Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Three Essays On Sustainability, Mark V. Paul

Doctoral Dissertations

Chapter 1 investigates the inverse relationship between farm size and agricultural yield. While there are a large number of studies internationally, there have been few conducted in African countries. Using household-level data from a national survey we explore the relationship between farm size and yield in Ethiopia's post land reform scenario. We find a robust inverse relationship between farm size and yield, and a positive association between yield and land fragmentation. These findings raise important questions for current agricultural development strategies that favor larger farms and less fragmentation in Africa Chapter 2 investigates the uptake of top-down flood mitigation policies …

Flag Politics In Ethiopia And The Ethio-American Diaspora, Goshu W. Tefera, A. Peter Castro Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Flags hold “rich symbolic and political connotations,” yet the examination of their use has been “relatively neglected in research on nationalism” (Eriksen, 2007, p. 1-2). Our study explores the transnational politics of Ethiopia’s national flag, exploring its manifestation within the EthioAmerican community in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, where the largest Ethiopian diaspora population in the United States resides. We also examine the historical roots of Ethiopian flag politics within Ethiopia’s historical political economy. The country’s well-known imperial flag, containing the emblem of the Lion of Judah against green, yellow, and red stripes, emerged by the late 19th century as …

Household Shocks And Transition Into Marriage: Evidence From Rural Ethiopia, Boyd K. Tembo

Theses and Dissertations

The study tests the primary hypothesis that household shocks do not have a positive and significant correlation with a child's transition into early marriage. It finds that there is no statistically significant correlation between parental death and transition into marriage for both genders of subjects in the study.

The Ethiopian State: Perennial Challenges In The Struggle For Development, Hawi Tilahune

International Studies Honors Projects

This honors thesis examines the evolution of the state and nation-building processes in four historical periods in Ethiopia. I argue that, in the generational efforts towards consolidation and change, each period throws up acute tensions between an increasingly centralizing political apparatus and the civic and material existence of ethnic peripheries. These contradictions are apparent in the attempts to secure the country's territorial sovereignty under Menelik II, the efforts towards modernization by Emperor Haile Selassie, the militaristic-cum-Marxist drive under Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam, and the construction of a developmental state under the leadership of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. While some achievements …

Envisioning A Future For Ethiopian Small Farmer Involvement In Development And Food Security, William H. Cauffman

Student Publications

In this paper I attempt to answer the question of how small-scale Ethiopian farmers can best participate in, contribute to and benefit from the development process. In addition, I seek to clarify the implications and potential nature of local food systems and their ability to achieve greater food security through small farmer involvement. Modern development ideology often focuses on large scale projects and export-led growth, ignoring the importance of smallholder farmers and rural vitality. These farmers are increasingly marginalized through this process. In Ethiopia 85% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, the majority being small farmers that …

The Gojo, Kalkidan Tesfaye, Filimon Teshome, Hundaol Girma

ATL

Honorable Mention

Inspired by the Sidama of Ethiopia.

What inspired you to enter this special competition to create a modern architectural language for Africa?

We believe that Africa is the most diverse continent in the world, and with all the different cultures, architecture can be practiced with much more creative expression than the rest of the world.

What did you find most interesting or challenging during the research and development of your prototype?

African spaces are the reflection of nature, and so it was interesting to design something that is in a direct connection with nature.

Why do you believe …

The Mena, Julia Mauser, Girum Solomon, Minasie Terefe

ATL

Honorable Mention

Inspired by the art of the Konso people of Ethiopia.

What inspired you to enter this special competition to create a modern architectural language for Africa?

Our Africa is a continent with unparalleled cultural richness and stories to be told. However, what we are witnessing today is only the smallest fraction of the vast potential we have got. So much resource just sitting by, time moving fast and we seem to be stuck in the present while the whole world speeding pass by us. Instead of laying back and complaining we took it upon ourselves to do something …

Northern Pafta, Gebrekidan G. Debre

ATL

Honorable Mention

Inspired by the culture of the Konso people of Ethiopia.

What inspired you to enter this competition to create a modern architectural language for Africa?

For the past three years I was working on research called Ethioplugin Add-on Library at my campus (EiABC). There the objective, was digitalizing the heritages of Ethiopia such as furniture and fixtures, patterns and textures, construction details, so that they will be accessible by the professionals like interior designers, architects electronically. This made me familiar with working on cultural elements and extracting designed product out of them. I was excited (about the competition) …

Shebaxumite, Liuel Hizikias Ketema

ATL

Honorable Mention

Inspired by the Axumite people of Ethiopia.

