversion process and the experiences of the Sid�ma, in being proselytised by Protestant missionaries in an attempt to integrate them into the modernising Ethiopian state. The conversion process is considered in terms of reasons for accepting or rejecting the new religion. A minority of Sidama are shown to have changed from old beliefs and practices, partly because of the ease of moral reinterpretation and secular incentives, but primarily because of dissatisfaction with reciprocal exchange relations with indigenous spirits and a desire to transcend the finality of death. In advancing this proposition it rejects the possibility of Sidama beliefs as constituting a closed system of cosmology. Though Islam is also present in the region, for political and economic reasons it has been less attractive to prospective converts than Christianity. Read more on:  http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9751648/religious-conversion-process-among-sid