June July 2018 J I C A E T H I O P I A N E W S L E T T E R

J I C A E v e r y d a y

J u n e – J u l y 2 0 1 8

V o l u m e I I , I s s u e I I

J I C A E T H I O P I A

N E W S L E T T E R

A r e a s o f

C o o p e r a t i o n :

J I C A

E v e r y d a y

1

A g r i c u l t u r e 1 - 2

E d u c a t i o n 2

I n d u s t r i a l

P r o m o t i o n

3

I n d I n f r a s t r u c t u r e 4-5

W a t e r 5

V o l u n t e e r s 6 - 7

U p - N e x t w i t h J I C A 8 Marine Day is celebrated in Japan on the third Monday in July, to honor the blessings of the oceans.

E t h i o p i a n R i c e R e s e a r c h e r s T r a i n e d i n J a p a n

Although Ethiopians are

known for eating injera

(made from teff), they have been slowly

incorporating rice into their diet. Howev-

er, rice is mainly imported; close to 200

million USD was allocated for rice im-

ports in 2016. With the demand for rice

increasing, it would be beneficial to

grow rice in Ethiopia and to use the

funds allocated for imports elsewhere.

Two Ethiopian researchers from the Na-

tional Rice Research and Training Center

(NRRTC) in Fogera, Ethiopia have at-

tended a training program on rice in

Japan, organized by the Ethio-Rice pro-

ject. Mr. Abebaw Dessie, who works on

breeding, and Mr. Yilikal Melak, from the

seed section, attended lectures and field

practices on maintenance of rice varie-

ties and the production of rice seeds.

They spent 10 days at the Institute of

Crop Science, National Agriculture and

Food Research Organization (NARO) at

Tsukuba and the Agricultural Research

and Extension Center of Ibaraki Prefec-

ture. At NARO they learnt about: the

maintenance of rice varieties, production

of breeder’s seed and multiplication of

pre-basic and basic seeds.

Rice transplanting season in Japan

(Taue) starts in May, before the rainy

season begins in June, which was ideal

for Mr. Abebaw and Mr. Yilikal, who

were there from May 19 to June 01 to

practice transplanting.

“I was able to get both the theoretical

and practical experience of transplanting

different seed classes (breeder’s, pre-

basic and basic) and also how to main-

tain seeds and practice multiplication,”

said Mr. Abebaw.

For his part, Mr. Yilikal was interested in the ‘One-Plant-One-Hill’ transplanting technique that he observed at NARO. “I understood that breeder’s seed mainte-nance is very different from ordinary seed production that I was engaged in Ethiopia. I was also impressed by the green land-scape and exactly leveled rice fields in Japan,’ he said.

Mr. Yilikal and Mr. Abebaw were able to participate

in first-hand lessons on transplanting rice.

Towards the conclusion of their trip, Mr. Abebaw and Mr. Yilikal visited the Tokyo University of Agri-culture (Tokyo NODAI) where they met with Mr. Wubneh Ambachew and Mr. Melkamu Tafere, who are also re-searchers from NRRTC and currently enrolled in a mas-ter’s program through JICA’s long-term training of partici-pants.

They left with takeaways of new techniques that they can

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J I C A E T H I O P I A N E W S L E T T E R

Acquiring practical experience in

sample rice fields.

C o n t i n u e d … E t h i o p i a n R i c e R e s e a r c h e r s

Education Best Practices Shared in Anticipation of Nation-Wide Scale-Up

Sustainable Development

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and

equitable quality education

and promote lifelong learning

opportunities for all.

JICA is committed to provid-

ing quality education in Ethio-

pia. In 2011 JICA launched

the Strengthening Mathemat-

ics and Science Education in

Ethiopia (SMASEE) project to

improve math and science

lessons for Grades 7 and 8.

At the conclusion of the pro-

ject in 2014 it was agreed

upon that while the teaching

approaches that were devel-

oped were good, more work

would need to be done on

improving the capacity of

teachers. This led to the

launch of the ‘Capacity Devel-

opment for Improving Learn-

ing Achievement in Mathe-

matics and Science Educa-

tion’ (LAMS) project, which

spanned from 2014-2017.

