Haramaya University Students’ Union and Community Service Club in collaboration with Community Development Directorate have donated different text and reference books worth over 25,000 Birr for three junior, secondary and preparatory Schools.

On the donation event held on November 01, 2016 at the local schools, Endalkachew Abera, President of Haramaya University Students’ Union, said the main objective of the contribution was to enhance the interaction between Haramaya University students and the surrounding community as well as to enable students to get updated supportive books.

The books have been distributed to Haramaya Preparatory School, Bate Secondary School and Primary School in a proportion of 70:20:10 respectively. Endalkachew added that additional books will also be distributed soon to these schools depending on the relevance and the uses they have for the ones they are already given. He stressed that the donated books value more than 25,000 Birr and his team made a tedious effort in collecting the books. In the future, they have a plan to build one library at Ganda Mude Preparatory School and currently, 60 % of the library design is finished.

 The book’s cover wider subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Civic, Mega Geography as well as different kinds of Galaxy Reference Series Books.

Among recipients, Mr. Fiseha Zewge, Director of Haramaya Preparatory School, said Haramaya University has been supporting the School for the last two years through donations of text and reference books which have an estimated cost of 10,000 Birr.

He appreciated the gift and highlighted the importance of having the books for quality teaching-learning process in the current state. He also pinpointed that the School is privileged to work with the University and would be involved with the University with other activities in the future. These books are believed to enhance the library of the school.

Among the students who attended the event at Haramaya Preparatory School, Murad Abrahim a Grade 11 student, said that the books would contribute to solve the shortage of reference books they have at the School and expressed his gratitude on behalf of the School students. Students from Bate Secondary School, Nijuma Hasan and Mahadi Abrahim, both Grade 9 students, said the donation they got was very curial in solving their reference book shortage and they appreciate the charity of the University.

Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Network team met with Haramaya University’s President, Vice-President and Directors on 3^rd Nov. 2016 to discuss the new project that works on the tracking and prevention of child health and mortality. The project so far has selected six sites in the world with high mortality rate of children under-5 and would work on identifying main areas of focus, tracking child mortality and mortality prevention. Kersa/Harar HDSS including Hiwot Fana Referal Hospital is among the six sites.

 CHAMPS Team together with HU Staff

The main idea of the Network is to share collected pathology data from the different sites, hopefully in real-time, with the Central Storage Facility using telepathology to analyze, share and notify the different stakeholders of the result. The specimens are expected to be stored in local storage facilities; some would be sent to the Central Storage Facility at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After the data have been analyzed, the panel members such as family members and clinicians who have been taking care of the child or children would be notified of the cause of death.

Discussion at President’s Office with HU staff and CHAMPS team

In the discussion session held at the President’s Office, questions were raised and the team gave their feedback. Among the raised concerns one was the integration and linkage of the project with the learning-teaching process in the University. The team responded pointing out that the project is a ‘robust project’ with a multidisciplinary dimension, and thesis and dissertation topics would be generated from it. New techniques in the labs would also be opportunities for students to learn and be involved in; one major and obvious benefit for students would be the sequence diagnostics that is expected to be implemented in this project.

An added feature to this project is its inclination to work with social behavioral scientists. The behavioral science personnel would help in getting to the community members to talk to, to inform, to teach and to create awareness, in general, to test the waters, so that CHAMPS would be able to come in and do the scientific part. As every community has its own experiences, understanding the community and designing and adapting the intervention and prevention procedures that reflect and do not offend/anger the community is crucial.

The CHAMPS Network is being funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and has a goal to achieve a much reduced child mortality rate by 2030. For this particular project the Foundation looked for countries and sites that need support in their works on child mortality. As many countries in Africa have an already established international foundation, organization and/or institution, the Foundation looked for an institution or site that has either a strong HDS site or clinic or microbiology laboratories. Kersa HDSS was selected for its strong and well-established work in tracking and documentation of child mortality for children under-5.  Having a CHAMPS site would also open up the doors for further funding from national and international institutions. It has been identified that this project could put Haramaya University on the map in the child mortality prevention works and could also help the University to become a Center of Excellence not only in the Eastern part of the country or even Ethiopia, but also internationally. Here, a very good example mentioned by the CHAMPS team was the experience in Kenya where a village that started out as a small DSS site became the largest DSS site in the country and has more than 100 scientists and a number of post graduate students based in it.

The CHAMPS team also visited the pediatric wing of Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital and its laboratories, and the Kersa Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) site to fully grasp what the University has and works on, and to identify the gaps and shortage of lab equipment, trained personnel and the overall performance of the University on child morbidity and mortality prevention.

By Abenezer Estifanos

ሐረር ኢዜአ ጥቅምት 28 ቀን 2009 ከሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በምርምር የተገኘው ቀቀባ የተሰኘው የስንዴ ዝርያ የዝናብ እጥረትን ተቋቁሞ በአጭር ጌዜ  ምርት እያስገኘ ነው ሲሉ በዝናብ እጥረት አካባቢ የሚኖሩ ከፊል አርሶ አደሮችና የልማት ሰራተኞች ተናገሩ።

ዩኒቨርሲቲው በምስራቅ ሐረርጌ ዞን ዝናብ አጠር በሆኑ ወረዳዎች  ውስጥ በሚገኙ የገበሬ ማሰልጠኛ ማዕከላት ላይ ድርቅን ተቋቁመው ምርት በሚሰጡ የሰብል ዝርያዎች ላይ እያካሄደ የሚገኘውን የምርምር ስራ ግምግሟል።

የጭናክሰን ወረዳም በዞኑ ዝናብ አጠር ከሆኑት አምስት ወረደዋች መካከል አንዱ ነው፤ በወረዳው የምርምር ስራው በሚከናወንበት የመረር ቀበሌ ገበሬ ማህበር ከፊል አርሶ አደር ከዲር አህመድ ጅብሪል በሰጡት አስተያየት ዩኒቨርሲቲው ምርምር አካሂዶበት የሰጠን ቀቀባ የተሰኘው የስንዴ ዘር ድርቅን ተቋቁሞ በቶሎ ምርት ይሰጣል፤ የሰብሉ ዘለላም ረጃጅም በመሆኑ ለከብቶች መኖነት እያገለገለን ይገኛል።

ከሁለት ዓመታት በፊት እንጠቀም የነበረው የአካባቢው የስንዴ ዝርያ ረጅም ጊዜ የሚወስድና የዝናብ እጥረት ሲያጋጥም ሰብሉ ምንም ዓይነት ምርት ሳይሰጥ ደርቆ ለብልሽት ይዳረጋል።

ቀቀባና መልካሳ ሁለት የተባለወ የስንዴና የበቆሎ ዝርያዎች በድርቅ፣ በንፋስና በበሽታ ሳይጠቁ በአግባቡ ምርት እየሰጡን ይገኛሉ

ከፊል አርሶ አደር አደም ሀሰን በበኩሉ ከዚህ ቀደም የምንጠቀመው የስንዴ ዝርያ የዝናብ እጥረትንና የአካባቢውን ከፍተኛ ንፋስ መቋቋም ስለማይችል ምርት አይሰጠነም።

ከሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲ በምርምር የተገኘው ቀቀባ የተሰኘው የስንዴ ምርጥ ዘር ግን ድርቅ፣በሽታንና ንፋስን ተቋቁሞ ምርት ከመስጠት ባለፈ ከፍተኛ ውሃን ስለሚወስድ ለምግብነትም  ተመራጭ ሆኗል።

እንደ ከፊል አርሶ አደሮቹ ገለጻ ዩኒቨርሲቲው በምርምር ያገኛቸውን ምርጥ የአዝዕርትና የቅባት እህል ዘሮችን በድጋሚ ከለገሰን የጀመርነውን ምርትና ምርታማነት ማሳደግ እንችላለን ብለዋል።

የወረዳው አርብቶ አደር ቢሮ የኤክስቴንሽን ቡድን መሪ አቶ በረከት ተስፋዬ ካለፉት ሁለት ዓመታት ጀምሮ በወረዳው ገበሬዎች ማስልጠኛ ተቋም ውስጥ ድርቅን ተቋቁመው ምርት በሚሰጡ የተለያዩ የሰብል ዝርያዎች ላይ ከዩኒቨርሲቲው ጋር እየሰራን እንገኛለን።

በዚህም በወረዳው ቀቀባ የተባው የስንዴ ዝርያ የዝናብ እጥረትን በመቋቋም ምርት በማስገኘቱና ተመራጭ በመሆኑ በከፊል አርሶ አደሩ  ዘንድ ተፈላጊ ሆኗል፤ የወረዳው አርብቶ አደር ቢሮም ዘሩን ለሌሎች እያስፋፋ ይገኛል።

በቀጣይም የአካባቢውን የአየር ጸባይ ተቋቁመው ምርት የሚሰጡና በገበያ ተፈላጊ በሆኑት የአዝዕርትና የቅባት እህሎች ላይ የምርምር ስራ እየተከናወነ የሚገኝው ስራም ተጠናክሮ እንደሚቀጥል ገልጸዋል።

የዩኒቨርሲቲው የምርምር ጉዳይዎች  ምክትል ፕሬዝዳንት ዶክተር ጀማል ዩስፍ  እንደገለጹት ዩኒቨርሲቲው ከመማር ማስተማርና ከማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ስራ ጎን ለጎን የአካባቢውን ማህበረሰብና የአርሶ አደሩን ፍላጎት መሰረት ያደረገ የምርምርና ስርጸት ስራ እያከናወነና የተገኙትንም ዝርያዎች ለተጠቃሚው ያከፋፍላል።

በአርብቶ አደር ወረዳዎች ላይ በተካሄደው የምርምር ስራ ማህበረሰቡ ቶሎ በመድረስ፣ጥሩ ምርት በመስጠትና በምግብነት ከሌላው ይሻላል ያላቸውን ቀቀባንና ኪንግ በርድ የተባሉ የስንዴ ዝርያዎችን መርጧል።

ዩኒቨርሲቲውም ማህበረሰቡ የመረጣቸውነ የስንዴ ዝርያዎችን የእውቀት ማዕከል በሆኑት የገበሬዎች ማሰልጠኛ ተቋም ላይ በማስፋፋት  ለሁሉም ከፊል አርብቶ አደር የማዳረስ ስራን አጠናክሮ እየቀጠለ ይገኛል።

ዩኒቨርሲቲው፣የልማት ባለሞያውና ከፊል አርብቶ አደሩ በጋራ በቆላ ጥራጥሬና በቅባት እህሎች ላይ እያከናወነ የሚገኘው የምርምር ስራም ውጤቱ ታይቶ ዘሩን የማሰራጨት ስራ እንደሚከናወን ተናግረዋል።

ለምርምር ስራዎቹም መንግስትና መንግስታዊ ያልሆኑ የልማት ድረጅቶች አስፈላጊውን ድጋፍ እያደረጉ እንደሚገኙ ገልጸዋል።

ለሁለት ቀናት በተካሄደው የምርምር ግምገማ የልማት ሰራተኞች ፣አርሶ አደሮች፣ ተመራማሪዎች፣መምህራንና ሌሎች መንግስታዊና መንግስታዊ ያልሆኑ መስሪያ ቤት ተወካይዎች ተሳታፊ ሆነዋል።

Farmers, researchers delegates of regional, zonal and woreda offices of agriculture, development agencies, administrators and representatives from Haramaya University were present for the 2016 Field Day that was conducted from November 09-11, 2016 by the University’ Research Office on three different districts

Dr. Jemal Yousuf, Vice-president for Research Affairs explained visitations like this would show the progresses of the ongoing farm practices and works that are being done on Farmer Training Centers (FTCs) to strengthen the scholarly contributions and collaborations of farmers, researchers, and development stakeholders. The scheduled three days trip covered two research sites: Girawa and Babile and two FTCs in Chinaksen.

Day-one of the visit was at Chinaksen and participants observed works done on wheat, sorghum, groundnut sesame andbeans. On Day-two, the team visited Gurawa Research Center and saw the tremendous works the personnel at the Center are doing. The Research Center has an impressive field that is field by crop and crop vegetation such as: maize, wheat, sorghum, carrot, potato, bean and many more.

Babile Research Center, which the team visited on the third day, boasts works done on groundnut, sesame, sorghum and other grain productions. The Research Center serves as the home base for the University’s National Groundnut Center of Excellence.

After the farm visits, a discussion session was held with representatives from the local farmers of all three areas in their respective districts. The efforts and achievements of the University, gaps to be addressed and the way forward were raised and discussed. Farmers raised their problems and worries during the discussion such as: getting hybrid seeds sustainably, sufficient market opportunity and exposure to new technology. Concerned officials gave explanation and briefings to the raised questions.

Finally, Dr. Jemal said farmers should be encouraged and supported to use improved technologies to enhance food production, such joint discussions should be habits to follow for the future to design and do fruitful research in a participatory approach and he thanked all of the field day participants and wished them safe journey back home.

Countries in the Eastern and Southern African region, which also possess a wealth of biodiversity, have experienced severe weather variability, crop failure and recurrent famine throughout their histories. To tackle the problems that arise as a result of climate change and the resultant droughts, floods, land degradation, losses of crop and biodiversity, famine, malnutrition and poverty, there is a need for greater awareness on managing the natural resources. These countries need a new integrated approach for advancement of improved technologies and good practices to manage crops and livestock, as well as the soil, land and ecological resources of the region.

Enhanced human capital is central to the development of much-needed, locally relevant scientific knowledge and technology to tackle major development challenges in African agriculture. Thus, investment in post-graduate education generates highly skilled human power for serving academic and research institutions as well as within the civil service and policy making institutions. In this connection, within the framework of African Center of Excellence II program, Haramaya University had proposed “African Center of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation” to World Health Organization (WHO) and has won the grant to develop a postgraduate program concerning this particular issue. ‘Climate smart agriculture’ can be defined as innovative production systems that integrate crop and livestock genetic improvement with management practices that increase productivity in a changing climate, while enhancing the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of the agricultural landscape and the natural resource system ecology in the Eastern and Southern African region. It specifically embodies soil and nutrient management, water capture and use, pest and disease control, resilient ecosystem, genetic resources, integration of livestock-crop production, harvesting, processing, and supply chains.

After the August 2016 in-house workshop held in Haramaya University (HU), progresses have been made. Implementation plan has been finalized, national steering committee has been formed, financial agreement and disbursement letter have been signed and audit report for the program has been cleared.

The center of excellence will be hosted by the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, of Haramaya University, which runs 12 Bachelor’s program, 25 Master’s programs, and 13 PhD programs in agriculture and allied fields.

The objective of the Centre of Excellence will be to produce skilled human capital through research-based quality post-graduate programs and short-term, skill-based training courses. The plan is the Project plans to upgrade the teaching and research facilities, support development and implementation of appropriate curricula and research programs through an integrated and holistic approach with HU partners from other universities in the Eastern and Southern African region and other parts of the world. At the Centre, Masters and PhD level training will be provided and applied research will be conducted focusing on generating climate smart agricultural technologies, intensifying agriculture, promoting and enhancing practices of climate smart agriculture, and exploring sustainable conservation and utilization of biodiversity.

A doctoral (PhD) program to be offered under the auspices of the Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation will have four sub-specializations (Crop Sciences, Livestock Sciences, Soil and Water Science, and Policy, Institution and Innovation Studies). Five MSc programs will be offered, with two new ones (Climate Smart Agriculture, and Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management) and three existing regional ones (Agrometeorology and Natural Risk Management, Agricultural Information and Communication Management, and Collaborative Master’s Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics).

In addition, short term training programs will be conducted targeting various stakeholders and partners, including technical staff, students, and faculties from regional, international, and national partners aimed at enhancing their knowledge and skills in climate smart agriculture and biodiversity conservation.

Research will be focused on priority areas (crop, livestock, soil and water, and policy, institution and innovation; agricultural information and communication, natural risk management, biodiversity and ecosystem management, agricultural and applied economics). In summary, the project is aimed at producing skilled human capital to tackle challenges posed by climate change through quality post-graduate education and research at HU in partnership with universities across the Eastern and Southern African Region as well as with other institutions of higher education in the other parts of the world.

The Centre of Excellence is expected to enroll and graduate a total of 30 PhD students and 80 MSc students at the end of the project year, 2021.Partnerships with Jimma, Mekelle, Bahir Dar. Bule Hora, Oda Bultum universities and Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Oromia Agricultural Research Institution (OARI), and from the private sector with Oromia Seed Enterprise, Oda Bultum Farmers’ Cooperative Union, Harar Brewery, Dire Dawa National Cement Factory, Hamaressa Edible Oil Share Company nationally; Makerere, Sokeine, Lilongwe universities and Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) regionally; and Purdue University, Wageningen University and Research Center (WUR); Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen University International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Land Areas (ICARDA), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), internationally are expected.

Haramaya University held the October season open defense examination of PhD and Masters Candidates. The University is building upon its reputation in postgraduate studies, and is working to become one of the postgraduate and research universities in the country by the end of the Second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). During the past couple of years, the number of Masters and PhD degree graduates of the University has tremendously increased. This evidenced the capacity of the University to become a Postgraduate and Research University within the coming few years.

At HU, an Open Defense Examination of PhD Dissertation and MSc Thesis is carried out three times in an academic year. The first defense of the academic year takes place towards the end of October through to the first week of November. The second round takes place in January, and the third in May and early June.

Students are examined by a committee of scholars consisting of one external examiner, one internal examiner and a chairman. While the external examiners must come from outside the University, the internal examiners and the chairmen are mostly staff members of the University. The external examiners are invited from within the country or outside the country. For the October defense, 92 scholars were invited from different universities within the country including Addis Ababa, Ambo, Arsi, Bahir Dar, Dilla, Dire Dawa, Jigjiga, Jima, Hawassa, and Mekele universities and, Kotebe Unversity College, The University of Gondar, and other institutions like Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, ICARDA-Addis Ababa and ILRI- Addis Ababa. Two of the external examiners came from South Africa and Switzerland. A defense exercise conducted with such professional mix is instrumental in maintaining the quality of the Dissertation and Thesis research work in particular, and the postgraduate teaching in general.

According to Dr. Mengistu Urge, Director of Postgraduate Programs Directorate, Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis open defense examination is one of the major activities put up on the annual postgraduate directorate academic calendar. He said such activities primarily serve as a check and balance to the quality of Dissertation and Thesis research work which are currently being carried out by the University’s graduate students. During the October 2016 defense season (as named by the Postgraduate Program Directorate) 13 PhD (two females and 11 males) and 241 Masters (24 females and 217 males), in total 254 students successfully defended their research works.

The students will receive their degree after the completion of their study is evaluated by the Council of the Postgraduate Program and is endorsed by the University Senate.

