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A p r i l – M a y 2 0 1 9 JICA ETHIOPIA NEWSLETTER Volume III, Issue I JICA Everyday A r e a s o f Cooperation : Agriculture 1 SATREPS 2 E d u c a t i o n 3 Industrial 3 - 4 P r o m o t i o n Infrastructure 4 (road+energy) Infrastructure 5 ( w a t e r ) V o l u n t e e r s 5 Up- N e x t 6 w i t h J I C A JICA staff participated in the annual AACRA Road Safety Awareness Relay Race on May 26, 2019. I n d e x - based Insurance to Benefit Smallholder Farmers A new project, At the request of the Ethiopian govern- based insurance among six target zones in “Development of Plant-derived Soil ment to further build on a previous pro- Oromia Region. This project is unique in ject on rural resilience enhancement, that it will also require the close collabora- Stabilizing Additives to Problematic JICA launched the “Index-based Crop tion of local insurance companies to design Soil as a Means to Mitigate Road Insurance Promotion (ICIP) project” on packages that will be beneficial to the farm- Disasters”, is one of the nine SA- April 19, 2019. The five-year project will ers as well as worthwhile for the insurance TREPS projects that were approved not only focus on providing insurance to companies. globally, this month. farmers, but will provide bundled pack- ages of agricultural support such as It is expected that the project will insure If the rains fail, if they come too late farming technology, fertilizer, seeds and 20,000 farmers within Oromia Region in the or if they do not fall as much as ex- microfinance. These bundled packages, next five years. The long-term goal is for pected, the effects on smallholder called Resilience Enhancement Packages the Government of Ethiopia to scale-up and farmers can be catastrophic. In (REPs), will ensure that several options are made available to the farmers based disseminate index-based crop insurance 2016, due to El Nino, the rains did nationwide. not fall as expected during the rainy on their agro-ecological locations and season in Ethiopia. The drought that farming systems. The REPs provide a followed affected tens of thousands way to minimize two types of risks for of people and the farmers lost their the farmers, risk control and risk fi- crops and livestock. While the nance. They control risk by providing weather cannot be controlled, it is water saving technologies, providing important to install measures that seed, fertilizer, or providing micro- can help farmers’ buildup reliance to finance. These are bundled with weath- the effects of drought. One measure er-index crop insurance, which minimize is to develop index-based crop insur- risk finance. ance system that will allow farmers to reduce the risks associated with JICA will be working with the Ministry of shortage of rainfall, erratic rainfall Agriculture (MoA) and the Oromia Bu- patterns and drought. reau of Agriculture and Natural Re- sources (OBoANR) to promote index- A smallholder farmer's plot. Such farmers will be the beneficiaries of index-based insurance. Page 2 JICA ETHIOPIA NEWSLETTER MNGD Project to Transform Ethiopian Rural Roads Problematic soils, represent- gy University (AASTU) are The five-year research pro- place in Japan and at Jinka Uni- ed by black cotton soil, are taking the lead in developing ject, which will run from April versity on road disaster manage- widely found in Africa. Expan- plant-derived soil additives 2019 to March 2024, aims to ment for Ethiopian researchers. sive soil covers more than and their operation model to develop a cellulose-based One of the outputs of the project will be to produce manuals and 10% of Ethiopia’s 1.1million reduce road disasters on product, which can be added 2 guidelines for building roads on km of total land area. This problematic soil. to the soil to stabilize the problematic soil, especially for soil, which is prone to shrink- sub-base of roads. In Japan, The Universal Rural Road villages identified for road disaster ing or swelling due to chang- a cellulose-based powder countermeasures in South Omo Access Program (URRAP) es in water volume, causes called celldoron has proven Zone. roads to crack and lift up. designed by the Government effective when added to con- This damages existing roads of Ethiopia, seeks to free crete mix for making roads. This projects contribution towards and in some cases leaves rural residents from the road In Ethiopia, researchers will the SDGs communities isolated as their access constraints by con- be studying ensete (false entrance to main roads is cut necting all kebele’s banana leaves) and other off, leaving them without (neighbourhoods) to all plants in South Omo Zone to access to social services and weather-roads. It stresses see if their cellulose can be trade routes. that rural roads should be used as a soil-stabilizing improved and maintained so additive. Expansive soils present sig- that they