What inspired you to enter this special competition to create a modern architectural language for Africa?

The evolution of African architecture has almost come to a standstill due to western influence. The potential of construction materials used in African designs have a far greater utility in their specific climates or natural conditions as opposed to western materials. It‘s easy to say my inspiration came from my deep passion to explore the potential of African construction materials for what they are truly worth.

What did you find most interesting or challenging during …

Afar Sidama, Amanuale Brook

ATL

Honorable Mention

Inspired by the Afar and Sidama people of Ethiopia.

What inspired you to enter this special competition to create a modern architectural language for Africa?

I am interested in vernacular African architecture especially from my home region, Eastern Africa. Its obvious Vernacular architecture is dear to me. How the people have evolved from historical and diverse socio-cultural, climatic conditions and civilizations. Our built environment is a good way to appreciate our progress.

What did you find most interesting or challenging during the research and development of your prototype?

My research into how people survive in the most uninhabitable …

Cetiana, Nahom Bekele

ATL

Honorable Mention

Inspired by the people and nations of Ethiopia.

What inspired you to enter this special competition to create a modern architectural language for Africa?

This competition is a chance for young Africans to build their own future, I for that matter was highly inspired to set my footprint on the history of Africa to be made!

What did you find most interesting or challenging during the research and development of your prototype?

The biggest challenge was the availability of accurately recorded historic data. It made the research more intensive

Why do you believe African homeowners will be interested …

The Omo, Roman Gorshkov

ATL

Honorable Mention

Inspired by the Omo River in Ethiopia.

What inspired you to enter this special competition to create a modern architectural language for Africa?

A unique opportunity to celebrate people of Africa and their culture by providing a beautiful design of their future home.

What did you find most interesting or challenging during the research and development of your prototype?

The most challenging aspect of this project, but also one of the most fascinating things was the vast diversity of different cultures and ways people live in Africa that makes it hard to design but provides an ocean of …

The Roles Of Introduced Eucalyptus In The Conservation And Expansion Of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Forests In The Northern Ethiopian Highlands, Janice Liang

Honors Theses

Species of the genus Eucalyptus (common name eucalyptus) are widely planted all across Ethiopia – including on large areas of land previously allocated to food production. In recent decades eucalyptus has also increasingly been planted on lands around and within “church forests,” sacred groves of old-aged Afromontane trees surrounding Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido churches. These revered holy sites have long been recognized for their cultural values and also for their ecosystem services – including their potential to support species conservation and restoration, as church forests are some of the only remaining sanctuaries for many of Ethiopia’s indigenous and endemic plant and …

East African Perspectives Of Family And Community, And How They Can Inform Western Ecclesiology, Ben Strait

M.A. in Family Ministry

East African families and communities function day-to-day as a single living organism. As one participant said, “Life is common.”[1] What he meant by that was that life is shared among the members of a community, whether biologically related relatives or those who live in close proximity with others. Throughout this research, close interaction with several native East Africans took place, and insights were made into how this view of communal living works itself out in daily life.

[1]. Yusufo, interview by author, Grand Rapids, March 31, 2014.

Idiris, Idiris, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Idiris is an 18-year-old Somalian refugee now living inUtah. He describes his life, mentioning that he only lived in Somalia for six years then moved to Ethiopia, where he stayed for seven and a half years.His life inEthiopia was peaceful and happy in comparison to Somalia, where Idiris and his family witnessed continuous violence. Idiris’s father eventually learned of the opportunities and education available in America and decided to move his family there for a better life, leaving behind family and friends. Coming to America, Idiris and his family did not know what their new home would be like. They …

Missing The Trees For The Forest: The Socioecological Significance Of Dispersed Farmland Trees In Northern Ethiopia, Jacob A. Wall

Honors Theses

Scattered trees are prominent features in the agricultural landscape of the Ethiopian highlands. The dry Afromontane forests of the Amhara Region in northern Ethiopia have faced centuries of deforestation - the FAO estimates only 3% of the region is forested today. The remaining landscape has been largely converted into agricultural and grazing lands, with the exception of some limited government-protected lands, as well as thousands of small forest fragments left around Orthodox Churches (“church forests”). But while a growing body of scholarship has highlighted the ecological and cultural importance of church forests and other natural forest fragments, the roles of …

‘Going Out’ Or Staying In? The Expansion Of Chinese Ngos In Africa, Jennifer Yj Hsu, Timothy Hildebrandt, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath