The Ministry of Agriculture will lab test a new and improved local chicken breed called ‘Horo’ in the next few months. If they succeed it will mean a breakthrough in Ethiopian poultry production. ‘Horo’ is a potential disease-resistant breed of chicken that lays more eggs. Currently the pure, local Ethiopian chickens hatch a maximum of 60 eggs per year.
However, ‘Horo’, which is a hybrid of five local breeds like ‘Gebsema’ and ‘Melata’ is capable of hatching 180 eggs per year, over three times the local pure breed hen.
The birds will be tested over 30 weeks. The Ministry has established two systems – on-station and on-farm – to check their day-to-day growth, life span and survival trend. Horo is good for meat and eggs and could reduce dependency on imported, high quality, chickens from Brazil and the Netherlands.
Multiple improved breeds and strains of chickens will be tested to see if they have the potential for high-production under low-input systems. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding the project.
Tsigereda Fikadu, Poultry Development Director at the Ministry of Agriculture said “We are particular about genetic chickens because we are convinced beyond a doubt that they posses attributes that make them suitable for performance both under stationed or scavenging situations. They are chickens that are driven by science, technology, innovation and industry. We want to have our own local breeds that will give us similar results to the Sasso breed from France and Kuroiler breed from India. We have to do more research to get better results and for now we have started with ‘Horo’ and we will continue making improvements from there ‘’
Demeke Wondemagen, Ethiopian Poultry Producers and Processers Association (EPPPA) President said the ‘Horo’ experiment is good news but more work should be done to preserve the local breed.
“The global world is in competition and our local breeds that hatch only 60 eggs are ignored on the local market so we need to conduct extensive research to get the best local breeds that can produce a great deal of eggs throughout the year.”
According to a 2013 Central Statistical Agency report, Ethiopia has about 50.38 million cockerels, pullets, laying hens, non-laying hens and chickens.
From a total of 60 million chickens only 18 million hatch eggs. Traditional farmers raise 94 percent of Ethiopian poultry. There were 1.4 billion eggs produced last fiscal year.
‘Horo’ Doro could scramble Ethiopia’s egg market
Turkish Cargo to start flying to Addis
Turkish Airlines, which recently moved its airport from Ataturk to Istanbul, will begin flying cargo planes to Addis Ababa.
Turkish flies to 56 African destinations which is the second highest next to Ethiopian and their desire to increase their market in Africa even further. Company officials who met with Ethiopian journalists at the Istanbul headquarters stated that Africa remains the priority for Turkish Airlines, as the air carrier expands to all four corners of the world. They said that aviation would continue growing in the future and Turkish would grow more than the global trend.
As of April 6 the airlines began using the newly built ultra modern Istanbul Airport replacing their older hub at Ataturk Airport.
Once completed in 2027, the Istanbul airport is expected to be the busiest airport in the world with six runways and four terminals that can accommodate 200 million passengers a year.
Tuncay Eminoglu, Vice President for Asia and Far East at Turkish Airlines says they have gone from 162 planes and 3 million passengers in 2003 to 515 aircraft and 30 million passengers in 2018. In the decade between 2008 and 2018 they experienced a passenger growth rate of 12.8 percent, three times the world’s average.
By 2023 Turkish hopes to serve 140 million passengers. Currently, according to 2017 International Air Transport Association (IATA) statistics the Airline serves the 17th highest number of flyers in the world but according to Eminoglu, by 2032 they expect to be in the top ten. The IATA forecasted in 2018, that China, the US, India and Indonesia would be the fastest growing countries in terms of passengers.
Turkey is rapidly transporting more passengers and cargo so the new airport will be able to serve the highest number of passengers in the world, park 500 planes, feature 500 check-in points and accommodate 143 boarding bridges. The 700,000sqm airport will also have the largest maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) in the world.
At the new airport the aviation firm manages three run ways and they expect to serve 90 million passengers this year and carry 2.5 million tons of cargo. The project has three phases and each phase will increase cargo capacity by 5.5 million tons. By the end of the project the number of passengers would double to 200 million. The company officials explained that by 2025, the aviation sector will contribute 4.9 percent to the GDP and 225,000 jobs. When the airport is finished it will have six runways and four terminals.
Istanbul, which attracts tourists from around the world with its vast historic and cultural heritages and natural location that divides Europe with Asia.
In 2017 the country was visited by 40 million tourists, the seventh most in the world.
Medical waste disposal center still inactive
The absence of proclamation is delaying the disposal of medical waste even though one of the eight medical waste incineration centers in Adama inaugurated.
Ethiopia finished building the Adama medical waste disposal facility for medicine and clinical waste some months ago; however, it is unable to begin operating as the Federal Drug and Medicine Administration (FDMA) has not mandated the disposal of medicine and medical equipment by proclamation.
“FDA is not bestowed any mandate given by proclamation to dispose medical waste,” said Adina Berie Communication Director of the Administration.
These waste disposal centers are financed by Global Fund and managed by United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and delivered to the Pharmaceutical Fund & Supply Agency upon completion.
The recently inaugurated Adama incineration center will have a capacity of burning 1,000kg of medical waste an hour, while the others will burn 500kg of waste an hour.
Medical waste disposal facilities are also installed in, Mekele, Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, Neqemte, Hawasa and the city of Dire Dawa with a total investment of 440 million Br. They have a capacity of working for 20 hours to burn pharmaceutical waste, drugs, and soon clinical waste.
Studies made by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute in 2018 suggest that waste generated at healthcare facilities needs an adequate and appropriate management mechanism before disposal, including all activities involved in the waste generation, segregation, transportation, storage, treatment and final disposal.
Nationally, 32.6pc of the health facilities store medical waste in a covered container, and about 27pc of health facilities save it in another protected environment. The remaining 40pc of health facilities store their medical waste in unprotected areas, the study explains.
The study also found that 94pc of the health facilities burn medical waste, but only 42 percent use a standard incinerator. The remaining facilities practice open-air incineration.
“The administration is working with the concerned bodies to formulate the necessary legal procedures to make the center active, she said.
SCIENTISTS IN SOUND
“…what came first?” Dr. Mulatu Astatke
“Desiye, we have to do this…for Africa for the world to know of Ethiopia’s contributions to music…we must respect the Bush People…we are the Scientists in Sound…”. This sentence began a five-week uphill journey for the Father of Ethio-Jazz, Dr. Mulatu Astatke and I, though it felt more like a barefoot climb up a steep stony mountain for us both, but that’s another story, maybe even a book or movie LOL. The composer’s love of country and continent, expressed though his music, proved to be a powerful unstoppable force and I am honored he entrusted me to administer and curate his epic vision.
Bob sings, “Hit me with music, when it hits you feel no pain…” and according to the Marley metaphor, we were beautifully brutalized and treasured every bit. I confidently speak for the hundreds in town for the World Press Freedom Day, amongst others gathered at Addis Abeba City Hall Mehzehgahjah bet bearing audio and visual witness. The fusion of frequencies realized through the syncopation of organic polyrhythms with contemporary compositions on indigenous and electrified instruments took us on a journey through time and space to the substratum of instrumentation and the future of jazz, simultaneously. The Self-proclaimed Scientist in Sound, rightly so according to his Harvard and MIT collaborators on his various theories, shared his laboratory for a full 90 minute concert upon the invitation of UNESCO for International Jazz Day.
The show began with a softly lit stage, against a large original backdrop by renown Ethiopian Artist Merid Tafesse, designed by Birhan Tonge, with a platform front and center holding Dr. Mulatu’s vibraphone and his tightly tuned conga drums and a host of percussions flanking the mellow jazz god. The sound of his key instrument filled the house, the acoustics were sweet in the JonHoi built theater, giving off a reverent vibe. A couple tunes in the mood began to crescendo into a fusion of funkiness. No other words can describe the ear experience not to mention the optics of the convergence of history and the future. The light trusses began to swivel spreading bright red and white lights across the stage, accenting the movement of the Dorsey in a choreography with half a dozen chanting elderly women dressed in white Habesha libs; juxtaposed to the men attired in their familiar red, gold and black woven fabric, flying like wings of a large bird across the stage during their high leaps and hunting gestures. And just when you think it can’t get crazier, in a jazz kind o’ way, the virtuoso invites visiting Mozambican saxophonist, Moreira Chonguica to join him on stage for an impromptu solo, where the famous musician blared the smoothest African jazz straits right into the heads and hearts of the audience. WOW! Dr. Mulatu was happy to have his newly met musical son join him and the bush people on stage.
Then as Dr. Mulatu schools if not diplomatically scolds the audience of international cultural representatives on the origins of contemporary instruments, asking rhetorically “what came first?” He continues the musical treat with half a dozen cocoa complexioned young men who glowed beautifully in white cotton robes as they huddled in a circle to the left of the conductor’s vibraphone, with indigenous Gamo horns and a sole k’rar, creating sounds that mimic nature such as powerful winds, lion’s roars and camel exhalations, merging perfectly with rhythmic jazz background in another brilliant composition by the Maestro. Then the stage exploded with another dozen Zumbara including two young sisters holding soprano range vocals and calabash shakers. The genius composer created a propulsive rhythm in a flawless harmonious cacophony of sound with up t0 2.5 meter long traditional horns made from myriad organic materials, taking us into a strange new world. You could see everyone wanted to jump to their feet in celebration of the Scientists in Sounds. As I watched to ensure all was well on stage I asked myself how is this sound so futuristic yet so ancient? Why don’t we all know about this yet we know about Beethoven and Bach? Seriously?! SMH.
In closing all I can say is it was a tremendous display of African jazz genius and we give thanks to all the lovers of music, Mulatu and Mother Africa who came to the rescue including Gesh Zerihoun Tecle, Webe Shebelle Hotel, RIDE and Coke. The Pan African Poster Child in Jazz, Gesh Mulatu, has stood firm and proud as an Ethiopian musician for five decades, continuously inventing and unearthing styles of sounds carried across the water centuries ago, resurrected as jazz in the African Diaspora. He pays homage to Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Miles Davis and countless others with counterparts Tony Allen, Hugh Masakela and Manu Diabango who he recognizes as Brothers in the lab. Dr. Mulatu, we thank you for revealing melodic truths to the world with an unapologetic message asserting pride in origin and identity.
Dr. Desta Meghoo is a Jamaican born Creative Consultant, Curator and cultural promoter based in Ethiopia since 2005. She also serves as Liaison to the AU for the Ghana based, Diaspora African Forum.
