Quantifying the Effect of Change in Rainfall Dynamics on Agricultural Output in Nigeria

Agricultural production has clearly gained acceptance, as a crucial approach to meeting the food consumption needs of Nigeria’s growing population as well as an important requirement for achieving food security. Hence, the objective of this paper is to quantify the effect of change in rainfall dynamics on agricultural output in Nigeria employing a Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model and using data from the 2019 Social Accounting Matrix. The results revealed that rainfall shocks had an adverse effect on the four components of agricultural output considered such as crops, livestock, fishery and forestry in the short and long term. It also had a negative effect on aggregate agricultural output compared to the baseline scenario. Therefore, public policy towards investing heavily in rain harvesters cannot be overemphasized. There is the need for policy efforts towards targeted interventions that provide an enabling environment and the necessary infrastructures for private investments in agriculture, address climatic risks and build resilience among farmers

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A SIMPLE RAINFALL SIMULATOR FROM LOCALLY AVAILABLE MATERIALS

Rainfall simulator is an important instrument for producing artificial rainfall for the determination of soil loss from a catchment over a given period of time. The instrument is rarely available in most Nigeria Universities for practical demonstration for students and research in Soil and Water Conservation Engineering. This is due to high cost of the rainfall simulator and materials that are commonly used for the construction of rainfall simulator are not readily available or expensive in developing countries. In this study, a pressurized rainfall simulator was designed and constructed using the locally available materials mainly PVC pipe, shower rose and a pump for supplying water to the simulator for its operation. The main-pipe receives water from the pump and supplies it to the laterals. The laterals supply water to the distribution pipe which passes it to the shower rose. One hundred shower roses on ten laterals spray water to the ground surface through 2 mm openings. The simulator was 3 by 3 m and all the components are detachable for portability. The simulator rests on an adjustable frame which could be varied from 1 to 2 m height. The uniformity coefficient and drop velocity from the simulator during the performance test were 84.4 % and 8.156 m/s, respectively. The results of uniformity coefficient and drop velocity were within the range. The intensity of water dropping from the simulator depends on the inflow rate of water which could be regulated by the control tap fixed to the inlet main-pipe

Urban water supply and demand in Nigeria in era of economic liberalization

Partial final repor