In the past academic year,

the Mathematics and Science

Improvement Center of the

Ministry of Education

(MSICE), has monitored and

evaluated the implementation

of the SMASEE approach

within a selection of primary

schools, in six regions. Once

best practices are identified,

the goal is to disseminate the

approach to schools through-

out the nation.

During a three-day workshop

in Adama city this past June,

more than 200 education

officials and science and

mathematics teachers gath-

ered from all 11 regions to

share best practices from

schools that have shown sig-

nificant improvement since

implementing the SMASEE

approach. Key performance

indicators that were looked at

were: planning and implanta-

tion methods of SMASEE;

commitment and motivation

levels of teachers; active

stakeholder involvement and

collaboration, and improved

school management struc-

tures.

“We are looking to scale-up

best-practices that increase

the effectiveness, efficiency

and sustainability of classes

while remaining cost-

effective,” underlined Mr.

Belayneh Teferra, Head of

MSICE, while addressing the

workshop participants.

The six schools selected for

the test-run were chosen

based upon the noteworthy

results reported in mathemat-

ics and science from the

Grade 8 national exams dur-

ing successive years. Teach-

ers discussed the challenges

they faced when teaching

those classes and how they

were able to overcome them us-

ing the SMASEE INSET training

ASEI-PDSI (Activity, Student,

Experiment, Improvisation, Plan,

Do, See, Improvement) approach.

Teachers have been implementing

peer-to-peer learning to improve

their classroom teachings. A

strong correlation has been seen

between schools selected as im-

plementing best-practices, and

the high levels of motivation and

commitment identified by teach-

ers. Teachers that provided tutori-

als and additional worksheets in

areas indicated as difficult by

students, saw higher test results.

Additionally, schools that have the

active and direct support of Princi-

pals, Supervisors and Woreda

Education Offices, saw remarkable

progress in students results dur-

ing regional and national exami-

nations.

MSICE deemed it important to

share best practice results with all

regions to demonstrate how the

SMASEE approach is effective,

efficient and scalable. Lesson

plans and study guides can be

easily adapted and implemented

in schools nationwide to improve

science and mathematics educa-

tion.

Workshop participants agreed to

implement the SMASEE approach

in their classrooms using the best

practices shared by their peers.

implement in Ethiopia. They will visit the same institutes again in October of this year to learn about pre- and post-harvest techniques on rice variety maintenance.

JICA Ethiopia is currently implementing the ‘Project for Functional Enhancement of the National Rice Research and Training Center’ with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricul-tural Research (EIAR) to de-velop rice production and marketing practices.

Researchers attended classroom

training sessions.

Primary Schools Implementing SMASEE Approach

Location

1 Emperor Tewodros Primary School Addis Ababa

2 Yeha Primary School Tigray

3 Sodo Giorgis Primary School

Southern Nations

Nationalities and

Peoples

4 Yegurono Butigi Primary School Dire Dawa

5 Ras Mekonnen Primary School Harar

6 Adadila Hangag Primary School Afar

SMASEE workshop

attendees in Adama

city from June 19 to 23.

Continuous improvement – that is the literal translation of the Japanese word KAIZEN. At the heart of KAIZEN lies one simple belief, that all things can be made better. The changes can be significant or minor but the movement towards improve-ment does not stop.

While the KAIZEN terminology has become ever-present in the manufacturing world it is slowly gaining recognition in other fields as well. It can be applied in multiple areas of our life; be it in the work place, in the fields or at home.

We would like to share some practical measures that you can take to implement KAIZEN wherever you are.

The most practical workplace organization method in any field is the 5S method; Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standard-ize and Sustain.

