College of Social Sciences & Humanities
URI for this communityhttps://rps.wku.edu.et/handle/123456789/45784
College of Social Sciences & Humanities
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Item THE ROLE OF MICRO AND SMALL-SCALE ENTERPRISES ON IMPROVING SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF YOUTH(Wolkite University, 2024-01-30) ZENEBE ALEMUYouth unemployment has been a common problem that faces in many urban areas of Ethiopia. In this regard, Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) are the main income generating activities of youth operating enterprises in Ethiopian cities and towns thereby contribute to unemployment reduction and poverty alleviation. The main objective of this study was to investigate the role of MSEs on improving socio-economic status of youth in Wolkite Town, Gurage Zone, Central Ethiopia Regional State, Ethiopia. The study followed a mixed research approach with simple random sampling techniques. Both primary and secondary data source were used. Tools of data collection primary sources were questionnaires, in-depth interview, observation and secondary data were collected using desk review. Accordingly, the population of the study consisted of 1687 enterprise owner/chair persons of Wolkite Town Administration. W a s u s e d t o s e l e c t 323 enterprise owner/chair persons and 11 key informants were selected using simple random sampling and purposive sampling respectively. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) whereas thematic analysis was employed to analyze the qualitative data. The result indicated that the MSEs have created not only job opportunities for the youths but also improve their social capital by creating friendly environment. However, many of the micro and small enterprises business owners have to deal with several challenges such as lack of skill and know how, lack of working places, lack of access to credit, and lack of continuous follow up and support services. It also recommends it is advisable that the youths’ are expected to develop confidence, their social status while running their own business and become interested and cooperative for whatever type of jobs available to them through organizing in groups and this in turn maintains safety of the society. Hence, the study further recommends that concerned bodies need to intervene in order to address these challenges and ensure sustainability of these businesses as an alternative development strategy.Item YEMSA TO AMHARIC MACHINE TRANSLATION USINGDEEP LEARNING TECHNIQUES(Wolkite University, 2023-01-30) TEMESGEN HABTAMU ESHETUIn today's globalized world, the barriers of distance and language have been greatly diminished, transforming our world into a closely interconnected global community. As a consequence, human languages have taken on an international character, enabling effective communication across borders. Traditionally, human translation is costly and inconvenient; several kinds of research are currently conducted to resolve this problem with machine translation techniques. |So, it is automatic, which means it translates one language to another using a computer software system. In this study, Yemsa to Amharic machine translation and vice versa are used by deep learning techniques. Due to increased speaker numbers, to address the issue of endangered Yemsa language and enhance the language's content on the World Wide Web. A numberof indigenous knowledge medicines called Samo Heta and other traditional and religious names are found in the Yemsa language. We utilized the current STOA method of deep learning. The work was executed using a seq-to-seq encoder-decoder architecture. The proposed study was conducted experiments on LSTM, Bi-LSTM, LSTM with attention, GRU and transformer models. We collected a dataset of about 6,000 parallel sentences with 11690 and 12491 vocabularies. In order to translate textinto sentence sequence, we applied the preprocessing technique and used Morfessor tools. The proposed studies utilize the 80/20 splitting technique for dividing the dataset into training and testing sets. The next step is training and testing models on a corresponding with training and testing dataset. The experiment was conducted on LSTM, Bi-LSTM, LSTM+ attention, GRU and Transformer models. Among those models, the transformer model outperforms other models by 99.4% accuracy, 0.0113 loss. And BLEU scores of 9.7 and 9.8 from Yemsa to Amharic and Amharic to Yemsa respectively. The primary limitation of the investigation is the insufficient availability of a substantial dataset to conduct comprehensive experimentation. As a result, there is a necessity to generate parallel corpora in order to conduct comparable research. Finally, the findings of the study show that utilizing deep learning techniques, particularly the transformer model, can significantly improve Yemsa to Amharic machine translation accuracy and BLEU scores.Item ASSESSMENT ON THE PRACTICE AND CHALLENGES OF WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC SECTORS(Wolkite University, 2023-01-30) DEJENE G/WOLDThis study will mainly aims to examine the major factors affecting women’s participation in leadership in the public sector with the aim of assessing the levels and constraints of women’s participation in leadership in West Shoa Zone particular in Nono woreda. Mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) will be used to address the objectives of the study. Primary data will be collected through questionnaires and interviews with employees in the study area, while secondary data will be collected through literature review. Collected data from different sources will be organized and analyzed using descriptive techniques and multiple regression analysis.Item ASSESSING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES AND ITS CHALLENGES IN PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS: IN THE CASE OF ENOR WOREDA(Wolkite University, 2022-01-30) Kedija SaniAfter the down fall of the military regime, the current government of Ethiopia had shown the commitment to improve public sector leadership. For the last two decades, all the federal, regional and local governments made a number of efforts to develop the capacities of public sector leaders. However, many public sectors still lack well experienced and competent leaders. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the practices and challenges of leadership development in EWPSOs. The descriptive research design by using mixed (quantitative and qualitative) research approach was applied. Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques were employed to select sample respondents. The data were collected from public servants, Woreda cabinet and Woreda top management through questionnaire, interview and FGD respectively. The analysis of quantitative data was made by using SPSS computer software while the analysis of qualitative data was made by following qualitative data analysis procedures. The findings of the study show that short term trainings, management courses in universities, selection and self- help activities are the main leadership development practices that are being exercised in EWPSOs. However, these leadership development practices are not properly implemented Lack of well- organized and integrated leadership development plan, lack of identifying the basic leadership competencies and the better developmental activities, improper selection of young and new leaders for leadership positions and lack of conducive organizational culture are the basic challenges that hinder the effectiveness of leadership development efforts of public sector organizations. Finally, recommended that EWPSOs should understand the importance of developing many leaders in today's complex situation to address the fast increasing need and demand of the society.Item COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES A POST-GRADUATE PROGRAM IN POLITICAL SCIENCE(Wolkite University, 2024-01-30) HAWAREYAT SEMUAs the FDRE constitution testifies that, if they meet the necessary conditions people have the right to self-determination or to be autonomous. In addition, the philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau argues that the worst and most difficult thing for human beings is to live under the will of others. As a result, the Gurage people have been fighting for their self-autonomous rule since 1987, but they have not received a positive response from either the federal or the regional government. The concerned bodies standing for the people and the intellectuals of Gurage are actively asking the question of self-determination based on the problems observed in the society. The main purpose of this study is to assess the legitimacy of the Gurage people's demand for self-determination in terms of scientific and philosophical support, and assert whether the quest is strengthened by Rousseau‟s idea of sovereignty and autonomy or not. The researcher used a qualitative research approach. To obtain research data, the researcher used both primary and secondary data collection method. The collected data is also properly and thoroughly analyzed. The tools used to collect data were interviews, FGD and document analysis. Regarding to the findings, although the Constitution of the Federal Republic states that nations, nationalities, and peoples have the right to selfdetermination, it has not been used for more than paper value. Based on the evaluation conducted in the study, it has been shown that the question of selfdetermination is a question that needs to be properly answered in order to protect and promote the Gurage people's language, culture and history at the world level, and it is a question that is accepted by the majority of the people of the community and outsiders. Finally, as the researcher confirmed, the Gurage people demand for self-determination is logical and constitutional, so the regional and federal government should respond accordingly.Item DETERMINANTS OF SMALL SCALE IRRIGATION USE BY SMALLHOLDER FARMERS: THE CASE OF CHEHA WOREDA, GURAGE ZONE, SNNPRS.(Wolkite University, 2021-01-30) TADELE TIGISTU TILAHUNIrrigated agriculture is one of the critical components of food production, which has contributed significantly to maintaining world food security and to the reduction of rural poverty. Livelihood of the rural people of Ethiopia depends on agriculture. However, erratic nature of rain and prevalence of drought in the country make agricultural production a challenge. In order to combat such problems, currently the Ethiopian government is working on irrigation development by giving special emphasis .The aim of this study was to identify determinants of Small-scale irrigation use by small holder farmers, in Cheha Woreda, Gurage Zone SNNPRS. A total of 172 farmers were randomly selected and interviewed by using close ended interview schedule and focus group discussion was used to get further information on the issue. Various documents were also reviewed to collect secondary data. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics (chi-square and independent t-test) and econometric model analysis were used to analyze quantitative data. As the binary logistic regression model result indicates, six variables were found to be significant namely household size (labor), access to agricultural inputs and age of household heads had significant and positive effect on the use of small-scale irrigation at 5% probability level. Similarly, availability of water nearest to farm land and access to credit services had significant and positive effect on the use of small-scale irrigation at 10% probability level while, sex of household heads (being female), had significant and negative effect on the use of small-scale irrigation at 10% significance level. Governmental and non-governmental organizations should give emphasis on provision of training to create awareness and skills about irrigation technologies and increases their access to use irrigation water in the study area. They also should give emphasis on intensifying agricultural production in order to enhance the productivity of limited land. Therefore, to alleviate these problems and improve small-scale irrigation utilization, woreda (district) agricultural and rural development office and other concerned bodies should attempt to address those factors that hinder small-scale irrigation utilization in the study area.Item IMPLEMENTATION OF SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CLASS ROOM GURAGAE ZONE, ETHIOPIA(Wolkite University, 2023-01-30) FETIYA AKMELSpeaking is one of the skills that have to be mastered by students in learning English. Speaking is an essential tool for communicating. In the classroom, improving the speaking abilities of students has always been a concern. The objective of this study was to investigated EFL teachers‟ practices and implementations of speaking sk activities in the English Language Teaching Classroom at Gunchire and Terhogn secondary school of Gurage Zone Grade Eleven in focus. To this end, descriptive method was employed by using both quantitative and qualitative. To meet the objective of the research selected 104 students from both school and 3 English teachers of the target school. The students were selected using simple random sampling techniques and the data were gathered throughclassroom observation, questionnaires and interview. The classroom observation were used to seen the teachers implementation of speaking activities in classroom. The interview and the questioners supplemented to the data obtained through the classroom observation. Statistical tool such as numbers and percentage were used to analysis the collected data .The result of the study revealed that the EFl teachers did not implemented the English speaking activities which recommended by the syllabus, due to the fact that the EFL teachers in the intended school mostly focus on the grammars, vocabularies and the class were teacher dominated. The majority of students were supposed to listen to their teacher‟s rather than actively involved in various class room speaking activities. The failure of implementation of EFL teacher faced related to students, teachers and classroom setting arrangements. The finding revealed the problems related to students like belief about language learning ,lack of confidence ,luck of participation ,poor speaking ground and use of mother tongue and lack of practice in speaking skill in and out of the classroom .The finding also indicate the existence of problems related teachers ,such as belief about language teaching ,lack of training ,teaching methodology ,inability to provide classroom oral activities and way of error correction.Item SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MORINGA OLEIFERA WITH REDUCED GRAPHENE OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITE FOR ADSORPTIVE REMOVAL OF IRON FROM GROUND WATER(Wolkite University, 2023-01-30) FELEKE GUADIETreatment of potable ground water in rural areas is still a serious problem in Ethiopia. This studywas conducted to investigate low-cost, environmental friendly and innovative composite adsorbent(rGO/MO) for the removal of elevated ferrous iron (Fe2+) from three randomly selected shallowwell water samples. All water samples were analyzed by different parameters like pH, temperature,electrical conductivity, turbidity, TDS, TSS, hardness, chlorides, alkalinity and Fe2+Concentration. The results of the study were ranged as pH (6.52-–7.22), Temperature (21.3–22.7 ℃), E.C (76.8–151.3 µS/cm), turbidity (15–22 NTU),TDS (79.2–121.3 mg/L), TSS (50–100mg/L), hardness(120–280 mg/L), chlorides(93–125 mg/L), alkalinity (200–550 mg/L) andFe2+(0.62–0.66 mg/L). The values of most of the parameters such as pH, conductivity, temperature,TDS, hardness, and chloride content were within the permissible limit of WHO and EEPA.However, the concentration of Fe2+ was above the maximum permissible limit set by WHO.Similarly, the values of physicochemical parameters such as turbidity, TSS, and alkalinity wereabove the acceptable range for drinking water limit set by WHO and EEPA. Thus, the resultshowed that the potable ground water collected from rural areas pose a risk to human healthunless a proper water treatment system is implemented. The investigated adsorbents (MO, rGO,and rGO/MO) were characterized by FTIR, SEM, XRD and UV-Visible techniques. An adsorptionresults showed remarkable adsorption capacity (qmax) of 44.6 mg/g as obtained from theexperiment. The adsorption efficiency of rGO/MO adsorbent for elevated ferrous iron removal wasaffected by parameters like initial metal concentration, contact time, pH, and adsorbent dose. Thehighest adsorption