Melaku Bekele | University of Gondar (original) (raw)

Papers by Melaku Bekele

Information and Knowledge Management, 2021

The use of core banking System in the various banks is drastically changing the way banking activ... more The use of core banking System in the various banks is drastically changing the way banking activities are being organized. Almost all banks in Ethiopia are in the process of transforming their banking systems to the modern technology in which they can offer efficient and globally competent services to their customers and get customers satisfaction in return. This study aimed to assess the effects of core banking system on customer satisfaction in commercial bank of Ethiopia. Stratified and convenient sampling techniques were used in the selection of each respondent from the commercial bank of Ethiopia. Conveniently 400 customers were selected and structured questionnaire and interview was used to collect relevant data for the research. The data gathered through the questionnaire was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The result of the study indicated that core banking information technology system indeed has a positive significance impact on customer satisfaction of commercial bank of Ethiopia. The Multiple linear regression analysis also showed a positive coefficient and adjusted R 2 was 89.1%, which simply mean that there is significant and strong positive relationship between core banking system and customers' satisfaction. In general, core banking Information Technology system has positively impacted on customer satisfaction of commercial bank of Ethiopia. Finally, it's suggested that commercial banks in Ethiopia needs to continue to explore and implement sustainable business linkages and collaborations with core banking system.

REDD+ reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing forest carbon s... more REDD+ reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Authors Maria Brockhaus is a Senior Scientist with the CIFOR's Forests and Governance program. In her research, she focuses mainly on policy and institutional change, and policy and social network analysis. Since 2009 she has been leading the research on national REDD+ strategies and policies in CIFOR's global comparative study (GCS-REDD+).

A multimedia approach to the diffusion, communication, and exploitation of Cultural Heritage (CH)... more A multimedia approach to the diffusion, communication, and exploitation of Cultural Heritage (CH) is a well-established trend worldwide. Several studies demonstrate that the use of new and combined media enhances how culture is experienced. The benefit is in terms of both number of people who can have access to knowledge and the quality of the diffusion of the knowledge itself. In this regard, CH uses augmented-, virtual-, and mixed-reality technologies for different purposes, including education, exhibition enhancement, exploration, reconstruction, and virtual museums. These technologies enable user-centred presentation and make cultural heritage digitally accessible, especially when physical access is constrained. A number of surveys of these emerging technologies have been conducted; however, they are either not domain specific or lack a holistic perspective in that they do not cover all the aspects of the technology. A review of these technologies from a cultural heritage perspe...

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC) is taking steps to achieve the for... more The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC) is taking steps to achieve the forest sector targets set in Ethiopia's Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy. The Second Growth and Transformation Plan of the Ministry has set specific objectives that will contribute to achieving these targets. We have plan to select and scale up innovations that will significantly enhance the performance of the forestry sector and its contribution to national development and environmental well-being. In this regard, over the past two years attempts have been made, among others, to identify effective forest management practices and enabling conditions for scaling them up. This regional strategy document for scaling up effective forest management practices in Oromia National Regional State, with particular emphasis on Participatory Forest Management (PFM), was produced as one of the outputs of a project entitled "Enhancing the Role of Forestry in Ethiopia's Climate Resilient Green Economy", and implemented between September 2013 and August 2015. CIFOR and our ministry actively collaborated in the planning and implementation of the project, which involved over 25 senior experts drawn from Federal ministries, regional bureaus, Federal and regional research institutes, and from Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources and other universities. The five forest management practices studied were: the establishment and management of area exclosures; the management of plantation forests; Participatory Forest Management (PFM); agroforestry (AF); and the management of dry forests and woodlands. Each team focused on only one of the five forest management practices, and concentrated its study in one regional state. Accordingly, the team that studied practices in PFM focused on Oromia National Regional State. The other teams examined practices in exclosure; smallholder plantations; agroforestry; and the management of dry forests and woodlands, and worked respectively in Tigray; in Amhara; in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples; and in Benishangul Gumuz National Regional States. The findings of all teams were used in the write-up of this strategy, though this report focuses primarily on PFM. The engagement of senior experts and researchers from regional institutions made the document more relevant to the region, and created opportunities for building the capacity of all staff involved in the process. The draft document was presented and discussed at various workshops, and was assessed and endorsed by the respective regional authorities.

