Poverty Ethiopia Growth

Poverty Ethiopia Growth Ethiopia has poor infrastructure, persistent food insecurity, and tough government bureaucracy, one of Africas worst AIDS epidemics, no stock market, weak entrepreneurial tradition, poor internet connections and uneasy labor relations. And it lives in tough neighborhood alongside countries such as war-torn Sudan, Somalia and Kenya. In the global race for investment dollars, conventional wisdom might place poverty-stricken Ethiopia among the worlds bleakest prospects. Its comparative advantage is poverty and cheap labor. Ethiopia is developing country. The level of growth is very poor and slow, and isnt improving nowadays. This poor country continues to face complex economic problems as one of the poorest and least developed countries in Africa. Its Economy is based chiefly on agriculture and weather plays major factor in success rates. The growth is not so much attractive and doesnt look very hopeful. Modern industry bears from under investment, shortages of raw material and poor management. Standard of Living: The GNP of Ethiopia is 113 per capita, being extremely low, and intolerable for any form of adequate survival. (Roberts, 2000) The level of living in turn is substantially low. Major cities tend to be slightly better than other areas, but not by much. The primary Industry of Ethiopia is Agriculture, employing roughly 85% of the countrys workers. The rest of the working population is broken down to 10% in service industries, and the final 5% in manufacturing. There are approximately 9 main natural resources and 1 raw material found in abundance in Ethiopia. Two fourth of the power is supplied through hydroelectricity, making Ethiopia one of modern and least dependent on outside sources of energy in Africa. Country has also narrow-gauge railways, seaports, and National highways that connect major population hub in the central plateau and Eritrea. This is only small portion of Ethiopias transportation systems. Many parts of this poor country are made up of unpaved or uncrossable tracks, making transportation slow and useless. The ratio of people to automobiles is 810:1. The labor involved is monotonous and backbreaking. Workers are being paid low for their work, and are typically situated in inadequate working facilities. Purchas ing markets are few and not good enough to buy cloth etc. Ethiopias capital is very low, and they do receive foreign aid and tariffs. Poverty and Domestic Issues Ethiopias chronic poverty is largely due to high population growth and poor economic performance, exacerbated by mismanagement, conflict and drought. During 1981-91, population grew at nearly 3 per cent per year as compared to economic growth of 1.7 per cent and increase in agricultural production of 0.9 per cent. Between 1978/9 and 1988/9, per-capita food grain production dropped from 200kg to about 150kg, while food imports increased from 178,200 tons to 1,460,400 tons, with relief aid amounting to 70 per cent of the total (ESRDF, 1995: 3). The causes included policy distortions; state grain monopolies and constraints on internal trade; land degradation; low use of agricultural technology; and recurrent drought. Domestic conflict and insecurity played key role, both directly and indirectly. The states huge military expenditure and lack of development assistance constrained development of water resources for irrigation and power essential components of increased food security and poverty reduction in the Ethiopian situation. The Effects Of Complex Economic Emergency And Interventions major cost of conflict and economic mismanagement under the Derg regime, was the exacerbation of chronic poverty and problems of drought and famine. By 1984, Tigray region was roughly divided into two parts: towns and surrounding areas remained under government control, while rural areas were largely under the TPLF (Hendrie, 1994: 127). In rural areas people lived strong-minded with new hopes. Residents of government-held towns depended on food brought in by truck convoys from the south. People in TPLF areas lost access to towns with grain markets disaster for poor households dependent on these markets for access to food. The central governments counter-insurgency strategy directly targeting the civilian population was, with drought, major ca-use of the chronic humanitarian crisis of the mid-1980s (Hendrie, 1999: 65). One aspect of this was the launching of ground offensives against those parts of western Tigray still producing grain surplus (ibid.). The offensives targeted civilian economies and coping mechanisms and aimed to destroy the support base of opposition movements. The consequences were famine and asset depletion, making rehabilitation difficult and leading to chronic and recurrent emergency. Economy And Development Following 17 years of the Derg dictatorship and devastating wars, Ethiopias society and economy was in ruins. More than 400,000 demobilized soldiers and their families were largely destitute, as were up to one million people displaced in ethnic conflicts that flared up after the fall of the