efficiency was observed (99.2 %) at pH 9. The optimum contact time for theadsorption process was found to be at 50 minutes. The amount of Fe2+ ions adsorbed decreaseswith increasing in initial metal ion concentration. FT-IR data indicated that the adsorption ofmetal ions occurs on the surface of rGO/MO powder as the main functional groups that areresponsible for metal ions binding are involved in the process. The Langmuir isotherm data Fe2+has good fit with the experimental data (R2=0.994) than Freundlich isotherm data Fe2+(R2=0.979)Item ASSESSEMENT OF STATUS OF SOIL ACIDITY UNDER DIFFERENT LAND USE TYPES AND SLOPE GRADIENTS: THE CASE OF WEST AZERNET BERBERE DISTRICT, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA(WOLKITE UNIVERSITY, 2022-06) AHMED ASRAR ABDELLAThe general purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of land use types; slope gradient and their interaction on soil acidity and selected physico-chemical properties in West Azernet Berber Woreda. The experiment was taken as the randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two factors and total of 27 composite samples were taken. For data analysis, general linear model procedure of SAS version 9.4 was used.Three land uses (natural forest, grazing and cultivated land), and three slope gradients (10-15%, 5-10% and 2-5%) in three replications were considered for this study. Totally 27 composite soil samples were collected from cultivated, forest and grazing lands and slope gradients with three replications for laboratory analysis. Results indicated that the highest mean value of sand was recorded in grazing land and highest mean value of silt and clay were recorded under forest land, cultivated lands and upper slope classes respectively. Soils were strongly acidic (pH =5.2-5.4), whereas natural forest land uses and lower slope classes were moderately acidic2 (pH =5.9-6.0). The total porosity, bulk density and PH, Av.P, OM, CEC,Ca+2, Mg+2 K+, Na+, were significantly (p ≤ 0.001) affected by land use types and slope gradients .Percent base saturation Total nitrogen and except silt, particle size distribution were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected by land use typesand slope classes . The mean values of sand ,total porosity, pH, OM, TN, CEC, Ca+2, Mg+2, K+, Na+ and PBS were higher in forest and lower slope classes as compared with grazing , cultivated lands and in 10-15% and 5-10% slope classes respectively. The exchangeable acidity and exchangeable Al were significantly (P≤0.05) affected by under cultivated land and grazing lands and upper slope classes. Generally, land use types and slope gradient have significant effect on their interaction soil acidity and selected physic-chemical properties of soil. Therefore, in order to reduce soil acidity problem, minimize intensive cultivation, over grazing, liming and integrated soil acidity management practice is recommended for study area and further study should be investigated on the rest soil nutrients.Item POST-HARVEST LOSS FACTOR ASSESSMENT AND TUBER STORABILITY EVALUATION OF POTATO (Solanum tuberosum L.) VARIETIES UNDER DIFFERENT STORAGE STRUCTURES IN GUMMER DISTRICT, CENTRAL ETHIOPIA(WOLKITE UNIVERSITY, 2024-04) SISAY SIFIR ZEMEDIn the study area,there is huge potato production with high post harvest loss . Therefore, the current study was initiated to assess the main factors responsible for postharvest losses of potatoes and to evaluate tuber storability using different storage structures. For the survey, a total of 120 farmers and 6 key informants were interviewed from four (4) kebeles which were selected purposively. A descriptive research design was employed and quantitative data were measured and analyzed by using SPSS software version 20. The results indicated that inadequate awareness, lack of appropriate harvesting materials inappropriate harvest maturity determination and storage facilities as well and market uncertainty were as the main factors that contribute to the prevailing high level of postharvest losses of potatoes in the area. The result indicated that 62% of the respondents have no awareness, 23% have medium awareness and 15% have low awareness of postharvest losses and postharvest handling methods for potato tubers. For harvesting, majority of the respondents (63.3%) use rake to dugout tubers. For the experiment, four storage structures (pit, bamboo baskets, floor, and loft) and two potato varieties (Gudene and ‘Key dinch’) were laid out in 4×2 Complete block Block design, and data were collected frequently in a time interval. The analysis of variance showed that the main effect of variety, storage structure, and time was significantly influenced all the postharvest parameters except variety and pH content of the tuber. The lowest weight loss (6.11 and 6.22) was recorded from pit storage and at 30 days of storage, respectively. The longest days to 50% sprouting were obtained from all treatment interactions except from the variety Gudene interacted with the floor (72 days) and with basket storage (72 days). None of the tubers were sprouted by the interaction of Gudene with the loft method and were stored for 30, 60, and 90 days after storage. The highest dry matter content (24.5%) was obtained from tubers stored in the pit after 90 days of storage whereas the lowest dry matter content (21.5%) was obtained from tubers stored on the floor for 90 days after storage. for better storage stability of potato tubers, loft storage method with Gudene variety were found to be more ideal for extending the storage or shelf-life of the tubers.