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ህግ ኮሌጅ በምስራቅና ምዕራብ ሐረርጌ እንዲሁም በሐረሪ ክልል በሚገኙ ፍርድቤቶችና ማረሚያ ቤቶች ውስጥ አርባ ሁለት የህግ ድጋፍ መስጫ ቢሮውችን በመክፈትና የህግ ባለሞያዎችን በመቅጠር የገንዘብ አቅም ለሌላቸውና ለጥቃት ተጋላጭ ለሆኑ ወገኖች ነጻ የህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት እየሰጠ ይገኛል ፡፡

በህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎቱ ተጠቃሚ ከሆኑ ሰዎች መካካል በምዕራብ ሐረርጌ ዞን ቦኬ ወረዳ ነዋሪ የሆኑት ሼክ መሐመድ አህመድ የወደቀ የኤሌትሪክ ፖል ባደረሰባቸው አደጋ እጃቸው ላይ ጉዳት መድረሱንና በዚሁ ምክንያትም የቀኝ እጃቸውን ሊያጡ እንደቻሉ ይናገራሉ፡፡ ለደረሰባቸው ጉዳትም ክስ መስርተው የሚመለከተውን አካል ካሳ ለመጠየቅ ቢነሱም ድርጅቱ ጠበቃ አቁሞ የሚከራከር በመሆኑና እሳቸውም በራሳቸው ፍርድ ቤት ቆሞ ለመከራከር የህግ ዕውቀት የሌላቸውና ጠበቃ ገዝተው ለማቆምም አቅም ያልነበራቸው በመሆኑ ተስፋ ቆርጠው ባሉበት ወቅት ሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ አካል ጉዳተኞ ለሆኑ ሰዎች ነጻ የህግ ድጋፍ እንደሚሰጥ ሰምተው አካባቢያቸው ወደሚገኘው ማዕከል መሄዳቸውን ይገልጻሉ ፡፡

“ ዩኒቨርሲቲው ያስቀመጠውን ጠበቃ አግኝቼ የደረሰብኝን ከነገርኩት በኃላ ያለምንም ክፍያ ፍርድ ቤት ቆሞ እንደሚከራከርልኝ ሲነግረኝ ደስታዬ ወደር አልነበረውም ፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅት እንኳን ጥብቅና ቆሞ መከራከር አይደለም የህግ ምክር እንኳን የሚገኘው በክፍያ በመሆኑ እንደዚህ አይነት እድል አገኛለሁ ብዬ አላሰብኩም ነበር ፡፡ መረጃዎችን በማሰባሰብ ሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በኔ ቦታ ሆኖ እስከ ጠቅላይ ፍርድ ቤት ድረስ በራሱ ወጪ ተከራክሮልኝ መብቴን አስከብሮልኛል፡፡ ፍርድቤትም ለደረሰብኝ ጉዳት 180‚000 ብር ከሳ እንዲከፈልኝ ፈርዶልኛል፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅት ይህንን ብር ተቀብዬ አንድ ባጃጅ መኪና ገዝቼ እየሰራች የምትገኝ ሲሆን በቀረው ብርም ከብቶች ገዝቼ በማደለብና በመሸጥ እየተዳደርኩ እገኛለሁ፡፡ ተስፋ ከቆረጥኩበት ተነስቼ እዚህ እንድደርስ ከጎኔ ቆሞ ለደገፈኝ ሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ምስጋናዬን አቀርባለሁ፡፡ ”

የህግ ኮሌጁ እየሰጠ በሚገኘው የህግ ምክር ፣ ክስና መልስ የመጻፍ እንዲሁም በፍርድ ቤት ቆሞ የመከራከር ነጻ ህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት ከፍተኛውን ድርሻ በመውሰድ ተጠቃሚ እየሆኑ የሚገኙት ሴቶች መሆናቸውን ከአገልግሎት መስጫ ቢሮዎቹ የሚሰበሰቡ መረጃዎች ያመለክታሉ፡፡

በነዚህ ቢሮች አገልግሎት ካገኙ ሴቶች መካከል በቀርሳ ወረዳ ነዋሪ የሆኑት ወ/ሮ በድሪያ አሜ አንዷ ሲሆኑ ከዚህ ቀደም ከባለቤታቸው ጋር በተፈጠረ አለመግባባት ባለቤታቸው ከነልጆቻቸው ከቤት እንዳስወጣቸውና አልፎ ተርፎም የሚገባቸውን ንብረት ሳይካፈሉ ባፈሩት ንብረት ላይ ሌላ ሚስት አግብቶ መኖር እንደጀመረና እሳቸውም የቀን ስራ እየሰሩ ለሁለት ዓመት ያህል የድርሻቸውን ንብረት ለማግኘት ሲጥሩ ቆይተው ስላልተሳካላቸው ሀገር ለቀው ለመሄድ በተነሱበት ወቅት ሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ መብታቸውን ላጡ ሴቶች መብታቸው እንዲከበር ድጋፍ የሚሰጥበት ቢሮ በወረዳው እንዳለ ሰምተው ወደ ቢሮው መሄዳቸውን ይናገራሉ፡፡

“ ዩኒቨርሲቲው ወደ ከፈተው ቢሮ ሄጄ አገልግሎት ለምትሰጠው ልጅ ሁለት አመት ሙሉ ከነልጆቼ የደረሰብኝ ከነገርኳት በኃላ በጣም አዝና ከጎኔ ቆማ እንደምትከራከርልኝ ስትነግረኝና ስታበረታታኝ ሀቄን ያገኘው ያህል ነበር የተሰማኝ፡፡ ከብዙ ክርክርና ሂደት በኃላ የሚገባኝን ንብረት እንድካፈል ተፈርዶልኝ ይህው አሁን የምኖርበት ቤትና የእርሻ መሬት አግኝቼ ያንን እያረስኩ ከልጆቼ ጋር በደስታ እየኖርኩ እገኛለሁ፡፡ ሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በኔ ቦታ ሆኖ ባይከራከርና መብቴን ባያስከብርልኝ ኖሮ ከነ ልጆቼ ሜዳ ላይ ወድቄ በቀረሁ ነበር፡፡ ዩኒቨርሲቲው ላደረገልኝ ሁሉ እያመሰገንኩ ይህ አገልግሎት ብዙ ሰዎች መብታቸው እንዲከበር እየደገፈ የሚገኝ በመሆኑ በዚሁ እንዲቀጥል እጸልያለሁ፡፡ ”

ይህ የህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት መሰጠት ከተጀመረበት ከ2006 ዓ/ም ጀምሮ እስከ ጥቅምት ወር 2009 ዓ/ም ድረስ 126‚180 የህግ ድጋፍ የሚሹ ሴቶችና ህጻናት ፣ አረጋውያን ፣ አካል ጉዳተኞች ፣ ኤች አይ ቪ በደማቸው የሚገኝ ወገኖች እና ታራሚዎች የዚህ አገልግሎት ተጠቃሚ በመሆን መብታቸውን በህግ ፊት ለማስከበር ችለዋል፡፡

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ህግ ኮሌጅ የፍትህ ተደራሽነትና ህግ ንቃት ፕሮጀክት (AJLA) በተለያዩ አካባቢዎች ቢሮዎችን ከፍቶ ከሚሰጠው የህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት በተጨማሪ የህግ ግንዛቤ ማስጨበጫ ትምህርትና ስልጠናዎችን በመስጠት እንዲሁም የህግ ጥናቶችን በማካሄድ እየሰራ ይገኛል ፡፡

ሀረር ህዳር 3/2009 ዓ.ም የሐረማያ ዩኒቨረሲቲ ከሁለት መቶ ሺህ ብር በሚበልጥ ወጪ  የገዛቸውን የማጣቀሻ መጽህፍትና የተለያዩ የጽህፈት መሳሪያዎች ለአዴሌ ማረሚያ ቤት በድጋፍ ሰጠ፡፡

ዩኒቨረሲቲው በአካባቢው እያከናወነ ያለው የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ሥራ በቀጣይም ተጠናክሮ እንደሚቀጥል ተገልጿል፡፡

የዩኒቨረሲቲው የማህበረሰብ ልማት አገልግሎትምክትል ፕሬዚዳንት ፕሮፌሰር ከበደ ወ/ፃዲቅ ድጋፉን ባስረከቡበት ወቅት እንደገለፁት ዩኒቨረሲቲው ከመማር ማስተማርና ከምርምር ሥራ ጎን ለጎን ለአካባቢው ነዋሪዎችና ለመንግስት ተቋማት የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎቶችን እየሰጠ ይገኛል፡፡

ማረሚያ ቤቱ ለዩኒቨረሲቲው ባቀረበው የፍላጎት ጥያቄ መሰረት 625 የተለያዩ የማጣቀሻ መጽህፍትና የጽህፈት መሳሪያዎችን ድጋፍ ማድረጉን ተናግረዋል፡፡

በቀጣይም ዩኒቨረሲቲው ዕቅድና በጀት በመያዝ በተለያዩ የትምህርት ቁሳቁስ፣በመምህራንና በሌሎች ድጋፉን አጠናክሮ ለመቀጠል ከማረሚያ ቤቱ ጋር በቅንጅት እንደሚሰራ ተናግረዋል፡፡