Derg. There were thousands of Ethiopians, including long-term residents, evicted from Eritrea; hundreds of thousands returning from exile in neighboring countries; and thousands forced by new conflicts to flee areas where they had been resettled. In May 1991, the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) inherited ruined economy and massive debts from 17 years of Derg misrule. An early action of the new regime was to issue charter for the transitional period, indicating the new political direction, with the national question at the centre of the impending political transformation. In November 1991, it followed up with policy paper outlining the economic policy of the transitional period and major principles of moving towards market economy, creating an environment conducive to investment, and rehabilitating the war-torn economy. With donor assistance, the TGE set up an Emergency Recovery and Reconstruction Program (ERRP) for economic revival together with macroeconomic reform program. This helped to stabilize the economy by dismantling the military regimes centrally planned economic system, restoring Ethiopias competitive position through exchange-rate devaluation, and opening up opportunities for private investment, leading to renewed growth in the industrial and service sectors. This was the prelude to substantial structural adjustment program (SAP) and comprehensive policy framework (1992) outlining major reforms agreed between the TGE, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). This led to reform package with three overlapping phases: stabilization, structural reform and further structural reform, with the first phase focused on tighter fiscal and monetary policies and adjusting exchange rates. The social impact of the SAP was reflected in its effect on incomes, prices, the availability of essential services and high urban unemployment. Reduced extraction of resources from the rural sector meant less to support the centre, particularly the major urban sector of government employment, which was drastically reduced by the SAP. The Ethiopian Social Rehabilitation Fund (ESRF), later called the Ethiopian Social Rehabilitation and Development Fund (ESRDF), was established in June 1992 to help address these problems. It has since played significant role in rehabilitating basic services, supporting income generation and reducing poverty for the poorest sectors of society. The governments development strategy aims to reduce poverty through combination of sustained economic growth, improved basic social services and targeted measures to improve incomes, self-reliance and quality of life for the poorest groups and communities. Increased participation of primary stakeholders is seen as essential to all these areas (ESRDF, 1995: 4). It also emphasizes womens participation in development planning and implementation. By 1994 the extent of poverty was reduced to 49 per cent with 21 per cent consumption gap (Dercon and Krishnan, 1998). later study by the Addis Ababa and Goteborg universities indicates marginal decrease of urban poverty between 1994-7 from 41 to 39 per cent (Tafesse, 2000). government poverty report based on 1995/6 household surveys, put the level of poverty at 45 per cent (47 rural households; 33 urban households). There have been decisive moves towards trade liberalization, reducing import duties and privatizing state enterprises. Govern ment policy calls for an increased role for the private sector, although progress has been slow. The principal obstacles continue to include elements of the government bureaucracy, together with the land policy and lack of infrastructure. From the above discussion it can be concluded that the future of Ethiopia is dark. Due to lack of economic opportunities or no proper planning the economic life is below poverty level. The failure to produce sufficient food for its existed population still builds mass hunger. The rulers of this country do not appear to be thinking any planning of future, making chances of development almost expected. References Dercon and Krishnan (1998) Changes in Rural Poverty in Ethiopia, 1989-95. World Bank Discussion Paper. Cited in G. Tafesse (ed.) The Dynamics of Poverty in Ethiopia. Paper presented at the Symposium for Reviewing Ethiopias Socioeconomic Performance 19911999, Addis Ababa, 26-9 April. ESRDF (1995) Ethiopian Social Rehabilitation and Development Fund project document, 28 December. Hendrie, B. (1994) Relief Aid Behind the Lines: The Cross-Border Operation in Tigray. In J. Macrae and . Zwi (eds.) War and Hunger. Zed Books and Save the Children UK, London. Hendrie, B. (1999) Local Effects of Revolutionary Reform in Tigray Village, Northern Ethiopia. Ph.D. thesis, University College, London. Roberts, N. (2000) World Bank Strategy in Ethiopia. Paper presented to the Symposium for Reviewing Ethiopias Socioeconomic Performance 1991-1999, 26-9 April, Addis Ababa. Tafesse, G. (2000) The Dynamics of Poverty in Ethiopia. Paper presented to the Symposium for Reviewing Ethiopias Socioeconomic Performance 1991-1999, April 26-9. Addis Ababa.

Disagreements Between Experts in Natural Sciences

What are disagreements? Often an image of an argument between friends or spouses is associated with this word. However, this is very stereotypical because the word can have many interpretations. Disagreements occur in forms other than between individuals. For example, the argument between religion and atheism is a disagreement between two schools of thoughts, and the conflict between the scientist and the public on global warming is a disagreement between two communities of people. These disagreements sometimes narrow our perspective on the issue at hand.It prevents us to see the world with an open-mind to try and work through the conflict. Although this is true, can disagreements aid the pursuit of knowledge? To what extend does disagreements in natural and human sciences aid the pursuit of knowledge? In what ways are the pursuits of knowledge different in human and natural sciences? Human sciences study and interpret experiences, activities, constructs, and artifacts associated wit h humans. While natural science gives us insight into the world with the lack of the â€Å"human factor†.Although the human science is generally known to be less â€Å"scientific†, due to the fact that not all variables can be controlled, it is by no means the lesser of the two areas of knowledge. But because of this added â€Å"human factor†, the results from human science experiments normally have a larger deviation from the mean. This means more trials and larger sample sizes are required to overcome this disadvantage. Is there a difference between the disagreements in human and natural sciences? Some theories in human sciences are asserted without a way to disprove it.An example of a theory that is not able to be falsified is Freud’s theory on the ego-superego-id structure of human behavior. Any story could be made up about a patient to explain their psychological problems through the basis of ego, superego, and id, but it does not prove the cause of the disorder. Human science theories in general posit some facts about the internal behavior of an individual based on their outward behavior, and then predict future actions on the basis of the internal facts. We have now disproved Freudian psychology, because it is highly unlikely.But have we really disproved it? The fact that ego, superego, and id do not relate to anything definite prevents scientists to study each individually, thus there is no way to prove or disprove the theory. These unfalsifiable theories lead to a list of theories that could be true, but could not be proven true or false. This prevents the elimination of wrong theories; instead we mark them as â€Å"unlikely†. How do we know which theory to accept as the truth? Thus, a disagreement between two theories in the human sciences can never be resolved with hard evidence.It is rather resolved by weighing the likeliness of the prospect, a very unscientific way to gain support. This is the reason it is harder to reach the truth through the process used by the human sciences. However, this does not mean knowledge cannot be gained from disagreements in human sciences. In fact, it is easy to gain knowledge of trends in observed data, but it is extremely hard to reach the right conclusion based off the data. Theories in natural sciences are known for their falsifiability.They are created to encompass the evidences already present, instead of inferring evidences based on the theories as mentioned in some cases in the human sciences. When there is a disagreement between two theories in the natural science, although there is not always a definite â€Å"winner†, there are always definite â€Å"losers†. If the theory can give an explanation for all of the evidence then it wins a temporary victory. I say temporary because new evidences can emerge that the old theory does not encompass. This is the way to falsify a theory.For example, Newton’s law of gravitation was supplanted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity when it failed explain the motion of extremely small and extremely large objects. It is when none of the theories provide an explanation for the evidences that we can continue the pursuit of knowledge. Science makes progress precisely because there are disagreements. Without these internal conflicts, science does not renew its basis, and is cold and dead. Just because during the disagreement a theory came out as the â€Å"loser†, does not mean the theory is discarded forever.A â€Å"loser† can undergo small modifications to provide an improved fit to the evidence. Theories might be defeated now but later come out as the new winner. As a scientifically minded individual, I understand that I should not always trust the current paradigms in science. I learned that just a century ago we did not believe that we could land on the moon. Looking back at it now, this belief was absurd. We landed on