List of figures and tables Figures 1 Share of GHG emissions of different economic sectors in Ethi... more List of figures and tables Figures 1 Share of GHG emissions of different economic sectors in Ethiopia. 2 Functions of the National Forest Monitoring System. 3 Land use/land cover map of Ethiopia (2013). 4 Wall-to-wall forest map * using Ethiopia's current forest definition. 5 Current institutional arrangements for the national REDD+ MRV in Ethiopia. 6 MRV institutional and staff requirements. Tables 1 Milestones in Ethiopia's REDD+ program development. 2 Key activities for establishing Ethiopia's REDD+ MRV system. 3 Activities for establishing the MRV system and setting the national FRL. 4 Summary of sampling in Ethiopia's NFI. 5 Biomass figures used for EF calculations. 6 Three components of the FRL. 7 REDD+ Safeguard/SIS milestones. 8 Short-term training on MRV topics offered by FAO/MEFCC/WGCF-NR.

Reading through the Charcoal Industry in Ethiopia, 2014

International Forestry Review, 2017

Participatory forest management (PFM) and area exclosure (AE) are two major degraded forests and ... more Participatory forest management (PFM) and area exclosure (AE) are two major degraded forests and agricultural landscapes rehabilitation mechanisms in Ethiopia. This study examined shared strengths and limitations of PFM and AE. The major strength of PFM is that the process begins by convincing communities to establish access and management norms in defined areas within natural forests that are traditionally under de facto open access regimes. In establishing AE, communities are engaged and encouraged to identify, demarcate and socially fence degraded communal lands to ensure proper conservation in accordance with agreed bylaws. However, both PFM and AE also exhibit some common problems: unclear ownership and use rights, low levels of community participation, poor productivity and weak institutions undermine positive gains and sustainability of the two state-led FLR mechanisms in Ethiopia. This research identified measures that would potentially improve the outcomes of PFM and AE in rehabilitating degraded forests and lands in Ethiopia.

Climate Policy, 2018

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising c... more Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in developing countries. In order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress in the implementation of an effective, efficient and equitable REDD+, this paper examines national policy settings in a comparative analysis across 13 countries with a focus on both institutional context and the actual setting of the policy arena. The evaluation of REDD+ revealed that countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are showing some progress, but some face backlashes in realizing the necessary transformational change to tackle deforestation and forest degradation. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) undertaken as part of the research project showed two enabling institutional configurations facilitating progress: (1) the presence of already initiated policy change; and (2) scarcity of forest resources combined with an absence of any effective forestry framework and policies. When these were analysed alongside policy arena conditions, the paper finds that the presence of powerful transformational coalitions combined with strong ownership and leadership, and performance-based funding, can both work as a strong incentive for achieving REDD+ goals. Key policy insights. The positive push of already existing policy change, or the negative stress of resource scarcity together with lack of effective policies, represents institutional conditions that can support REDD+ progress.. Progress also requires the presence of powerful transformational coalitions and strong ownership and leadership. In the absence of these internal drivers, performance-based funding can work as a strong incentive.. When comparing three assessments (2012, 2014, 2016) of REDD+ enabling conditions, some progress in establishing processes of change can be observed over time; however, the overall fluctuation in progress of most countries reveals the difficulty in changing the deforestation trajectory away from business as usual.

BMC Research Notes, 2017

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the rate of glycemic control and factors affecting... more Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the rate of glycemic control and factors affecting glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients. Results: A total of 174 type 2 diabetic patients were interviewed and were studied. Mean age of the patients was 48.98 ± 14.96 years (range 18-80 years). More than half (51.7%) of the patients were males. About a third of patients, 53 (30.5%), were on antidiabetic medications for less than 5 years. The most common prescribed antidiabetic medications were insulin, 48 (27.6%), and metformin 15 (8.6%). One hundred seven (61.5%) patients were on combination therapy (two drug treatment) and the remaining patients were on monotherapy. The majority, 103 (59.2%), of patients had uncontrolled blood glucose. A larger proportion of female patients, 54 (52.4%), had uncontrolled blood glucose than males. Level of education (p < 0.001) and duration of diabetes treatment (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with glycemic control. Adherence of patients to regular follow up (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 2.42, 95% CI 1.08-5.44, p = 0.03) and diabetes treatment for 5-10 years (AOR = 4.64, 95% CI 1.79-12.06, p = 0.002) are found to be independent predictors of glycemic control among type 2 diabetes patients.