ድጋፉ የህግ ታሚዎች በማረሚያ ቤት ቆይታቸው በትምህርትና በንባብ ራሳቸውን ለውጠው እንዲወጡ በማድረግ በኩል ጠቀሜታው ከፍተኛ መሆኑን ምክትል ፕሬዚዳንቱ ገልፀዋል፡፡

በማረሚያ ቤቱ የታራሚዎች የሥራ ሂደት ኃላፊ ኢንስፔክተር ያህያ አብደላ ድጋፉ በማረሚያ ቤቱ የነበረውን መጽህፍትና የጽህፈት መሳሪያ እጥረት እንደሚያቃልል ነው የገለፁት፡፡

በተለይ በማረሚያ ቤቱ ውስጥ ያሉ ተማሪዎች በማረሚያ ቤት ውስጥ ያላቸውን ቆይታ በንባብና በመማር እንዲያሳልፉ ጠቀሜታው የጎላ መሆኑን ተናግረዋል፡፡

በቀጣይም ዩኒቨረሲቲው የላይብረሪ መፃህፍት፣ኮምፒተሮችና አዲስ ለሚጀመረው የ10ኛ ክፍል ትምህርት በመምህራን ድጋፍ እንደሚያደርግላቸው ጥያቄ ማቅረባቸውን ኢንስፔክተሩ ተናግረዋል፡፡

አዴሌ ማረሚያ ቤት የሚገኘው ትምህርት ቤት ርዕሰ መምህር አስናቀ ምትኬ በበኩላቸው፣ የዩኒቨረሲቲው ድጋፍ በማረሚያ ቤቱ በመማር ማስተማር ሥራ ላይ የሚታየውን ክፍተት ከመሙላት ባለፈ ለተማሪውም ሆነ ለመምህሩ የጎላ ጠቀሜታ እንዳለው ገልፀዋል፡፡

ርዕሰ መምህሩ እንዳሉት መፃህፍቶቹ ለመማር ማስተማር ሥራ አጋዥ ከመሆናቸውም በላይ መምህራኑና ተማሪዎች እንዲያነቧቸው የሚያነሳሱ ናቸው፡፡

“በተለይ ታራሚው የማረሚያ ቤት ቆይታውን በትምህርት ንባብ እንዲያሳልፍ ስለሚየደርጉ ነገ ለሀገሪቱ የሚያበረክተውን አስተዋጽኦ ያጎለዋል” ብለዋል፡፡

ዩኒቨረሲቲው በቀጣይ በትምህርት ቤቱ ለሚገኙ መምህራን የአቅም ግንባታ ስልጠና እንዲሰጥም ጠይቀዋል፡፡

ከማረሚያ ቤቱ የህግ ታራሚዎች መካከል ወጣት ወንድምአገኘ ተገኝ በበኩሉ መፃህፍቶቹ ለታራሚው የጎላ ጠቀሜታ እንዳላቸው በመግለፅ ዩኒቨረሲቲውን አመስግኗል፡፡

ማረሚያ ቤቱ የሚሰጠው ትምህርት እስከ 9ኛ ክፍል በመሆኑ ተማሪዎች 10ኛ ክፍልን መማር እንዲችሉ ገልፆ፣ዩኒቨረሲቲው ከማረሚያ ቤቱ ጋር በመነጋገር መፍትሄ እንዲሰጣቸው ጠይቀዋል፡፡

ህዳር 10 ቀን 2009 ዓ/ም በዩኒቨርሲቲው የስብሰባ ማዕከል በተደረገው የምክክር መድረክ ላይ የአጎራባች ከተሞች የአስተዳደር ሀላፊዎችና የሐገር ሸማግሌዎች የተገኙ ሲሆን በመድረኩ ላይ  በማህበረሰብልማትስራዎችዳይሬክቶሬትና በሐረማያ ሀይቅ ሁለገብ ተፋሰስ ልማት ፕሮጀክት ሥር በ2009 ዓ.ምሊሰሩ የታቀዱ  የልማትስራዎች እንዲሁም በአካባቢው የሚገኙ ሥራ አጥ ወጣቶች ሊሰማሩባቸው በሚችሉ የስራ ዕድሎች ላይ የተደረገ ጥናት ቀርበው በተሰብሳቢዎቹ ውይይት ተድርጎበታል ፡፡

የዩኒቨርሲቲው የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ኢንተርፕራይዝ ምክትል ፕሬዝዳንት  ፕሮፌሰር ከበደ ወ/ጻዲቅ የተዘጋጀውን ውይይት አስመልክተው እንደተናገሩት  ዩኒቨርሲቲው የሚሰራቸውን ማህበረሰብ አቀፍ ስራዎች በተመለከተ በተለያዩ መድረኮች ከማህበረሰቡ ጋር ዕቅዶቹን አቅርቦ ውይይት በማድረግና በየደረጃው ማህበረሰቡን በማሳተፍ ወደ ትግበራ እንደሚገባ ገልጸው የዕለቱ ውይይትም በመጀመሪያው ሩብ ዓመት የዝግጅት ምዕራፍ ላይ ለማካሄድ ታስቦ በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች እስካአሁን ቢዘገይም ዕቅዱን ለመተግበር በሂደት ላይ የምንገኝ በመሆኑ ሊሰሩ በታቀዱ ዕቅዶች ላይ ውይይት ተደርጎ በጋራ ወደ ትግበራ ለመግባትና ስኬታማ ስራ ለመስራት እንዲቻል  የውይይቱ መካሄዱ ትልቅ አስተዋጾ እንደሚያደርግ ተናግረዋል፡፡

በውይይቱ ወቅት የመክፈቻ ንግግር ያደረጉት የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ፕሬዝዳንት  ፕሮፌሰር  ጨመዳ ፊኒንሳ እንዳሉት ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች በዋናነት ሶስት ተግባራትን ማለትም የመማር ማስተማር ፣ ጥናትና ምርምር የማካሄድ እንዲሁም  በአካባቢያቸው ለሚገኙ ነዋሪዎች የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት የመስጠት ተልዕኮዎችን ይዘው እንደተቋቋሙ ገልጸው ከነዚህ ሶስት ስራዎች መካከል ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ስራን አቅማቸው በፈቀደ መጠን ያላቸውን የተማረ የሰው ሐይል በማስተባበር እና ማህበረሰቡን በማሳተፍ በጋራ እንደሚያካሂዱት ተናግረዋል ፡፡

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲም በማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ዘርፍ የሚሰራውን ስራ አሳታፊና ውጤታማ ለማድረግ እንዲረዳው ባለፈው ዓመት ማህበረሰቡንና ባለድርሻ አካላትን በማወያየት የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ስራ የሚመራበት ፍኖተ ካርታ እንደተዘጋጀና በዚህ ፍኖተ ካርታ ላይም በአካባቢው ያሉ የጎሉ ችግሮችን ለመቅረፍና ማህበረሰቡን ተጠቃሚ ለማድረግ ትኩረት ተሰጥቶ ሊሰራባቸው የሚገቡ ጉዳዮች ተለይተው በቅደም ተከተል እንደተቀመጡ አስታውሰው በየዓመቱ የሚወጡ ዕቅዶችም ይህንን በጥናት የተዘጋጀ ፍኖተ ካርታ መሰረት ያደረጉ መሆናቸውን ገልጸዋል ፡፡

ከዚህ ጋር ተያይዞ ብዙውን ጊዜ ከግንዛቤ እጥረት የተነሳ ዩኒቨርሲቲው እንደማንኛውም የመንግስት ተቋም በተመደበለት በጀት እንደሚተዳደር በመዘንጋትና ዩኒቨርሲቲውን እንደ እርዳታ ሰጪ ድርጅት በማየት የተለያዩ ጥያቄዎች ይዘው የመምጣት ሁኔታዎች እናዳሉ ጠቅሰው ዩኒቨርሲቲው በተመደበለት በጀት መሰረት ዕቅድ አውጥቶ እንደሚሰራ መገንዘብና በዚሁ ዕቅድ ላይ  በጋራ ተወያይቶና አዳብሮ ተቀናጅቶ መስራት እንደሚገባ አመልክተዋል ፡፡

በዕለቱ በዩኒቨርሲቲው የማህበረሰብ ልማትስራዎች ዳይሬክቶሬት በ2009 ዓ.ም ሊሰሩ የታቀዱ የልማት ስራዎችበዝርዝር ቀርበው ውይይት የተደረገባቸው ሲሆን ከነዚህ ሊሰሩ ከታቀዱ ስራዎች መካከልምርትና ምርታማነትን የሚጨምሩና መሰረተ ልማትን የማያስፋፉ ስራዎች እንዲሁም የስራ ፈጠራንና ቢዝነስ ዲቭሎፕመንትን (ኢንተረፕረነርሸፕ) የማገዝ ስራዎች፣ለጤናአገልግሎት መስፋፋት ድጋፍ ማድረግ፣ተፈጥሮንና አከባቢን የመንከባከብ ስራ፣ጥራቱ የተጠበቀ ትምህርት እንዲስፋፋ መስራት፣ለአቅም ግንባታ ትኩረት መሰጠትና ማህበራዊ ፍትህን የማስፋፋት ስራዎች ይገኙበታል ፡፡

