Kerebih Asrese

Geotourism is a sustainable type of tourism that focuses on the geological and geomorphological heritages of an area, and the associated cultural and biodiversity features. Though the popularity of geotourism is rapidly growing, research on the demand side, particularly on segmenting tourists to geosites and understanding their profiles, is limited. This obviously makes the designing of effective tourism policies that aim at developing geotourism sustainably very difficult. Hence, the main objectives of this study were to segment and profile tourists to geosites based on the benefits sought, and to show its implications for sustainable development of geotourism. With a survey of 415 tourists, this study clustered tourists to geosites in the southern Lake Tana region in Ethiopia based on the benefits sought. A factor–cluster method was applied to segment the tourists. The study identified four distinct segments: Activity–Nature Lovers, Culture Lovers, Nature–Culture Lovers, and Want-...

Abstract: Background: Begging is a last resort of coping mechanisms of poverty, disability and various political, social and environmental crises. It is practiced to obtain from others. Objective: This study is attempted to investigate the demographic and socio-economic determinants of begging at Bahir Dar. Methods: case-control study design was used with a total population of 204 (102 cases [ beggars] and 102 controls [ non- beggars]). Semi-structured questionnaire were used and entered in to SPSS for Windows version 15.0 for analysis. Result: reasons for beggar’s engagement in begging were, Poverty (98%) unemployment (78%) and physical handicap (54%) were identified. As to the background characteristics of respondents, the result of the binary logistic regression indicates that there was significant relation between begging and literacy status. The odds of begging decreases by 25 % for literate respondents than their illiterate counterparts. In this study, beggaring was found incr...

Background: Begging is a last resort of coping mechanisms of poverty, disability and various political, social and environmental crises. It is practiced to obtain from others. Objective: This study is attempted to investigate the demographic and socio-economic determinants of begging at Bahir Dar. Methods: case-control study design was used with a total population of 204 (102 cases[ beggars] and 102 controls[ non- beggars] ). Semi-structured questionnaire were used and entered in to SPSS for Windows version 15.0 for analysis. Result: reasons for beggar’s engagement in begging were, Poverty (98%) unemployment (78%) and physical handicap (54%) were identified. As to the background characteristics of respondents, the result of the binary logistic regression indicates that there was significant relation between begging and literacy status. The odds of begging decreases by 25% for literate respondents than their illiterate counterparts. In this study, beggaring was found increasing as ag...

High maternal mortality has remained an unmet public health challenge, particularly in the developing world. Though maternal mortality ratio estimates for Ethiopia vary considerably due to methodological differences, most agree that maternal mortality is among the highest in the world. Since most maternal deaths occur during labor, delivery, and the immediate postpartum period, skilled birth attendants (SBAs) at every delivery have been recommended to bring a marked reduction in maternal mortality. Nonetheless, the majority of women in Ethiopia give birth at home assisted by untrained traditional birth attendants, relatives, or neighbors. This study investigated women’s social networks, use of SBA, and the quality of facility delivery services experienced by women in Jabi Tehinan Woreda of Amhara Region, North West Ethiopia. The study employed mixed methods research design. Quantitative data were collected retrospectively from 134 women who had uncomplicated births at health facilit...

Internet addiction is an excessive-compulsive use of internet that causes psychological, social, family, school, health, and work impairments. Previous studies reported that, there is an increasing rate of internet addiction in colleges and higher educational institutions. But, conditions exposing students of higher educational institutions to internet addiction are not well explored in African context in general and among Ethiopian university students in particular. The purpose of this study was to explore conditions exposing students of Bahir Dar University to internet addiction. To this end, a phenomenological qualitative approach was used as an appropriate method to undertake an in-depth analysis of the issue under study. Data were collected from nineteen purposefully selected internet addicted students using a semi structured in-depth interview guide and the collected data were analysed using thematic analysis method under six themes. The study findings revealed that absence of...

Ethiopia is a country of many ethnic groups with different cultures. Each ethnic group has traditional practices transmitted from past generations and likely to be passed to the next. This study assessed the type, prevalence, magnitude and context of harmful traditional practices and violence against women as well as the knowledge and attitude of the people towards these practices in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia.Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from respondents. The results reveal that early marriage, female genital mutilation, violence against women, and food prohibition for children and pregnant women are widely practiced in the region. Though the residents have appreciable knowledge on the harmful consequences of these practices and they support less for their continuation, harmful traditional practices and violence against women are highly prevalent in the region. Thus, concerted efforts of stakeholders are suggested for behavioral change interventions to eradicat...

Background Despite progress recently, Ethiopia remains one of the largest contributors to the global burden of maternal deaths. As facility-based childbirth and skilled-birth attendant at birth reduces maternal morbidity and mortality, the country has been implementing expansions in infrastructure during the past decades. Whether this phenomenal expansion in infrastructure and improvement in coverage of healthcare services matched with quality of maternal health service is not well investigated. This study assessed the quality of intrapartum care experienced by mothers at health centers in Jabi Tehinan district, North West Ethiopia. Method An institution-linked community-based cross-sectional study was carried out from August to September 2018 to assess the quality of intrapartum care experienced by mothers during facility deliveries. Quantitative data were collected from 378 women who had uncomplicated births at health centers within 6 months preceding the survey and interviews wer...

