Domestic Violence Against Women and HIV Vulnerability in Nigeria

This paper analyzed the impact of domestic violence on HIV vulnerability using the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data. Fuzzy set method was used to construct indices of HIV vulnerability and its correlates were determined by Tobit regression. It was found that among the selected HIV vulnerability attributes, the number of other wives contributed the most (10.30 percent) to HIV vulnerability indices, while North Central and South-South zones had the highest average HIV vulnerability of 0.0669 and 0.0633, respectively. At the state level, Niger, Enugu and Nasarawa states recorded the highest average HIV vulnerability indices of 0.0889, 0.0879 and 0.0864. respectively. Also, the most reported domestic violence against women were violation of women’s right to ask for the use of condom in sexual relationships (68.32 percent) and lack of power to refuse sex (44.92 percent). The Tobit regression showed that HIV vulnerability was significantly promoted (

An Augmented Cobb-Douglas Production Function Modeling of the Impact of Climate Change on Maize Yields in Ethiopia

Climate change remains a major problem confronting agricultural productivity in Ethiopia. Maize and some other cereal crops are susceptible to climatic parameters. This study analyzed the impacts of some climatic variables on the yields of maize crops in Ethiopia using the 1981-2018 dataset. Maize production in Ethiopia is adversely affected by climate change. The augmented Cobb-Douglas Production function was used for data analyses. The results showed that the parameters of long-season rainfall, short-season rainfall, and mean maximum temperature show a negative sign and are statistically significant (p<0.05). In contrast, the minimum temperature shows a positive sign. In addition, the parameters of the quantity of fertilizer and improved seed used in maize production have a positive and significant impact on the yields of maize (p<0.10). However, the land area's elasticity coefficient shows a negative and statistically significant sign. It was concluded that changes in climatic parameters, such as an increase in short-season and long-season rainfall and an increase in maximum temperature, would reduce maize productivity. Therefore, utilizing effective climate change adaptation measures promises to enhance maize productivity in Ethiopia

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON YIELDS OF WHEAT IN ETHIOPIA: AN AUGMENTED COBB-DOUGLAS PRODUCTION FUNCTION APPROACH

The study analyzed the impact of climate change on yields of wheat crop in Ethiopia by employing Cobb-Douglas Production Function Approach using time series data for the period 1981 – 2018. The study confirmed that long-season rainfall and crop growing season maximum temperature have negative and significant effects on wheat yield. The result implies that a rise in maximum temperature during crop growing period and variation in long-season rainfall could have adverse impact on yield of wheat crop. The findings further showed that fertilizers, improved seed, and irrigation applied on wheat crop have all positive and significant impact on yield of wheat, implying that use of fertilizer, improved seed and irrigation inputs have vital role in increasing yields of wheat crop. Conversely, the study indicated that land area cultivated under wheat cropping showed negative and significant impact on yield of wheat crop, implying that any area expansion under wheat crop production would have negative impact. In view of the findings of the study, it is recommended that adaptation strategies that could offset the adverse effects of climate change should be designed and adopted. An increased use of irrigation is recommended, particularly in potential lowland areas to mitigate the adverse effect of climate sensitivity on wheat crop. Use of improved wheat seed varieties of short duration and tolerant to warm and moisture stress conditions are recommended to increase productivity and production of wheat crop. Increased use of fertilizers in cooler mid and highland areas can be another option to increase the productivity of wheat crop in Ethiopia

Efficiency of Groundnuts/Maize Intercropped Farms in Zoetele, South Cameroon: A Data Envelopement Approach

This article aims at evaluating and analysing the production efficiency of farms (FF) in the locality of Zoetele, South Cameroon. From a sample of 62 FF, we first estimate a model of Data Envelopment Analysis with constant and variable returns to scale, then a censored TOBIT model enabling therefore to identify factors of efficiency. Two main outcomes result from this study. First of all, we can see that on average, the level of technical efficiency of FFs is 44.60% when returns to scale are constant, and 67.80% when return to scale are variable. This shows off possibilities of efficiency substantial gains. Secondly, the farm size and the production destination impact negatively on the technical efficiency. Finally, the adherence to a peasant organisation and age improve it. From those results, we estimate that if one wants to improve the efficiency of the FFs, it would be interesting that the FFs organise themselves into associations in order to benefit from experience sharing, and government and nongovernmental organisations (NGO)

Subsistence Farming and Food Security in Cameroon: A Macroeconomic Approach

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the development of subsistence agriculture is the best way to assure food security in developing countries. The objective of this study fits into this logic in that it analyzes the impact of subsistence farming to food security in Cameroon. Data from the FAO and the World Bank over the period 1961-2007 were used to formulate a cointegration model between food availability and subsistence framing index based on the ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) procedure. Firstly, the analysis shows that the long-run elasticity of subsistence farming index is 0.38, higher than in short-run (0.27). This result confirms the positive impact of subsistence farming on food security in short-run and long-run. Secondly, the trend is significant and positive, meaning that structural variables such as market functioning, the development of road and market infrastructures etc., positively impact on food security in Cameroon. However, population growth reduces food availability, a factor that could obscure the positive impact of subsistence farming. Therefore it would be necessary to consider a scenario in which the subsistence farming growth rate is higher than the population growth rate

The effect of incomplete land tenure contracts on agricultural investment and productivity in Cameroon

The aim of this paper was to analyse the effects of secure land tenure contracts on agricultural productivity. These effects will be highlighted through investment. Data from the third Cameroonian household survey (ECAM III) was used to estimate a binary choice model and productivity equation by instrumental variables. Firstly, the results suggest that there is a moral hazard in the investment behaviour of sharecroppers.This result could support the hypothesis of a holdup problem, which would reduce the incentives for agricultural households to make optimal investments. Secondly, the insecurity of land tenure contract would reduce the probability of purchasing modern equipment by about 0.44 and reduce the probability ofusing fertilizer by about 0.21. However, these investments determine the differences in term of productivity among agricultural household. Thus, the sharecroppers are less productive because they invest less than landlords. Therefore, it seems necessary to implement institutional mechanisms that can help to release the constraints on land access and to ensure the respect for rights and obligations between all the actors involved in agriculturalleases