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የማህበረሰብ ልማት ስራዎች ዳይሬክቶሬትዳይሬክተር የሆኑት ዶ/ር አድማሱ ቦጋለ በምክክር መድረኩ የተደረጉ ውይይቶችንና የተሰነዘሩ ገንቢ ሀሳቦችን አስመልክተው እንደተናገሩት ዩኒቨርሲቲው በማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ዘርፍ ለመስራት ያቀዳቸውን ስራዎች በአሳታፊነት ከማህበረሰቡና ከሚመለከታቸው ቢሮዎች ጋር በቅንጅት ለመተግበር እንዲቻል መድረኩ ትልቅ አቅም የፈጠረ እንደሆነ ገልጸው ዩኒቨርሲቲው እንደ ከዚህ ቀደሙ ሁሉ የማህበረሰቡን ህይወት ሊያሻሽሉ በሚችሉ የልማት ስረዎች ላይ በትጋት እንደሚሳተፍ ገልጸዋል ፡፡

በምክክር መድረኩ ላይ የተገኙት የሐረማያ ከተማ ከንቲባ አቶ መሀመድ አሊ እንደተናገሩት ሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የአካባቢውን ማህበረሰብ ተጠቃሚ ያደገረጉ በርካታ ስራዎች ሲሰራ እንደቆየና በተለይም በግብርናው ዘርፍ በጥናትና ምርምር የተገኙ ምርጥ ዘሮችን ለገበሬው በማከፋፈልና ቴክኖሎጂውን በማስፋፈት ገበሬውን ተጠቃሚ ያደረገ ሰፊ ስራ መስራቱን ብሎም ከግብርናው ባለፈ  በአቅም ግንባታና በስራ ፈጠራ ላይ በርካታ ስራዎችን መስራቱን ገልጸዋል፡፡ አቶ መሀመድ አያይዘው እንዳሉት ዩኒቨርሲቲው በ2009 ዓ/ም ለመስራት ባቀዳቸው የአቅም ግንባታ፣ የስራ ፈጠራ ፣ የአካባቢ ልማትና ሌሎችም ስራዎች ላይ ውይይት ማድረጋቸውንና የታቀዱት ስራዎችም ለአካባቢው ማህበረሰብ እጅግ አስፈላጊና መሰረታዊ በመሆናቸው ማህበረሰቡን በማስተባበር ከዩኒቨርሲቲው ጋር በጋራ ለመስራት ዝግጁ መሆናቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡

የባቴ ከተማ ነዎሪና የሐገር ሽምግሌ የሆኑት አቶ ጣሀ አብራሂም በበኩላቸው ዩኒቨርሲቲው ወደ ፊት ለማህበረሰቡ የሚሰራውን ስራ በተመለከተ የአካባቢውን ነዋሪ ተወካዮች ጋብዞ ዕቅዱን ማቅረቡ ዩኒቨርሲቲው ምን ለመስራት እንዳቀደ ከማሳወቅ በተጨማሪ ስረዎቹን ተጋግዞ በመስራት ውጤት ለማምጣት እንደሚረዳ ጠቅሰው የታቀዱት ስራዎች ነዋሪውን የሚጠቅሙ በመሆናቸው ዩኒቨርሲቲው ጠንክሮ ስራ ላይ እንዲያውላቸው መልክታቸውን አስተላልፈዋል፡፡

የአወዳይ ከተማ ከንቲባ ጽ/ቤት ኃላፊ የሆኑት አቶ አብይ ግርማ በበኩላቸው ዩኒቨርሲቲው የአካባቢውን ከተሞች ለማልማትና ማህበረሰቡን ተጠቃሚ ለማድረግ ከአካባቢው ከተሞች ጋር በጋራ እየሰራ እንደሚገኝ ገልጸው ለአብነትም ዩኒቨርሲቲው ባለፈው ዓመት ለአወዳይ ከተማ የውስጥ መንገድ ስራ የሚውል 1.5 ሚሊየን ብር ድጋፍ አድርጎ የኮብል ስቶን መንገድ እንደተሰራና በአሁኑም ወቅት መንገዱ በዩኒቨርሲቲው ስም ተሰይሞ አገልግሎት እየሰጠ እንደሚገኝ ገልጸዋል፡፡ በቀጣይ የሚሰሩ የልማት ስራዎችን በተመለከተም በዚህ መልኩ በጋራ ውይይት መደረጉ ጠቃሚ እንደሆነም አክለው ተናግረዋል ፡፡

Haramaya University College of Veterinary Medicine inaugurated newly built CVM laboratory at ‘station campus’ on November 20, 2016.

Dr. Biresaw Serda, Dean of College of Veterinary Medicine, welcomed the guests to the inauguration ceremony and said the College has been doing its share to the training and education of producing equipped graduates; the College has graduated nine batches so far. “To teach quality education in animal medical science, having a well-equipped laboratory is a must,” he said. “Besides supporting the teaching-learning process, the lab would also contribute to problem solving researches that would be conducted to address the animal health problems and related issues of the surrounding communities.”

According to Dr. Biresaw, the complex has six major laboratories (Veterinary Microbiology, Veterinary Parasitological, Veterinary Pathology and Histology, Veterinary Anatomy, Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, and Veterinary Surgery laboratories) meant for different specialties in the College. It has also its own mini stores, preparation offices and best standard laboratory benches, shelves and tables. Internally the utensils and equipments are arranged by applying the principles of KAIZEN. Thus, it is the first of its kind in the University’s history that can be used as best practice for other sister laboratories at Haramaya.

 Having such organized laboratory has its own implication on quality of education helping our graduates to be equipped with required competencies and skills. So far students and instructors were not comfortable with laboratory sessions due to its distance from the campus when it was in the main campus. The materials were also disorganized and misplaced.

 It also serves as research laboratory and gives support to nearby community in diagnosis of livestock diseases. This laboratory provides services from simple diagnostic tests to higher level tests and treatment of cases up to operation/surgery. The laboratory has its own real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine to be used for graduate students and sophisticated research works in the future.

Prof. Chemeda Fininsa, President of Haramaya University, and Prof. Nigussie Dechassa, Vice-president for Academic Affairs, congratulated the staff members of the College on their commitment and hard work, and asked for continued efforts to better the College. Regarding the maintenance and utilization of the laboratories, Prof. Chemeda said, “Now the first issue is to facilitate and put it (the laboratory) to work. The second and most important thing would be to put it to work and third would be to keep using it and maintain it.”

 During the occasion, different stakeholders and community representatives have been invited from east Hararghe zone, Harari region, Haramay woreda and Dire City Administration to be participated in the process of inauguration and to share the resource for better livestock development in the future.

The purchasing of lab equipment and the furnishing costed 8,929,377 Birr in total and this includes laboratory benches, shelves, cabinets, chairs, dissecting and surgery tables, washing basins and round tables. The College is striving to be among the best Veterinary Colleges in the country and working its best level to be referral veterinary laboratory/hospital in Eastern Ethiopia

Since its establishment in 1954 Haramaya University’s (HU) involvement in training, research and community engagement has been increasing from time to time. To enable it reach more communities and conduct problem solving and tailored research activities, HU has created partnerships with other institutions and projects in different areas. Under the coordination of its College of Law, HU is one of the many partners implementing Pastoralist Areas Resiliency Improvement through Market Expansion (PRIME) Project, a five years USAID funded program working in three pastoralist areas of the country: Afar, Ethiopian Somali and Oromia (Borana and Guji). HU serves as Research and Development and Policy advisory arm of the project. Accordingly, it has conducted more than thirty (30) interdisciplinary and tailored researches and assessments in the last three years, which were basically meant to inform implementation of project activities and provide evidence for policy makers. After long ups and downs, HU-PRIME project has published its first proceeding which consists of twelve (12) researches conducted by HU-PRIME staffs.

The 2016 Nations, Nationalities and People’s Day celebration is being celebrated in Harar City. The celebration that was opened officially on December 01, 2016 with an official opening ceremony graced by H.E. Murad Abdulhadi, President of the Regional State; Mr. Ased Ziyad, Minister of Trade; Dr. Belaineh Legesse, vice-president for Administrative and Students’ Affairs, officials from different governmental offices, and university delegates. The celebration is going on with a bazaar and exhibition.

Haramaya University is a golden sponsor to the bazaar and exhibition, and has presented the research outputs of different researches conducted in the University’s research centers; extension experiences, engineering students’ model works, community engagement experiences, poultry farm products and many more.

The response the University got was good; and many have appreciated its contribution to the society. Visitors from Kersa mentioned the University’s previous involvement in recent years and asked for its involvement to resume in FTCs and farmers’ associations in the area.

Mr. Bisrat from Brothers Ah-wan Industry Group, a company best known for its cream and wafer biscuits, pasta and macaroni products asked why the university is not involved in the production of the hazelnuts. The company imports the hazelnuts with an expensive price and it would save time and money to the company and the country if Haramaya University’s researchers are involved. He said, it would also be a very good opportunity to farmers and producers, the University and the country in general.

The two-week bazaar and exhibition is expected be visited by people from the surrounding towns and more than 300 institutions, organizations, companies and associations are in attendance and awaiting visitors.