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C o n t i n u o u s I m p r o v e m e n t “ K A I Z E N ”

Beginners can start with the first three S’s. The first S (sort), helps you identify items you no longer need and can get rid of; you can then optimize efficiency with the second S (set in order) by desig-nating specific areas for your items (like in and out trays for your letters and paperwork). The third S (shine) requires you to clean the area, which will allow you to identify problems in the process.

When you have done the first three steps, the next two steps are about maintaining what you have achieved. Standardizing by color coding items, or making labels, will allow you to stay con-sistent and will also serve as re-minder to you and others around you. Finally, to achieve long term results that end up in behavioral change we need to sustain all of our actions until the become sec-ond nature.

JICA provides technical cooperation with regards to KAIZEN practices in Ethiopia with the Ethiopian Kaizen Institute (EKI). JICA’s goal it develop KAIZEN practitioners both in the public and private sectors through the KAIZEN dissemi-nation system led by EKI.

Before and After Photos of Simple KAIZEN Activities in our Office

Before: Old maps and calendars on the wall, disorganized book-

shelf After: Unnecessary items removed from the wall, bookshelf

is organized and the papers on the desk have been sorted

JICA officially handed over modern axle load control systems to the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) in Modjo city on Monday June 18, 2018.

Due to the economic growth of Ethiopia during the recent years, road deterioration caused by the increase of flow of heavy vehicles has become a serious issue for the operation and mainte-nance of the trunk roads. In order to strengthen the ca-pacity for monitoring over-loaded vehicles on trunk roads, JICA, in cooperation with ERA, implemented the “Project for Improvement of Axle Load Control on Trunk

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1 4 A x l e L o a d C o n t r o l S y s t e m s H a n d e d O v e r

t o E t h i o p i a n R o a d s A u t h o r i t y

Roads,” to modernize axle load control systems at 14 strategic control points. The Project replaced 11 existing single-axle weighbridges to multi-axle bridges and in-stalled three new weigh-bridges and an automatic data collection system for each weighbridge at a total cost of 5,407,029 USD (149,234,000 ETB).

Improved equipment has decreased the measurement time of a six-axle vehicle from 180 seconds in 2014 to only 10 seconds after the installation of the multi-axle weighbridge. This contrib-utes to road maintenance and transport facilitation by

improving enforcement and efficiency of axle load meas-urement and control. De-creasing the number of over-loaded vehicles will reduce road damages which will also result in fewer road accidents. Increased road efficiency will bolster industrial develop-ment.

The Ethiopian government on its behalf has installed camer-as at all weigh stations to capture the license plates of vehicles ramping up to the weighbridge. This has im-proved efficiency and accura-cy with the data that is being collected. Additionally, 240 meters of approach road work has been constructed at each

weighbridge site as well as installing drainage facilities to preserve the roads.

Speaking on behalf of the Director General at the hand-over ceremony, Mr. Ale-mayehu Ayele, Deputy Direc-tor General, ERA, stated that his agency will do all it can to ensure good governance at all stations with no or minimal human interference. The Gov-ernment of Ethiopia spent 7,246,376 USD (200,000,000 ETB) on the project and is committed to working further to ensure transparency and accuracy at all weigh stations.

Locations of Weighbridges

Maintenance on Existing Weighbridges Newly Constructed Weighbridges Relocated Weighbridges

1 Sendafa Wereta Shashemene

2 Modjo Tik Alemgena

3 Holeta Quiha Kombolcha

4 Sululta Awash

5 Dengego

6 Jimma

7 Semera (not yet operational)

Ribbon cutting ceremony at Modjo weighbridge A truck is pulling up to the weigh station in Modjo.

Work is under-way to safe-

guard that Ethiopia will no longer be a country with one of the lowest access rates to safe water.

At the annual Water Sector Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF 9) held in Addis Ababa, three JICA volunteers led 10 kindergarten students in a hand-washing song that they had written to raise sanita-tion and hygiene awareness in schools.

The forum, organized by the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity (MoWIE), brought together 400 partici-pants from government agencies, donor partners, research institutes and civil society organizations to dis-cuss and develop action plans related to safe water supply and hygiene services.

are to be achieved by 2020.