Animal, 2017

Recently with limited information from intensified grain-based farming systems in developed count... more Recently with limited information from intensified grain-based farming systems in developed countries, livestock production is challenged as being huge consumer of freshwater. The smallholder mixed crop-livestock (MCL) system which is predominant in developing countries like Ethiopia, is maintained with considerable contributions of crop residues (CR) to livestock feeding. Inclusion of CR is expected to reduce the water requirement for feed production resulting improvement in livestock water productivity (LWP). This study was conducted to determine feed water productivity (FWP) and LWP in the MCL system. A multistage sampling procedure was followed to select farmers from different wealth status. Wealth status dictated by ownership of key farm resources such as size of cropland and livestock influenced the magnitude of livestock outputs, FWP and LWP. Significant difference in feed collected, freshwater evapotranspired, livestock outputs and water productivity (WP) were observed betwe...

African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2016

Hatchability of Cobb 500 and Hubbard broiler strain eggs subjected to different levels of egg sto... more Hatchability of Cobb 500 and Hubbard broiler strain eggs subjected to different levels of egg storage temperature and fumigation was studied at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia. The different egg storage temperature levels employed were 10, 16 and 23°C and fumigation levels employed were fumigated and unfumigated. Fertility and hatchability were tested during the experimental period. Fertility is not dependent on egg storage treatments employed. Egg storage temperature at 16°C and fumigation significantly (P<0.001) improved hatchability in both Cobb 500 and Hubbard broiler strains. Cobb 500 broilers had high mean percentage hatchability than Hubbard, but the differences were not significant (P>0.05). Egg storage temperature at 23°C resulted in slightly lower mean percentage hatchability than storage at 10°C, but the differences were not significant (P>0.05). From the result of the current experiment, it was concluded that fumigation and medium egg storage temperature, 16°C is important for better hatching yield.

Dryland Forests, 2016

Dryland areas occur in both the highlands and the lowlands of Ethiopia and cover over 60 % of the... more Dryland areas occur in both the highlands and the lowlands of Ethiopia and cover over 60 % of the country’s land mass. They support pastoralist, agro-pastoralist and hunter-gatherer communities, and their long-standing institutions to manage local resources on a fairly equitable basis. However, this autonomy has been significantly eroded by successive governments’ policy of agricultural expansion and modernization, driven by the growing global demand for food and fuel. By reviewing historical trends and current statuses, this study attempts to identify the driving forces behind this fast-changing land use and its impacts on communities and resources. The review shows that government’s generous land leases to national and global investors, encroachment by smallholder farmers from the highlands, state-initiated settlements of poor households, and individualization of the commons by some community members themselves have further undermined the already weakening customary tenure arrangements (which were never as clearly defined in the lowlands as in the highlands). The problem, however, needs to be seen against the constitutional rights of all citizens who want to be farmers to get land anywhere in the country. Unless these issues are addressed, indigenous communities will continue to be exposed to expropriation and unable to assert their rights in the face of more powerful actors. The chapter concludes by stressing the need to formulate and enact policies and legal frameworks to ensure the livelihoods of dry lowland communities in light of the mounting interests of multiple actors and of other stakeholders’ rights and responsibilities as stipulated in the Ethiopian Constitution.

International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, Dec 11, 2014

2 = 8.083, DF = 2, P = 0.018). However, majority (63.5%) of the respondents had a positive attitu... more 2 = 8.083, DF = 2, P = 0.018). However, majority (63.5%) of the respondents had a positive attitude and the remaining (36.5%) had a negative attitude towards the park conservation. To reduce this conflict, different options were suggested by stakeholders: local community should be involved in the management of the park, compensation scheme should be made for crop raiding and livestock predation by wild fauna, government and NGOs should take initiatives in bringing developmental projects for local communities, and awareness creation of local community should also be made.