ሰላምና ግጭትን በመረዳት ግጭትን መፍታት ለዘላቂ ልማት ያለው አስተዋጾ በሚል ርዕስ ከተለያዩ ክፍሎች ለተወጣጡ የጸጥታ አባላት ለሶስት ቀናት ከ8-10/4/2008 ዓ/ም የቆየ ስልጠና ተሰጥቷል፡፡

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የማህበረሰብ ልማት ዳይሬክቶሬት ከሶሺዎሎጂ ትምህርት ክፍል ጋር በመተባበር በተዘጋጀው ስልጠና ላይ 25 ሰልጣኞች ከኦሮሚያ አድማ በታኝ ፖሊስ ፣ ከሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ጥበቃና ከተማሪዎች የሰላም ፎረም ክለብ አባላት ተሳታፊ ሆነውበታል፡፡

ስልጠናው በዋነኛነት የግጭት መንስኤዎች ምንድናቸው? ግጭቶች በአግባቡና በተገቢው ጊዜ ካልተፈቱስ የሚያስከትሉት ጉዳት ምንድነው? ግጭት መፍቻ ባህላዊ መንገዶች ምን ይመስላሉ?  ሰላምና ልማት ያላቸው ግንኙነትና ቀጣይነት ያለው ሰላም እንዴት ማረጋገጥ ይቻላል በሚሉ ጉዳዮች ላይ አተኩሮ የቀረበ ነው፡፡

የስልጠናው ተሳታፊ የሆኑት ሳጅን ሙሉሰው ስሜ እንደገለጹት ከስልጠናው ስለ ሰላም ፣ ሰለ ግጭት መንስኤዎች እና ስለ እድገት ሰፊ ትምህርት እንዳገኙና በተለይም ግጭት እንዴት እንደሚፈጠር ከተፈጠረ በኋላም እንዴት መፈታት እንዳለበት እና ሰላም ለዘላቂ የሐገር እድገት ያለውን አስተዋጾ በተመለከተ ትምህርት እንዳገኙ ጠቅሰው ከስልጠናው ያገኙት ዕውቀት ለሌሎች አባሎቻቸውም ለማካፈልና ለማስተማር ማሰባቸውን ተናግረዋል፡፡

በሶሺዎሎጂ ዲፓርትመንት ዲን የሆኑት መምህር ደሜ ዲሪባ በበኩላቸው እንደተናገሩት ስልጠናው በዚህ እርዕስ ላይ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ እንደተሰጠና በቀጣይም ያገር ሽማግሌዎችንና የሐይማኖት አባቶችን በማሳተፍ ለመስጠት እንደታቀደ ገልጸዋል፡፡

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ አጎራባች ክልሎች የሚታየውን የጤና ባለሙያ እጥረትና የጤና አገልግሎት አሰጣጥ ችግር ለማቃለል አበረታች ሥራ እየሰራ መሆኑን የሐረሪ ክልል ርዕሰ መስተዳድር አስታወቁ።

ዩኒቨርሲቲው ለአራተኛ ጊዜ በጤና ሳይንስ የትምህርት መስክ ያሰለጠናቸውን 137 ተማሪዎች ዛሬ በሕክምና ዶክትሬት ድግሪ አስመርቋል። ከተመራቂዎቹ መካከልም 18ቱ ሴቶች ናቸው።

በምረቃ ሥነስርአቱ ላይ በክብር እንግድነት የተገኙት የሐረሪ ክልል ፕሬዚዳንት አቶሙራድ አብዱልሃዲ መንግስት በከፍተኛ ትምህርት ብቃት ያላቸው፣ ሥነምግባር የተላበሱና ኃላፊነት የሚሰማቸው ባለሙያዎችን ለማፍራት ከፍተኛ ትኩረት ሰጥቶ እየሰራ መሆኑን ገልጸዋል።

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በአገሪቱ ከፍተኛ የባለሙያ እጥረት ለሚታይበት የጤናው ዘርፍት ኩረት ሰጥቶ መስራቱ በክልሉ፣ አጎራባች ክልሎችና በአገሪቱ የጤና ባለሙዎችን እጥረት በማቃለል ጉልህ ሚና እንዳለው ተናግረዋል።

“በክልሉ ከሚገኙ የጤና ተቋማት ጋር ተቀናጅቶ እየሰጠ ያለው የሙያ ማሻሻያ ስልጠናም ለሕብረተሰቡ የሚሰጠውን የጤና አገልግሎት በየጊዜው እንዲሻሻል አድርጓል” ብለዋል።

ዩኒቨርሲቲው ከፍተኛ በጀት መድቦ እያስገነባ የሚገኘው ስፔሻላይዝድ ቲቺንግ ሆስፒታልና የካንሰር ማዕከል ከሐረሪና አጎራባች ክልሎች ወደ አዲስ አበባና ውጭ አገር ለሕክምና የሚሄዱ ዜጎችን ቁጥር ይቀንሳል የሚል እምነት እንዳላቸው ገልጸዋል።

የዕለቱ ተመራቂ ተማሪዎችም ወደ ሥራ ሲሰማሩ የሙያው ስነምግባር በሚያዘው መሰረት ህብረተሰቡን በቅንነትና በታማኝነት ማገልገል እንዳለባቸውም አስገንዝበዋል።

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ፕሬዚዳንት ፕሮፌሰር ጨመዳ ፊኒንሳ ኮሌጁ የአሁኖቹን ተመራቂዎች ጨምሮ ባለፉት ዓመታት 406 ኃኪሞችን አሰልጥኖ ማስመረቁን ገልጸዋል።

በጤናው ዘርፍ የሰለጠነ ባለሙያ ለማፍራትና ለአካባቢው ማህበረሰብ የተሻለ የሕክምና አገልግሎት ለመስጠት በአሁኑ ወቅት ዩኒቨርሲቲው በኮሌጁ የማስፋፊያ ስራዎችን እያከናወነ መሆኑን ተናግረዋል።

በተጨማሪም ዩኒቨርሲቲው የጤና ትምህርት አሰጣጥና ጥራትን ለማጎልበት በሕይወት ፋና ሆስፒታል በዓይነቱ ልዩ የሆነ ዘመናዊ የማስተማሪያ ሆስፒታልና የካንሰር ሕክምና ማዕከል በአንድ ነጥብ አምስት ቢሊዮን ብር እያስገነባ መሆኑን አስታውቀዋል።

እንደ ፕሬዚዳንቱ ገለጻ፣ ማዕከሉ አንድ ሺህ አልጋዎች የሚኖሩት ሲሆን ለአጎራባች ክልሎች ጥራት ያለው የጤና አገልግሎት ለመስጠትና ብቃት ያለው የሕክምና ባለሙያ ለማፍራት ዓይነተኛ ሚና ይጫወታል።

የጤና ጥበቃ ሚኒስትር ዲኤታ ዶክተር ከበደ ወርቁ በበኩላቸው ለጤና ሕክምና  አገልግሎት ባለሙያው መሰረት መሆኑን ገልጸው፣ የጤና ባለሙያው ብቃቱን፣ እውቀቱን፣ ልምድና ክህሎቱን በየጊዜው ማሳደግ እንደሚጠበቅበት አመልክተዋል።

በዛሬው ዕለት ለምረቃ የበቁ ኃኪሞች በገቡት ቃለ መሀላ መሰረት ወደ ሕብረተሰቡ በሚሄዱበት ወቅት ለሕሙማን ርህራሄ፣ ጥንቃቄና ክብር ያለው አገልግሎት መስጠት እንዳለባቸውም አስገንዝበዋል።
ከተመራቂዎች መካከል ዶክተር አብረሃም አለማየው አንዳንዴ ዜጎች ተገቢ ሕክምና ሳያገኙ ለሞት እንደሚዳረጉ ገልጾ፣ በቀጣይ በሙያው ያስተማረውን ሕዝብና አገሩን ለማገልገል በቅንነት እንደሚሰራ ተናግሯል።

ተመራቂ ዶክተር ቤተል ጥበቡ በበኩሏ መንግስት የእናቶችንና የሕጻናትን ሞት ለመቀነስ፣ የጤና አገልግሎቱን ለማሻሻልና በሽታን አስቀድሞ ለመከላከል የሚያደርገውን ጥረት ስኬታማ ለማድረግ ጠንክራ እንደምትሰራ ተናግራለች።
በዩኒቨርሲቲው የጤና ሳይንስ ኮሌጁ ዘንድሮ በ11 የቅድመ ምረቃ የስልጠና መስኮች ሁለት ሺህ 785 ተማሪዎች በሕክምና ሳይንስ ትምህርታቸውን እየተከታተሉ ይገኛሉ። ከነዚህ ውስጥ አንድ ሺህ 435ቱ የሕክምና ዶክትሬት ተማሪዎች መሆናቸው ተገልጿል፡፡

ሐረር /ኢዜአ/ታህሳስ 15/2009

የመልካም አስተዳደር መጎደል በስፋት ከሚስተዋልባቸው የአገልግሎት ዘርፎች መካከል የመሬት አስተዳደር አንዱ ነው፡፡ እንደ ሀገርም ይህንን ችግር ለመቅረፍ የአገልግሎት ሰጪ ባለሞያዎችን በማሰልጠንና በማስተማር የተጣለባቸውን ሀላፊነት በሚገባ ተገንዝበው ሞያዊ ስነምግባር የተላበሰ አገልግሎት እንዲሰጡ መስራትና ማብቃት እንደ ዋነኛ አማራጭ የተወስደ መንገድ ነው፡፡

ይህንን መሰረት በማድረግም የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የማህበረሰብ ስራዎች ዳይሬክቶሬት ከምስራቅ ሐረርጌ የተለያዩ ወረዳዎች ለተውጣጡ ሰላሳ(30) የመሬት አስተዳደር ሰራተኞች ለሁለት ቀናት በሁለት እርዕሶች ላይ ማለትም በመልካም አስተዳደርና በሙስና መከላከል ላይ ያተኮረ የግንዛቤ ማስጨበጫ ስልጠና ሰጥቶል፡፡