Introduction: Internet addiction among the youth has become a public health concern. It leads to impairments in several aspects of life. Previous studies identified individual and environmental risk factors for internet addiction. The effect of online activities on youth internet use behavior is not well investigated. This study assessed the prevalence of internet addiction and determined the roles of online activities for internet addiction among students in Bahir Dar University. Methods: Data were collected from 812 randomly selected undergraduate regular program students recruited from 10 departments. Participants completed a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Results: The results indicated that 35.2% of students were classified as being addicted to the internet. The four most important online activities students engaged on the internet are social networking (75.5%), entertainments (73.6%), academic works (72.5%), and online game (60.8%). Including online activity variables imp...

Behaviors established during adolescence such as risky sexual behaviors have negative effects on future health and well-being. Extant literature indicated that individual attributes such as peer pressure and substance use have impacts on healthy development of young peoples' sexual behavior. The patterns of relationships (social network structure) and the social network content (members' norm regarding sexual practice) established by adolescents' network on adolescents' risky sexual behaviors are not well investigated. This cross-sectional study assessed the roles of social networks on sexual behavior of high school adolescents in Bahir Dar and Mecha district, North West Ethiopia. Data were collected from 806 high school adolescents using a pretested anonymously self administered questionnaire. Hierarchical logistic regression model was used for analysis. The results indicated that more than 13% had risky sexual behavior. Taking social networks into account improved ...

Problematic internet use is on the increase and has caused serious problems in many areas. This issue seems to be more important for medical students. This study was designed to explore the prevalence of internet addiction and its related factors among the students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. A cross sectional study was conducted on 383 medical students of Mashhad in 2013. Four hundred participants were selected through two-stage stratified sampling method proportional to the number of students in each stage of education. Data Collection was done through using the Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS) and a checklist of demographic details and characteristics of internet usage behavior. It was found that 2.1% of the studied population were at risk and 5.2% were addicted users. Chatting with new people, communicating with friends and families, and playing games were the most popular activities in these groups. The factors related to internet addiction included: male sex...

Understanding the sources of variation in a community's diet is vital for development work, as well as being a source of anthropological and cultural insights. Previous surveys in the South American Andes suggest that nutrient deficiencies may be widespread; however, such interpretations have remained tentative since variance in Andean populations' diet has not been thoroughly examined. In this paper we consider the variation in diet due to variation in age, sex, and socioeconomic status and variation attributed to inter- and intraindividual variation in the diet. One to six days of dietary data (mean = 3.1) were collected via 24 h recalls from 221 residents of a small, rural community in highland Ecuador. The contribution of various food groups to the diet varied with land holdings and age but not sex. For example, animal-derived foods contribute more and tubers contribute less to the diet of the households with > or = 5 Ha, and sweets contribute more to the diet of children. The interindividual variation in energy and nutrient intake was low and the intraindividual variation high relative to developed countries. The consequence are twofold. First, because interindividual variability is low, group mean intake can be estimated relatively easily, facilitating group comparisons. Second, because intraindividual variation is high, individual nutrient intake cannot be easily estimated, which will decrease the ability to detect associations between nutrient intake and health measures. This knowledge of the sources of dietary variation can lead to better study and survey designs in the rural Andes and elsewhere in the developing world.

High maternal mortality has remained an unmet public health challenge in the developing world. Maternal mortality in Ethiopia is among the highest in the world. Since most maternal deaths occur during labor, delivery, and the immediate postpartum period, facility delivery with skilled birth attendants is recommended to reduce maternal mortality. Nonetheless, the majority of women in Ethiopia give birth at home. Individual attributes and availability and accessibility of services deter service utilization. The role of social networks that may facilitate or constrain service use is not well studied. Community-based case-control study was conducted between February and March 2014 in Jabi Tehinan District, North West Ethiopia. Retrospective data were collected from 134 women who had uncomplicated births at health facilities and 140 women who had uncomplicated births at home within a year preceding the survey. Interviews were held with eight women who had uncomplicated births at health f...

Micro and small enterprises development is a universally proven strategy against poverty notwithstanding, enterprises’ failure. Using a qualitative design, this study investigated experiences of unsuccessful micro and small enterprise cooperatives at Bahir Dar City Administration, North West Ethiopia. In-depth interview, observation, and field notes were used to collect primary data. The findings revealed that micro and small enterprise cooperatives’ failure involve these phases: pre-formation, formation, operation, pre-collapse, and collapse where some concerns at early stage pass in to the next, accumulate with emerging challenges and result in group deformation. Hence, awareness creation program on group formation in collective owned micro and small enterprises; training on business management strategies which could be in form of expansion, products/market differentiation and formation of alliances; and prompt support of stakeholders to micro and small enterprises are suggested t...

Background: Begging is a last resort of coping mechanisms of poverty, disability and various political, social
and environmental crises. It is practiced to obtain from others. Objective: This study is attempted to investigate the
demographic and socio-economic determinants of begging at Bahir Dar. Methods: case-control study design was used with
a total population of 204 (102 cases[ beggars] and 102 controls[ non- beggars] ). Semi-structured questionnaire were used
and entered in to SPSS for Windows version 15.0 for analysis. Result: reasons for beggar’s engagement in begging were,
Poverty (98%) unemployment (78%) and physical handicap (54%) were identified. As to the background characteristics of
respondents, the result of the binary logistic regression indicates that there was significant relation between begging and
literacy status. The odds of begging decreases by 25% for literate respondents than their illiterate counterparts. In this study,
beggaring was found increasing as age level increases. The logistic regression results also indicate that the odds of begging
is 10.76 times higher for cases in the age group 25-34 years than younger cohorts (15-24 years). Annual household income
also showed an association to be beggars between the groups. Conclusion and Recommendation: illiteracy, migration, old
age and low annual household income were significantly associated with being beggar. Reducing rural urban migration and
establishing an old age security system may solve the problem.