Podoconiosis is a non-infectious geo-chemical disease caused by exposure of bare feet to red clay soil derived from volcanic rocks. In Ethiopia, 1 million people suffer with the disease. It affects the physical condition (disability and deformity) of patients and also the social and economic status of affected individuals. Studies conducted in endemic countries clearly stated that there is stigmatization in the family and in general in the community. This consequences mental distress in affected individual. Besides, individuals affected economically: they cost for treatment and mainly they loss their productivity potential. These results financial crisis individually and aggravate poverty in the society. This review intends to address the social exclusion and economic impact of podoconiosis in Ethiopia.

Background Moringa stenopetala belongs to the flowering family Moringaceae and genus Moringa. It is often referred to as the East African Moringa tree because it is native only to southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The expansion of its cultivation and utilization throughout the world especially in Africa is becoming important. For such expansion, the existing propagation method is limiting, so it needs a good propagation system to supply enough planting material with a uniform genotype. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to optimize an in vitro shoot multiplication protocol for M. stenopetala by using shoot tip as explants. Results Shoots were sterilized and cultured on Muraghige and Skoog (MS) medium for in vitro shoot initiation. For multiple shoot induction, the explants were cultured on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of kinetin (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 mg/L) with Indole-3- butyric acid (IBA) or α -naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (0.01, 0.1, 0.5 mg/L) and maintained at 25 ± 2 °C for four weeks. Rooting was achieved by culturing well developed shoots in half-strength MS medium containing IBA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mg/L), NAA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mg/L), and 0.5 mg/L IBA with NAA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mg/L). Statistical analysis revealed that there was a significant difference among all treatments applied in both shoot multiplication and rooting experiments. The maximum number of shoots per explant (3.43 ± 1.41) and 7.97 ± 4.18 leaves per explant were obtained on MS medium containing 0.5 mg/L kinetin with 0.01 mg/LNAA. The highest mean number of roots per shoot (1.63 ± 1.03) and mean root length (0.87 ± 1.22 cm) were obtained on MS medium containing 1.0 mg/LNAA and 0.1 mg/LIBA alone respectively. After acclimatization, 76% of plants were survived in the greenhouse. Conclusion In general, using NAA with kinetin for shoot multiplication was effective than kinetin with IBA. On the other hand, the application of 1.0 mg/L NAA alone and 1.0 mg/L NAA with 0.5 mg/L IBA were more effective for root induction.

Background: Moringa stenopetala is belongs to flowering family Moringaceae and genus Moringa. It is often referred to as the East African Moringa tree because it is native only to southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The expansion of its cultivation and utilization throughout the world especially in Africa is becoming important. For such expansion, the existing propagation method is limiting, so it needs good propagation system to supply enough planting material with uniform genotype. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to optimize an in vitro shoot multiplication protocol for M. stenopetala by using shoot tip as explants. Results: Shoots were sterilized and cultured on Muraghige and Skoog (MS) medium for in vitro shoot initiation. For multiple shoot induction, the explants were cultured on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of kinetin (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 mg/l) along with Indole-3- butyric acid (IBA) or α -naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (0.01, 0.1, 0.5mg/l) and maintained at 25 ± 2°C for four weeks. Rooting was achieved by culturing well developed shoots in half strength MS medium containing IBA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mg/l), NAA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mg/l) and 0.5 mg/l IBA in combination with NAA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mg/l). Statistical analysis revealed that there was significant difference among all treatments applied in both shoot multiplication and rooting experiments. Maximum number of shoots per explant (3.43±1.41) and 7.97±4.18 leaves per explant were obtained on MS medium containing 0.5 mg/l kinetin in combination with 0.01mg/l NAA. The highest mean number of roots per shoot (1.63±1.03) and mean root length (0.87±1.22 cm) were obtained on MS medium containing 1.0 mg/l NAA and 0.1 mg/l IBA alone respectively. After acclimatization, 76% plants survived in greenhouse. Conclusions: In general, using NAA along with kinetin for shoot multiplication was better than kinetin along with IBA and application of NAA alone at concentration of 1.0 mg/l and 1.0 mg/l NAA along with 0.5 mg/l IBA were more effective for root induction.