ስልጠናው በዋነኛነት ከመሬት አስተዳደር ጋር ተይዞ የመልካም አስተዳደር መስፈንና መጓደል መገለጫዎች ምንድናቸው ፣መልካም አስተዳደር እንዴት ሊዳብር ይችላል ፣ ሙስና በግለሰብም ሆነ በሀገር ላይ የሚያሰከትለው ጉዳት ምንድነው ፣ ሙስናን እንዴት መከላከልና መዋጋት ይቻላል በሚሉ ጉዳዮች ላይ በማተኮር በዩኒቨርሲቲው መምህራን የተሰጠ ነው፡፡

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የማህበረሰብ ልማት ዳይሬክቶሬት ዳይሬክተር የሆኑት ዶ/ር አድማሱ ቦጋለ እንደተናገሩት ዩኒቨርሲቲው በማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ዘርፍ የአካባቢውን ማህበረሰብ ተጠቃሚ የሚያደርጉ በርካታ ስራዎችን እየሰራ እንደሚገኝና በተለይም በማህበረሰብ ልማት ዳይሬክቶሬት ስር ያለውን የተማረ የሰው ሐይል በማስተባበር በግብርና ፣ በትምህርት ፣ በጤናና በሌሎችም የአግልግሎት ዘርፎች ላይ ማህበረሰቡን ተጠቃሚ ሊደርጉ የሚችሉ በርካታ የአቅም ግናባታ ስልጠናዎችን እየሰጠ ይገኛል ፡፡

በዕለቱ የተሰጠው ስልጠናም በመሬት አስተዳደር ላይ የሚሰሩ ባለሞያዎች ከመሬት ጋር ተያይዞ አገልግሎት በሚሰጡበት ወቅት እራሳቸውን ከሙስና በመጠበቅ የተቀላጠፈ አገልግሎት ለተገልጋዮች ለመስጠት እንዲችሉ አቅም የሚፈጥርና እርስ በእስርም ልምድ ለመለዋወጥ እንዲችሉ እድል የሚሰጥ መድረክ እንደሆነም ዶ/ር አድማሱ ገልጸዋል፡፡

የስልጠናው ተካፋይ የሆኑት አቶ መሐመድ ዩሱፍ በበኩላቸው በማህበረሰቡ ዘንድ የመሬት ጉዳይ እጅግ አንገብጋቢ በመሆኑ በጥንቃቄና ፍትሀዊ በሆነ መልኩ አገልግሎት መስጠት አስፈላጊ እንደሆነ ጠቅሰው እንደዚህ ያሉ ስልጠናዎችም ባለሞያው ለሙስና ሊያጋልጡ ከሚችሉ አካሄዶችና አሰራሮች ተቆጥቦ የተጣለበትን ሀላፊነት እንዲወጣ ለማንቃትና ለማበረታታት እንዲሁም ተሞክሮዎችን ለመለዋወጥ ትልቅ አስተዋጾ የሚያደርጉ በመሆናቸው ተጠናክረው ሊቀጥሉ እንደሚገባ ተናግረዋል፡፡

Students are expected to have a well-developed understanding and command of English as they have been taking major subjects in English since Grade 9 and all the way to their university education. For this reason, it is crucial to work on and with students on their English mastery starting from earlier grades.

In line with this notion, Haramaya University’s Community Development Directorate in collaboration with School of Foreign Languages and Journalism gave a training for 40 teachers from the surrounding schools focusing on Classroom English and Active Learning Methods from December 24 to December 25, 2016.

On the training, 15 teachers were from Meta Woreda, 15 from Kersa Woreda higher and preparatory schools and 10 were from a new school around Finkile area in Haramaya Woreda; the teachers were all first time trainees.

Dr. Alemayehu Getachew, Head of the School of Foreign Languages and Journalism and one of the trainers, said many teachers have doubts on students’ understanding of subject matters when they switch from learning in their mother tongue to learning most subjects in English. Because of these, they continue on teaching in students’ mother tongue and tis create a gap when these students go to universities; they would have low level of language skill and would face difficulties in their learning. Working on and with students from earlier grades would be a good solution. This can not only be implemented by English teachers but by teachers who teach other basic courses in English too. Therefore, the training was given with the underlining notion “All subject teachers are English teachers.”

From the training attendees, teachers Rediet Mekonnen and Bedriya Mohammed said they have gained the skill in what kind of English to use and in what way, how to encourage students to speak in English in classrooms and how to use students’ mother tongue for course deliveries appropriately. These teachers also said, they have been teaching students in local languages instead of English but they have come now to the understanding that this has not been helping students. Through the skills they have taken from the training, they said, they would encourage students to develop their language skills.

Dr. Admasu, Community Development Directorate Director, said similar kind of trainings have been given to teachers from Harar and Haramaya towns and the University would give other trainings in the future so as to strengthen schools and teachers in the surrounding areas

የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ማዕከላዊ ፋይናንስ የሠራተኞቹን አቅም በማጎልበት ቀልጣፋ አገልግሎት ለመስጠት እንዲያስችለው ከ50 ለሚበልጡ የሂሳብ ባለሙያዎቹ ለሰባት ተከታታይ ቀናት ስልጠና ሰጠ፡፡

ስልጠናው የመንግስት ሂሳብ አያያዝ እንቅስቃሴን ለማዘመን እንዲቻል የአይቤክስ የፋይናንሽያል ማኔጅሜንት ሶፍትዌርን በመጠቀምና የሰለጠኑ የዘርፉ ባለሙያዎችን በማፍራት በጀትን በሚገባ ለማስተዳደር ፣ የተቋሙን ፋይናንስ የሚያሳዩ መዛግብቶችን በጥራት ለመያዝና መረጃቸውን ወደ ኤሌክትሮኒክስ የመረጃ ›ÁÁ´ ዘዴ በሚገባ ለመጠቀም እንዲችሉ የሚያስችል ነው፡፡
የአንድ ተቋም ሀብት በሚገባ ተይዞ ኢኮኖሚያዊ ብቃት ባለው አሰራር ለታለመለት ዓላማ ብቻ ሥራ ላይ እንዲውል የፋይናንስ መረጃው በዘመናዊ ቴክኖሎጂ መታገዝ እንዳለበት የዩኒቨርሲቲው ማዕከላዊ ፋይናንስ አስተባባሪ የሆኑት አቶ ይነበብ አለሙ ተናግረዋል፡፡

አቶ ይነበብ አያይዘው እንደገለጹት ስልጠናው በተቋሙ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ እንደተሰጠ ጠቅሰው የሂሳብ ባለሙያዎችን አቅም ከማጎለበት በተጨማሪ የመንግስት ገንዘብ ለተቀመጠለት ዓላማ ብቻ እንዲውል ለማድረግ የሚያግዝ ነው ብለዋል፡፡
የስልጠናው ተካፋዮችም ስልጠናው የፋይናንስ አሰራርን ግልጽ በሆነና ስታንዳርዱን በጠበቀ መልኩ በማካሄድ የተቀላጠፈ አገልግሎት ለመስጠት እንዲችሉ የሚረዳ እንደሆነ ተናግረዋል፡፡

ስልጠናው የተሰጠው ከገንዘብና ኢኮኖሚ ልማት ትብብር ሚኒስተር በመጡ ባለሙያተኞች ሲሆን በሁለት ዙር ሁሉም የፋይናንስ ባለሙያዎች እንዲሰለጥኑ ተደርጓል ፡፡

ኢትዮጵያ ለወተት ከብት እርባታ ምቹ የሆነ የአየር ንብረት ቢኖራትም በወተት ምርት እርባታ ግን ዝቅተኛ ከሚባሉ ሀገራት ተርታ ትገኛለች፡፡ ይህ የሆነበት ዋነኛ ምክንያትም የተመጣጠነ የመኖ አቅርቦት አለመኖር ፣ ሳይንሳዊ የሆነ የወተት ከብት አያያዝ እና የወተት አመራረት ዘዴዎችን በትክክል አለመከተል ናቸው፡፡ በመሆኑም የወተት ከብት አርቢዎች በሳይንሳዊ መንገድ በመታገዝ እንዲሰሩ ይጠበቃል፡፡

ከዚሁ ጋር ተያይዞ የሐረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የማህበረሰብ ልማት ስራዎች ዳይሬክቶሬት ከግብርናና ከአካባቢ ሳይንስ ት/ት ክፍል ጋር በመሆን ከሐረር ፣ ከአወዳይ ፣ ከሐረማያ እና ድሬዳዋ ከተሞች ለመጡ 80 በወተት እርባታ ስራ ላይ ለተሰማሩ ሰዎች ከታህሳስ 22 እሰከ 23/2009 ዓ.ም የተግባር ስልጠና ሰጥተዋል፡፡

