Background: In Ethiopia, farm households engage and pursue diverse off-farm and non-farm livelihood activities to cope with diverse challenges such as drought. Due to the unstable and meagre agricultural context of the study area, farm income alone could not feed the ever increasing population. Without adopting context based livelihood diversification strategies; the challenge it presents could neither meet nor attain household food security and improve livelihood security. The objective of the study was to analyse the determinants of livelihood diversification strategies among rural households in Eastern Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Methods: Multistage sampling technique was used in selecting the study sites and 485 sample respondents. Data were triangulated with information collected using focus group discussion and key informants interview to draw qualitative conclusion. Results: Majority (83.1%) of the farmers were able to diversify their livelihoods into either off-farm or non-farm or combined income activities, whereas the remaining 16.91% of the households were unable to diversify; often lacking the means to engage in any form of income-generating activity apart from agricultural activities. Results of the multinomial logistic regression model revealed that households choice and adoption of livelihood diversification strategies were positively affected by households level of education, access to credit, income, membership to cooperatives, land size, and farm input use, whereas age, dependency ratio, family size, access to extension services, distance to market, livestock ownership and agro-ecology negatively affected. Conclusions: Diversification into non-farm activities plays a significant role in the context of inadequate and rainfed-dependent agricultural income households. Households who diversified their livelihood activities are the ones who able to build better asset and less vulnerable than the undiversified ones. Smallholder farmers' food security and livelihood improvement can only be realized if the government give due attention and put the right policy measures in place that support non-farm livelihood diversification as part of national job creation for saving life of many people and better livelihood.

Climate change has been significantly affecting smallholder farmer's livelihood and food security. However, efforts to support farmer adaptation are hampered by the lack of scientific and context based evidences. Hence, this paper identified the major adaptation strategies to climate change (CC) and analysed the determinants of adoption of adaptation strategies to climate change in Eastern Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Three-stage sampling technique was used to select the study sites and sample households. Copies of 485 questionnaires were administered and complemented with data from focus group discussion and key informant interviews. Results of the descriptive analysis identified that use of soil and water conservation practices, planting trees, improved crop seeds, irrigation and use of non-farm income generating activities are the most utilized adaptation strategies to climate change. Results of the multinomial logistic regression (MNL) revealed that households' adaptation to climate change was found positively and significantly affected by education, livestock holding, cooperatives membership, extension services, farmers income and households perception to climate change. On the contrary, age of the household head, distance to market and agro-ecology were found negatively and statistically affecting smallholder farmers adoption of adaptation strategies to climate change. Thus, public policy on climate change adaptation need to take into account local people's resource base and their lifelong outlooks so as to reduce the potential drawbacks of climate change on farmers' livelihood.

No abstract

The rich biodiversity repository of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is under severe threat from diverse sources such as deforestation, inadequate farming practices, invasive alien species, urbanization and oil and gas exploration and development activities. This biodiversity "hot spot" is the second most sensitive environment in Africa. The over 70 Protected Areas (PAs) here have lost substantial portions of their area which translates to loss of biodiversity. The need to select representative sites within each of the ecological zones of the region for eVective and sustainable biodiversity conservation is, therefore, essential. Vital site criteria that have ecological, socio-economic and cultural dimensions were selected and assessed through a combination of relevant scientiWc information, indigenous traditional knowledge and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) to yield Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs).They are signiWcantly diVerent from the site selection criteria and principles used in the UK and to a large extent adopt the critical factors that underscore biodiversity conservation in a largely primary production based economy such as in much of the developing world. The three sites selected for biodiversity conservation through this process yielded not only community buy-in but also participatory action and ownership, which are critical for the sustainability of the biodiversity conservation eVorts. Shell Nigeria and World Wide Fund (WWF) representatives are already concluding plans to commence eVective conservation projects in the selected sites. This approach is hereby advocated for consideration and adoption for the preservation of the remaining stock of the unique biodiversity in developing countries.

Nigerian standard for drinking water quality 2007 emphasized that all water service providers including State Water Agencies and Community Water Committees shall develop a water safety plan. This ensures the minimization of contamination of water supply from source, reduction or removal of contamination through treatment processes and prevention of contamination during storage, distribution and handling of drinking water. The aim of this study is to explain the meaning of water safety plan and highlight its importance including the ways it can be employed to achieve enhanced piped distribution of drinking water of good quality. The assessment of its level of development in Nigeria, the extent it can be employed to improve the present low health status of Nigerian urban populace, as well as its implication to general urban development in the country were discussed. It is concluded that an articulate and urgent water safety plan are necessary for the sustainability of urban water supply.