can be accessible nificant geotechnical and year-round, in all weather Jinka University, which is structural engineering chal- conditions. The second located in South Omo Zone lenges globally. Therefore, phase of URRAP highlights and the Ethiopian Roads Au- JICA has chosen to tackle this the need for: (1) innovative thority (ERA) will also be involved in the research, problem in Ethiopia by facili- construction methods using mainly in developing opera- tating a joint international local materials (2) low cost tion models in South Omo research between Japan and construction methods and Zone and in the suburbs of Ethiopia. Researchers from (3) maintenance using com- Addis Ababa city respective- Kyoto University and Addis munity participation or micro ly. During the duration of the Ababa Science and Technolo- and small enterprises. project, trainings will take Expansive soil Distorted roads due to expansive soil False banana trees (ensete) widely found in South Omo Zone. The cellulose from the ensete may be used as an additive to stabilize the soil. Map of Ethiopia showing areas with expansive soil. Page 3 JICA ETHIOPIA NEWSLETTER Strengthening Mathematics Education in Ethiopia On a global scale, Japanese JICA, to improve mathemat- (MUST)” to focus on raising analyzed and new lesson support students consistently achieve ics and science education. In student's knowledge of mathe- materials will be drafted. Ethiopian high rankings in mathematics the past decade, JICA has matics by improving teaching teachers will review the materials and science. Japan places a conducted the SMASEE and practices and adding remedial and localize the content as neces- sary. Four schools will be chosen in lot of emphasis on its sci- LAMS projects that focused classes for students. The MUST each region to pilot and evaluate ence, technology, engineer- on improving the teaching project will focus on develop- the materials. The overall aim is to ing and mathematics (STEM) and learning methods in the ing lesson support materials disseminate lesson support materi- curriculum; this is partly to sciences and mathematics for for Grades one through eight als, training materials and videos do with the belief that Grades 7 and 8, nationwide. in four designated regions: nationally at the completion of the strength in these areas is the Amhara, Afar, Oromia and project in August 2023, with the foundation for innovation. To further develop the com- Southern Nations Nationalities view of having the teaching and prehension of mathematical and Peoples (SNNP). learning method developed by Innovation is the key to concepts, JICA has recently MUST adopted into the Ethiopian boosting economies, creating launched the “Project for With the assistance of Japa- curriculum. jobs and improving quality of Mathematical Understanding nese experts, the current cur- life – which are all crucial for Science and Technology riculum and textbooks will be concerns for developing countries. With booming population growth and in- creasing competition in the global market place, emerg- ing countries such as Ethiopia need to work hard to educate their people and ensure that they have the skills needed for success. Studies have shown that the performance scores of Ethio- pian students in mathematics is low. Ethiopia has been working with Japan, through The JICA team conducted assessments of schools located in Afar region. Kaizen Expands into Djibouti via JICA and EKI In collaboration with the training sessions. a strong commitment towards point JICA will host a national Kai- JICA Ethiopia Office and Kaizen and they will be instru- zen workshop and award the best JICA Djibouti Office, basic In early April, a five-day train- mental in encouraging other performing organization in the pres- level Kaizen is being intro- ing course was held in Djibouti organizations to improve their ence of high-level officials from duced within five Djiboutian for employees of the previous- productivity and competitive- Djibouti. We hope that the five Government organizations ly mentioned organizations, ness using this management selected organizations will serve as (Djibouti Road Authority, while those in management philosophy. a model for others and will motivate Waste Management Bureau, levels were trained for two the Djiboutian government and Firefighting and Rescue Of- days. Basic Kaizen concepts Follow-up programs by JICA organizations to support the dis- fice, Djibouti Coast Guard, were covered in the training, and EKI will continue until semination of the Kaizen philosophy and Geothermal Organiza- including the 5S method and December 2019, at which nationwide. tion) by dispatching consult- the different types of waste. ants from the Ethiopian Fruitful discussions were held Kaizen Institute (EKI). throughout the week and the feedback received from each The initial steps began with participant was very positive.