Brief Introduction
Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center is located surrounding the Gilgel Gibe Hydroelectric dam,
within four districts of Jimma Zone, Oromia Region, Southwest Ethiopia. Its global position is
between latitudes 07.4253 and 07.5558oN and longitudes 037.1153 and 037.2033oE with
agroclimatic zone of midland. The center comprised of 11 kebeles (smallest administrative
structure in Ethiopia) of which 3 are small towns.
The population of the center in September 2011 was 54,538, 15,719 (28.8%) were urban
and 38,809 (71.2%) rural. Of the total population 16.2% were children under the age of
five years whereas women in the child bearing age constituted 22.6%.
The population comprises mainly of Muslims (67.5%), followed by Orthodox Christians
(13.4%) and Protestant (3.1%). With respect to ethnicity, majority (87.3%) are Oromos
and the remaining constitutes Yem, Amhara and others. The main language spoken is
Oromifa among the population 7 years and above, more than 54.7% didn’t attend any
formal schooling and of those 10 years and above 30.7% farmers, 21.7% housewives and
25.6% students by occupation and with respect to marital status 49.6% were married and
43.4% were single. Moreover, 79.2% of households had male heads.
Objectives
The primary purpose of this surveillance system is to monitor basic vital events indicators
and generate relevant health, demographic and socioeconomic information for policies and
programs. In addition, the center supports graduate and post graduate level research
undertakings and conduct molecular to population level collaborative research with local
and international stakeholders.
Priority research areas
Different need based researches are conducted and the main research focus areas include
malaria, causes of death using verbal autopsy, maternal and child health, mental health and
chronic non-communicable diseases
Demographic Characteristics
Crude Birth Rate (CBR)
34.6 per 1000 mid-year population
Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
5.0 per woman
Crude Death Rate (CDR)
7.7 per 1000 mid-year population
Neonatal Mortality
21.3 per 1000 live births
Post-neonatal Mortality
38.9 per 1000 live births
Infant Mortality
60.2 per 1000 live births
Under five Mortality
88.9 per 1000 live births
Rate of Natural Increase
2.7 per 100 mid-year population
In-Migration
36.6 per mid-year 1000 population
Out-Migration
46.6 per 1000 mid-year population
Net Growth rate
1.7 per 100 mid-year population
Population Pyramid: Age and Sex structure of the population, Aug. 2011
Funders
• Jimma University from the government treasury
• Ethiopian Public Health Association through CDC
Collaborators
• Emory University, USA
• Michigan University, USA
• Brown University, USA
Key Publications
1. Amare Deribew, Fasil Tessema, Belaineh Girma. Determinants of under five mortality
in Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center, South West Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of
Health Dev., 2007; 21(2).
2. Craig Hadley, Ayalew Tegegn, Fasil Tessema, Makonnen Asefa, & Sandro Galea. Parental
Symptoms of Common Mental Disorders and Children’s Social, Motor, and Language
Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Annals of Human Biology, 2008; 35(3): 259-275
3. C Hadley, A Tegegn, F Tessema, J A Cowan, M Asefa, & S Galea. Food Insecurity,
stressful life events and symptoms of anxiety and depression in East Africa: evidence from
the Gilgel Gibe growth and development study. J. Epidemiol Community Health, 2008; 62:
980-986
4. Margaret E. Kruk, Magdalena M. Paczkowski, Ayalew Tegegn, Fasil Tessema, Craig
Hadley, Makonnen Asefa & Sandro Galea. Women’s preference for obstetric care in rural
Ethiopia: a population-based discrete choice experiment in a region with low rates of facility
delivery. J. Epidemiol Community Health, 12 October 2009
5. Mary-Christine Sullivan, Ayalew Tegegn, Fasil Tessema, Sandro Galea, Craig Hadley.
Minding the Immunization Gap: Family Characteristics Associated with Completion Rates in
Rural Ethiopia. J Community Health, 2010; 35: 53-59
6. Amare Deribew, Fessehaye Alemseged, Fasil Tessema, Lelisa Sena, Zewdie Birhanu, Ahmed
Zeynudin, Morankar Sudhakar, Nasir Abdo, Kebede Deribe, Sibhatu Biadgilign. Malaria and
Under-Nutrition: A Community Based Study among Under-Five Children at Risk of Malaria,
South-West Ethiopia. PLoS ONE, May 2010; 5(5): 1-6.
7. Amare Deribew, Fessehaye Alemseged, Zewdie Birhanu, Lelisa Sena, Ayalew Tegegn,
Ahmed Zeynudin, Tariku Dejene, Morankar Sudhakar, Nasir Abdo and Fasil Tessema. Effect
of training on the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets on the burden of malaria
among vulnerable groups, south-west Ethiopia: baseline results of a cluster randomized trial.
Malaria Journal, 2010; 9:121 - http://www.malariajournal.com/content/9/1/121
8. Abdulrahman M El-Sayed, Craig Hadley, Fasil Tessema, Ayelew Tegegn, John A Cowan Jr
and Sandro Galea. Household food insecurity and symptoms of neurologic disorder in
Ethiopia: An observational analysis BMC Public Health 2010, 10:802 doi:10.1186/14712458-10-802.
9. David P. Lindstrom, Tefera Belachew, Craig Hadley, Megan Klein Hattori, Dennis Hogan,
and Fasil Tessema. Non-marital Sex and Condom Knowledge among Ethiopian Young
People: Improved Estimates Using a Nonverbal Response Card. Studies in Family Planning,
2010; 41 (4): 251-62
10. Laura Anderson, Ayalew Tegegn, Fasil Tessema, Sandro Galea, and Craig Hadley.
Food Security, Childhood Illness and maternal emotional distress in Ethiopia. Public
Health Nutrition, 2011; DOI: 10.1017/S1368980011001340
11. David P. Lindstrom, Megan Klein Hattori, Tefera Belachew, Fasil Tessema. Lifting the
Curtain on the Conditions of Sexual Initiation Among Youth in Ethiopia. Journal of
Adolescent Health, 2012; 50 (6), 614-620