the moon only sixty-six years after the Wright Brothers. This is the reason as a student I enjoy intentionally creating disagreements when it comes to scientific concepts.These healthy competitions between scientific ideas are what weeds out the weak hypotheses from the strong ones. In the long run, this ability to falsify is what leads humans to discover knowledge and uncover the truth. So in the case of natural science, disagreement leads to a truth to the best of the knowledge at the time. Disagreements in science do not only occur in the form of conflicts between theories. Scientists often produce controversial discoveries that the general public do not want to accept. Why is it in our human nature to resist change?Most of the time change leads to knowledge, but it is almost like we are trying to protect ourselves from the facts. For example, there are many people out there that deny global warming. This is due to the fact that the media puts the spotlight on the controversial scientists that are mostly con fined to non-participants in global climate science. Since their theories are often not published in the scientific journals, they resort to the media to gain support for their ideas. Their poorly evidential theories gain support from the public because most of them trust these â€Å"experts†.I know I stated before that we should never regard anything as impossible, but this is absurd because the theories are asserted without evidence. People are against putting funds to resolve this â€Å"fake† problem, thus prohibits the pursuit of knowledge. Can we ever assert anything without evidence in science? According to the scientific method, an inductive method, any statements must start with observations and evidences in nature. Based on the scientific method, nothing can be asserted without evidence. But the scientific method is only exclusively used in a perfect world, or when you are in elementary school through high school.In the real world of science many researchers d o not follow the scientific method to a tee. They are able to assert a falsifiable statement instead of a hypothesis before their research, and during their research will try to disprove their statement. Although I believe this opens the results to a lot of conformational bias, it is widely used in the scientific community. Disagreements in science do not only occur in the professional field. Many students seek the pursuit of knowledge through classroom discussions. In biology class this year, we were talking about telomeres. I asked Mr.Creighton â€Å"If we age because our cells chop off the ends of our DNA after each replication, how can we produce sperm and eggs which create a baby with young DNA? † This question led to a whole class discussion on the theories of aging. Although there were many disagreements, at the end of the class period, I found myself to have a better understand of the process of aging and cellular division. If the whole class decided that the cutting of telomere was the only theory to the process of aging, then there would not have been arguments, and I would not have gained any new knowledge.Disagreements come in many forms. From verbal arguments to all-out war, disagreements permeate our society. Most of the time they are known to reverse the pursuit of knowledge because it closes the participant’s mind to further ideas, but disagreements in science are different. Scientists understand that their ideas improve with the criticism of their peers, and that is the only way science can advance. However, this does not mean that all disagreements in science promote the pursuits of knowledge, because there are certainly different forms of disagreements in science.Disagreements in humans sciences tend to create a deadlock because none of the ideas can be disproved. The deadlock can be only solved through â€Å"popularity† contests. This can be easily demonstrated in politics. Politicians claim that their policies are the best for the United States. Since there are no ways to disprove them, they are selected mostly depending how they are viewed by the public. Disagreements can occur between two scientists and their theories or ideas, this is constructive because it allows mutual aid to improve their hypotheses. But some disagreements in science can be unconstructive.This is especially true when the public is misinformed and actively prevent the pursuit of knowledge. The public has a need to know the truth. I believe people have to be able to think for themselves and be able to identify pseudo-science from real science. They have to able to identify demagogues from people who are trying to create a better future. Does science have an absolute truth? I do not think so. Science is not a religion, but an instrument for people who want to discover the world through an organized fashion. I appreciate its willingness to entertain disagreements to pursue knowledge.

Gautama Buddha Essay

The celebration of Wesak which is the annual ritual celebrating the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death (parinirvana), provides an opportunity for adherents to reflect on the Buddha’s life and teaching. The Wesak festival is extremely important to the Buddhist adherent and the Buddhist community. The Wesak festival or Buddha’s Day celebrates the birthday of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who was to become Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The Wesak festival is a time for devotion and remembering the important aspects of the teachings of Buddhism. Wesak is a holy day for Buddhists in many countries such as Tibet, Cambodia, Malaysia Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Bhutan. Wesak, Buddha day or Buddha’s birthday is the most sacred holy day for those apart of Theravada Buddhism and also important for the insight meditation movement. Wesak is the celebration of the three days significant to the Buddha’s life first was his birth, the second his enlightenment (nirvana) and the third his death (Parinirvana). The date of Wesak varies and is very important and significant as it relies on the lunar calendar, it is usually falls on a full moon of the 5th or 6th lunar month. Wesak on the Gregorian calendar usually falls in April or May. Prince Siddhartha was born on the 8th day of the fourth lunar month or on the day of the full moon in 623 B. C. in Lumbini, Rupandehi District, West Terai, Nepal. Wesak celebrates the Three Jewels. Wesak is important to the adherents to reflect on Buddha’s life and teachings as is acknowledging the ongoing living religious tradition that remains strongly for followers. The main objective of Buddhism is to one day reach enlightenment and this is exactly what Wesak celebrates and reinforces the ultimate goal of Buddhism that Buddha was a human who became enlightened. This is important as it reinstates the fact that it is possible for humans to reach enlightenment. To reach closer to Nirvana and the chance of a better life in the cycle of samara you must perform good acts to receive good karma, through the act of washing and cleaning the hands of Buddhists and monks this symbolises the karma of certain actions. The festival of Wesak, with its emphasis on accepting the responsibilities of the ethical life, is also a celebration of the human spirit. ’ An important part of Wesak to the adherents is Sangha. And a part of this acknowledgement of the Sangha is listening to the wisdom and the teaching of the Dharma from the members of their community. As karma is a central belief of Buddhism there is a strong will for adherents are to donate and show generosity to the less fortunate at this time. â€Å"First of all, Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. If anything at all, it is realistic, for it takes a realistic view of life and the world. It looks at things objectively (yathabhutam). It does not falsely lull you into living in a fool’s paradise, nor does it frighten and agonize you with all kinds of imaginary fears and sins. † The middle path what Buddha had preached is important to Wesak as it gives the adherents a time to reflect on his preaching’s of in a world full of suffering there is place for celebration. On the day of Wesak devout Buddhists are to come together in temples before dawn before they have ceremonial hoisting of the Buddhist Flag and do their mantras in praise of the three jewels; Dharma, Sangha, Buddha. Those who attend the festivals may bring flowers and candles as offerings to lay at the feet of their teachers. The symbolism of these offerings are that beautiful flowers eventually wither away, and candles once bright burn out, such as what life it is subject to. The adherents that attend receive good karma for themselves and for their communities. Although there is some parts of Wesak that involve acknowledging then destroying the wrong doings and bad karma of the previous year the Wesak festival is a time of celebrations and coming together. The community play games, listen to music, attend drama performances. Decorations are put up around houses and villages and their neighbours are encouraged to join in on the festivities. An important ritual that happens during the Wesak festival is the bathing of the Buddha. The bathing of the Buddha in fragrant water has been important since the legend of the Buddha’s birth has been told. It is a symbol of inner purification, the ritual is said to help get rid of sins. This ritual highlights the universal message that â€Å"it is simple to wash away physical dirt but it is much more difficult to cleanse one’s inner dirt of greed, anger and ignorance. †

Are Diet Drugs Are Safe For People Essay - 1450 Words

Many people like to take shortcuts to lose weight to improve their self-esteem and body image. One shortcut that many people result to is the use of weight-loss aids. These pills and drugs really help people lose weight in the short run by involving many chemical processes, but in the long run, these drugs have the potential to become dangerous to people’s health. Even though the results are appealing, people still do not know how the diet drugs affects their health. Through past experiments and observational studies, the testable question is: are diet drugs are safe for people? There is a trend in diet drugs that most drugs contain lots of caffeine, which has many great benefits that deal with weight loss. The most prominent aid that caffeine gives to people is the increase of metabolism because caffeine is an alkaloid which makes it a metabolite (Ashihara, Sano, Crozier, 2007). The process of speeding up the metabolism starts when the kidneys in the digestive system break t he caffeine (C8H10N4O2) into waste, theobromine (C₇H₈Nâ‚„Oâ‚‚), theophylline (C₇H₈Nâ‚„Oâ‚‚), and paroxetine (C19H20FNO3); the fluorine atom in paroxetine comes from excess fluorine from kidneys (Ashihara, Sano, Crozier, 2007). All three products, especially paroxetine, increase blood flow, athletic performance, and rapidity of weight loss (Ashihara, Sano, Crozier, 2007). In an observational study made by Dovey, the results show that most people gain â€Å"about 16 percent of activity† from the caffeine in dietShow MoreRelatedPrescription For Disaster By Dr. Gary Null939 Words   |  4 Pagescomments on the complicated ties between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pharmaceutical companies, doctors and lobbyist. As a public health student, it is important to be aware of the role all of these huge players have in our personal health. 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