These goals cannot be real-

ized without accurate, reliable

and timely geospatial maps.

Ethiopia covers 1,000,000km2

of land and while the project

scope focused on only

0.104% of the total country,

the objective was to build the

technical capacity of the

EGIA.

“JICA support came at the

right time for our agency as

we were transitioning from

After nearly five

years, JICA’s

digital topographic mapping

project is drawing to a close.

At the July 23rd, 2018 Joint

Coordination Committee

(JCC) meeting, members

discussed the final phases of

the project and concluding

capacity building measures

that can be taken.

Since October 2013 JICA has

been working with the Ethio-

pian Mapping Agency, now

the Ethiopian Geospatial In-

formation Agency (EGIA), to

develop topographic maps for

the cities of Adama and

Modjo, which cover 1,140km2

land in Oromia Region.

Accurate and reliable geospa-

tial data is imperative for a

nation, especially one that is

in the midst of accelerated

growth. The second phase of

Ethiopia’s Growth and Trans-

formation Plan (GTP II) out-

lines aggressive infrastruc-

ture development goals that

analog to digital maps. JICA

support will enable us to pro-

duce medium and large scale

maps since our prior experi-

ence was with mainly small-

scale maps,” noted Mr. Sultan

Mohammed, Director General,

EGIA, during the JCC meeting.

JICA experts have trained a

total of 121 employees, includ-

ing trainers of trainers who will

be able to transfer skills to

stakeholders. During training

sessions, trainees were able to

M a p p i n g P r o j e c t N e a r s C o m p l e t i o n

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use the data they gathered to cre-

ate a tourist map of Adama city; of

which, 6,000 copies have been

printed and distributed in Adama.

Additionally, 1:25,000 and

1:10,000 topographic maps of Ad-

dis Ababa city, produced with JICA

assistance, are being made availa-

ble free of charge through the geo-

portal on EGIA’s website.

“We believe strongly that with the

internet becoming a standard tool

for public and private service pro-

viders, it is imperative for the geo-

portal of the EGIA to be accessible

from all over the world,” encour-

aged Mr. Ken Yamada, Chief Repre-

sentative of JICA.

EGIA has budgeted to improve its

IT infrastructure in the upcoming

Ethiopian fiscal year and intends to

avail the geoportal 24 hours a day,

seven days a week, in the coming

year, according to Mr. Mohammed.

JICA will finalize its digital topo-

graphic mapping project in January

2019.

Joint Coordination Committee meeting at the Ethiopian Geospatial

Information Agency.

J I C A V o l u n t e e r s O p e n e d 9 t h A n n u a l W a t e r F o r u m

For the opening ceremony, Ms. Miki Kawamura, Ms. Kanako Nishida and Ms. Chihiro Saga, volunteers serving in the areas of early-childhood education, primary education and commu-nity development in the water sector, respectively, led partici-pants in a song in Amharic describing proper hand-washing techniques that they had written for kindergarten and primary students. The song was not only written in three local languages (Amharic, Ti-grigna and Oromifa) but it was also accompanied by beautiful illustrations with the intent of fully engaging young children.

Ten kindergartners, accompa-nied with two of their teachers, sang the song, participated in a story-telling session about the consequences of eating without washing their hands and identi-fied areas of the hand that accumulate the most bacteria. The audience was fully involved and applauded them in the

Kindergarten students singing the hand-washing song at Hilton Hotel

end, with request to perform at future water conferences.

Hygiene awareness activities through this hand washing song have been held at kindergar-tens, primary schools and in cities around the country. We are looking forward to more opportunities where JICA volun-teers can share their song and

create a meaningful impact in the lives of children and hygiene awareness.

You can see how the volunteers conducted an awareness activity at a primary school in Addis Aba-

ba here:

https://www.jica.go.jp/ethiopia/english/office/topics/180517.html



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JICA volunteers arrived in Ethiopia on July 05, 2018 to begin their as-signment in a range of fields.