የተግባር ስልጠናው በዋነኛነት በወተት ከብት መኖ አዘገጃጀት ፣ በወተት ከብቶች አያያዝ ፣ በወተት ከብት አረባብና በሰው ሰራሽ ማዳቀል ዘዴ ላይ በማተኮር የተሰጠ ሲሆን በተጨማሪም ሰልጣኞች የዩኒቨርሲቲውን የወተት ከብት እርባታ ጣቢያ በመጎብኘት በከብቶች የጤና አጠባበቅና አጠቅላላ አያያዝ ላይ ልምድ እዲቀስሙ ተደርጓል፡፡
የመርሐ ግብሩ አንድ ክፍል በሆነው የምክክር መድረክ ላይም የዩኒቨርሲቲው ሐላፊዎችና ባለሞያዎች በተገኙበት ዘርፉን ወደ ተሻለ ደረጃ ለማደረስ በቀጣይ በጋራ መሰራት ባለባቸው ጉዳዮች ላይ እንዲሁም ሰልጣኞች በነሷቸው ነጥቦች ላይ ሰፊ ምክክር ተደርጓል፡፡
“በሁለት ቀን ውስጥ ካገኘነው እውቀት አንጻር ዩኒቨርሲቲው ይህንን ስልጠና ለመስጠት ዘግይቶል ቢሆንም ግን ወደፊት ተቀራርቦ መስራት ይገባል ” ያሉት ሰልጣኞቹ ካሉባቸው መሰረታዊ ችግሮች ጋር አያይዘውም ” ዩኒቨርሲቲው በአቅራቢያችን የሚገኝ የምርምር ተቋም እንደመሆኑ እና በከብት እርባታ ላይም ልምድ የካበቱ ባለሞያዎች ያሉት በመሆኑ በተሰማራንበት ስራ ውጤታማ በመሆን ወደ ፊት እንዳንራመድ ማነቆ በሆኑብን የዘመናዊ እርባታ ዕውቀት ማነስ ፣ የመኖ ፣የእርባታ ጊደሮች ፤የመድሀኒትና የህክምና ባባለሞያ እጥረትና ጥራት ላይ ከፍተኛ ችግሮች ያሉብን በመሆኑ ዩኒቨርሲቲው ሊያግዘን ይገባል” ሲሉ ጥያቄያቸውን አቅረበዋል፡፡

በመድረኩ የተነሱ ጥያቄዎችን መሰረት በማድረግም የዩኒቨርሲቲው የማህበረሰብ አገልግሎትና ኢንተርፕራይዝ ልማት ም/ት ፕ/ት የሆኑት ፕሮፌሰር ከበደ ወ/ጻዲቅ ዩኒቨርሲቲው አቅሙ በፈቀደ መጠን የወተት ከብት አርቢዎቹ ያሉባቸውን ችግሮች ለመቅረፍ እንዲችሉ ከጎናቸው ቆሞ እንደሚሰራ ገልጸው በተለይም ከእንስሳት ጤና አጠባበቅና ከግንዛቤ እጥረት ጋር ተያይዞ ያሉ ችግሮችን ለመቅረፍ ለነሱም ሆነ በየአካባቢያቸው ላሉ የእስሳት ጤና ባለሞያዎች የአቅም ግንባታ ስልጠናዎችን በመስጠት እንደሚሰራ እና በቅርቡም ዩኒቨርሲቲው እያደራጀ ያለው ዘመናዊ የእንስሳት ህክምና ላብራቶሪ ተጠናቆ አገልግሎት መስጠት ሲጀምር በአካባቢው የሚታየውን የእንስሳት ጤና ችግር ለመቅረፍ ተጨማሪ አቅም እንደሚፈጥር ተናግረዋል፡፡

በተጨማሪም ሰልጣኞች ያነሷቸው ከዩኒቨርሲቲው ጋር የተያያዙም ሆኑ ከዩኒቨርሲቲው አቅም በላይ የሆኑ እና የዘርፉ ባለድርሻ አካላት በጋራ ሆነው ሊፈቷቸው የሚገቡ ጥያቄዎችን በተሸለ አቅምና አካሄድ ለመፍታት እንዲቻል በተናጥል ከሚደረጉ ጥረቶች ይልቅ ተደራጅቶ መንቀሳቀስ ችግሮቹን ለመፍታትም ሆነ በዘርፉ ላይ ተወዳዳሪና ብቁ ሆኖ ለመገኘት መደራጀት ተገቢና ከፍተኛ አስተዋጾ ያለው በመሆኑ እራሳቸውን በመዳራጀት መስራት እንደሚጠበቅባቸው ፕሮፌሰር ከበደ አመልክተዋል፡፡
የስልጠናው ተሳታፊዎችም በርግጥም ተደራጅቶ መስራት አማራጭ የሌለው እንደሆነና ዩኒቨርሲቲው በመደራጀቱ ሂደት ውስጥ ከጎናቸው ሆኖ የሚያግዛቸው ከሆነ እነሱ ተደራጅቶ ለመስራት ፍቃደኛ እንደሆኑ በመግለጻቸው ከስልጣኞችና ከዩኒቨርሲቲው ባለሞያዎች የተውጣጣ አስር አባላትን ያቀፈ አንድ ኮሚቴ ተቋቁሞ የማደራጀት ሂደቱን እንዲያመቻችና ቀጣይ መድረኮችን እንዲዘጋጅ ሀላፊት ተሰጥቶታል፡፡

በመጨረሻም ዩኒቨርሲቲው የወተት ከብት አርቢዎቹን ለማገዝ ከሚሰጠው የስልጠናና የእንስሳት ጤና ህክምና አገልግሎት በተጨማሪ አርቢዎቹ ያሉበትን ተጨባጭ ሁኔታ ቀጣይነት ባለው መልኩ መከታተልና ሞያዊ ድጋፍ መስጠት እንዳለበት በመታመኑ ይህንን ተግባር ሊያካሂድ የሚችል ከኒቨርሲቲው ሀላፊዎች እና ባለሞያዎች የተውጣጣ አንድ የክተትልና ድጋፍ ኮሚቴ በማቋቋም የምክክር መድረኩ ተጠናቋል፡፡

A stakeholders’ consultative workshop organized by Haramaya University in collaboration with Dry lands Coordination Group (DCG) was held in campus from December 30-31, 2016. The workshop was entitled ‘Potato Improvement, Production and Future Prospects in the Face of Climate Change in Ethiopia’.

As potato is the third important food in the world next to wheat and rice, and it should be given the attention it deserves in variety improvement and production. Contrary to scientific belief, farmers in marginal and venerable areas (midland, lowland) have been striving to domesticate and expand production of the crop because of its food security and income generating potential to smallholder farmers.

Despite government investment on potato research in the last 44 years, the nationally released potato varieties and local cultivars are less productive in the mid and low lands of the country, where there are frequent moisture and heat stresses. Therefore, developing potato varieties tolerant to drought and heat would enable not only to sustainably produce the crop in the highlands but also to expand its agro-ecology to the lowlands of the country. As a climate adaptation strategy, this would make the crop resilient to moisture stress and heat for improved yield to attain targeted food requirements.

A total of six speakers (senior researchers, academicians and scientists) addressed 12 different topics on potato improvement in the face of climate change at the workshop. The themes of the speakers were: DCG activities and achievements at HU, potato research improvement group of respective institutions, genetic gain of potato tuber yield, evaluation of climate resilient potato genotypes, agronomic research programme, participatory breeding programme with farmers, farmers perception view, disease and pest in the face of climate change, future national potato research strategies to address drought and heat prone areas, etc.

The participants of the workshops were representatives from universities, research centers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), farmers’ unions, zone and woreda agricultural offices, seed producers’ cooperatives and development agents.

The two-day event saw a plenary presentation and reflection on day one and field excursion on day two. During the discussion sessions, participants raised questions and comments pertinent to potato improvement and production in Ethiopia in general and eastern part in particular. The session went beyond seed sector and elaborations were made on the legal issues of genetic land race and species. ‘Lack of institutional innovation’ on genetic resources and species was identified as challenge for seed sector innovation during this session.

Another point made in the presentation was that most improved varieties are not on the hands of farmers. One reason for this is, according to the researchers, while breeders are working to improve the yield of potato varieties, farmers, on the other hand, look for other features in a variety such as cooking time, test, shelf life, short maturity, short dormancy duration, resistance to skinning and bruising, disease resistance, drought tolerance and texture when cooked. They suggested it would be beneficiary to researchers and farmers to do a participatory variety selection, whereby the farmers would be involved from the beginning before a variety is released.

The red spider mite (two-spotted spider mite) outbreak that was encountered last year was taken as a good learning opportunity for farmers and extension workers to be very cautious when bringing seed from institutions/sources. Insects/mites that were not threatening the seed source areas might turn to be serious in a different agro-ecology. The researchers said the identification of the outbreak is the first of its kind in the country.

One thing that stunned the audience was the experience where farmers were forced to sell 150kg of potato for a price of 100kg. The market uncertainty has forced farmers to sell more production for less money.

On day-two, delegates and workshop participants visited the irrigation potato Seed Producers Cooperatives (SPC) site in Haji Faji, Kersa district. Farmers from different woredas (about 80 male and 37 female) and stakeholders which comprises, researchers, university, NGOs, Unions, zone and woreda agriculture and cooperative promotion offices were participated on field day experience sharing visit on potato seed production practices, seed storage, exhibition on different potato varieties and food preparation from potato, Enormous success stories recorded so far by SPC including organizational, financial and record keeping, production and multiplication, and value addition, food preparation and processing etc. were visited.

Mr. Alemayehu Assefa, HU- ISSD farmers Organization expert facilitated the session. The discussion was chaired deligated from Haramaya University, Fedis woreda Administration office, AfranKallo Farmers Cooperative Union and Watar town administration. Different questions and reflection were conducted after the visit. The participants appreciated the visit as it had helped them to be acquainted with different materials, practices and techniques they did not know before.

Representatives from Haji Faji district raised the issue of market uncertainty they face and the support they need on pesticide from the University. Reflections were given by University representatives.