Volunteer’s assignment are as fol-lows:

1. Two primary education volun-teers will be working in Addis Ababa at Mehal Ginfile and Fitawrary HabteGiorigis Primary Schools.

2. Two science education volun-teers will be working in Tigray Region at Abi Adi Primary School and Abi Adi Woreda Edu-cation Office.

3. One sport volunteer has been assigned to the Gamo Gofa Zone Youth and Sport depart-ment as a basketball coach in Arbaminch city.

4. One community development volunteer will be working at the Aleta Wondo Woreda Water, Mine and Energy Office in the Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s Region.

5. Two community development volunteers are assigned to the Wolita Sodo Zone Water, Mine and Energy Department in the Southeren Nations Nationalities and People’s Region.

The volunteers will receive one month of Amharic language train-ing in Addis Ababa, and then an additional week of lessons in the Tigrigna language, before being officially dispatched to their as-signment locations.


8 V o l u n t e e r s h a v e A r r i v e d i n E t h i o p i a

E d u c a t i o n V o l u n t e e r s R e p o r t o n F i r s t Y e a r i n E t h i o p i a

Although technically its rainy sea-

son in Ethiopia, students are on

summer break and teachers are

enjoying their time off. Four Japa-

nese teachers, however, have been

spending their time preparing for

their mid-term evaluations.

Ms. Hitomi Onoguchi, Ms. Kanako

Nishida, Ms. Kaori Hashimoto and

Mr. Yuki Fujinaka are education

volunteers who have come to Ethi-

opia through the Japan Overseas

Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV)

program, administered by JICA.

They have been assigned as aes-

thetics teachers in three primary

schools and at a kindergarten in

Addis Ababa, respectively.

Aesthetics classes are composed of

music, art and physical education.

MUSIC

“I have found out that kids really like to

sing and dance during their lunch break,”

reflected Ms. Onoguchi. “However, they

have had very little opportunity to listen to

correct musical scales.”

Therefore, she took it upon herself to

teach her students musical scales during

class.

She drew musical notes on pieces of paper

and began teaching the students; but in

order for them to understand the notes on

paper she used an empty bottle to sound

out the notes; this way they could learn to

differentiate the various pitches.

Later in the school year, Ms. Onoguchi,

was able to have 51 keyboard harmon-

icas donated to Lideta Limat Primary

School from friends and family back in

Japan. She has taught other teachers

how to play the ‘happy birthday song’

and the Ethiopian national anthem on

the keyboard harmonica.

Top: Volunteers at Addis Ababa Bole

International Airport.

Bottom: Volunteers introduced them-

selves to Mr. Ken Yamada, Chief

Representative, JICA.

Ms. Nishida demonstrated how to sound out

the different scales using an empty bottle

during Ms. Onoguchi’s (right) presentation.

ART

Due to large class sizes and

insufficient materials for art,

Ms. Hashimoto took on the

task of teaching art in a crea-

tive and sustainable way. For

instance, when tasked with

making face masks, she pro-

vided students with white

paper plates (which are readi-

ly available in the market)

and they cut out eyes and

mouths and painted the faces

on. Her Grade 5 and 6 stu-

dents’ also had the opportuni-

ty to make dolls using an art

guidebook written by a Japa-

Physical Education

Dodgeball is a common

game for children around

the world; in Ethiopia it is

called “Ka-tay” and alt-

hough the rules vary a bit,

it is still essentially a game

about one team using a

ball to get opposing team

members eliminated by

hitting them with the ball.

However, in Ms. Nishida’s

class, students first had to

make their own ball, using

plastic and used paper,

before they could play.

When playing ‘capture the

flag’, another team orient-

ed game where teams

have to capture the flags

that are on the backs of

opposing team members,

Ms. Nishida again impro-

vised and made flags out

of plastic bags.

By using materials that are

readily available in their

immediate environment,

Ethiopian teachers and

students do not have to

wait to purchase “proper”

Kindergarten Classes

Mr. Fujinaka’s classes are mostly centered on art. His classroom is full of bright-eyed four and five year olds who are beginning to

identify shapes and colors and the joy of art. Most days, after drawing a picture on the blackboard, he asks the students to copy the

drawing and then to color it in according to their desire.

“They are learning to be creative, so I don’t tell them what colors to use,” said Mr. Fujinaka. “Since art is also about feeling and ex-

pressing yourself, there are days where I ask students to simply draw what they feel,” he added.

In addition, Mr Fujinaka also spends time reading picture books to develop the students listening and imagining skills.

This year, along with five other JICA childhood volunteers, Mr. Fujinaka participated in eight teaching seminars within Addis Ababa to

share ideas on “play-based education” and to provide hands-on training on various aesthetics activities.

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C o n t i n u e d . . . E d u c a t i o n V o l u n t e e r s R e p o r t o n F i r s t Y e a r i n E t h i o p i a

nese volunteer art teacher in

Tigray region.

One of the most well re-

ceived lessons, however,

was on creating homemade

stamps. Ms. Hashimoto used

toilet paper rolls and colors

made from local spices, such

as berbere and tumric, to

create stamps. In addition,

to toilet paper rolls, stamps

were also made from local

produce, such as potatoes,

okra (bamia in Amharic) and

Japanese mustard spinach.

materials to conduct physical edu-

cation activities.

Ms. Nishida was also able to intro-

duce her class to Japanese games

such as “kibasen”. Kibasen is trans-

lated as ‘riding a horse’; in this

game the children form teams of

four people, and three team mem-

bers come together (as a horse)

and carry one person (the rider)

and their goal is to capture the

plastic bag that is on the back of

another team’s rider. The team with

the most plastic bags at the end

wins.

JICA Volunteers are expected to give mid-term reports one year into their two-year service time in Ethiopia. Thus far, four volun-

teers in Addis Ababa and one sports volunteer in Dire Dawa city have reported on their activities. In September seven volunteers

will present in Mekelle city and one volunteer will present in Arba Minch city.

School children are playing kibasen, a

Japanese game taught to them by their

aesthetics teacher.

Textbook example Produced by students

Masks

Stamps

Mr. Fujinaka draws an example. Students color following Mr. Fujinaka’s example. Aesthetics seminar for teachers in Addis Ababa

Japan International Cooperation Agency

Ethiopia Office

Mina Building 6th & 7th Floor

P.O.Box 5384

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Phone: +251 115 50 47 55

Fax: +251 115 50 44 65

Mission: JICA, in accordance with the Development Cooperation Charter, will work on human security and quality growth.

Vision:

Leading the World with Trust JICA, with its partners, will take the lead in forging bonds of trust across the world, aspiring for a free, peaceful and prosper-ous world where people can hope for a better future and ex-plore their diverse potentials.

Actions 1. Commitment: Commit ourselves with pride and passion to achieving our mission and vision.

2. Gemba: Dive into the field ("gemba") and work together with the people.

3. Strategy: Think and act strategically with broad and long-term perspectives

4. Co-creation: Bring together diverse wisdom and resources.

5. Innovation: Innovate to bring about unprecedented

impacts.

J I C A E T H I O P I A O F F I C E

August

ABE Initiative Returnees Presentation, and send off of 5th

batch of ABE scholars.

Market linkage forum for farmers participating in the Ethio-

SHEP project in Jimma

September

September is KAIZEN month in Ethiopia and various activities

will be conducted by the Ethiopian Kaizen Institute (EKI)

Volunteers will conduct mid-term presentations in Mekelle and

Arba Minch cities.

C o m i n g u p i n A u g u s t a n d S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 8

L e a d i n g t h e W o r l d w i t h T r u s t

Follow us on Social Media!

Jica Ethiopia

@JicaEthiopia

https://www.jica.go.jp/

ethiopia/english/index.html

Documents

June July 2018 J I C A E T H I O P I A N E W S L E T T E R