Non-farm enterprises and poverty reduction amongst households in rural Nigeria: a propensity score matching approach

The data of nationally representative household survey from rural Nigeria was used to examine the effect of non-farm enterprise activities on improvement in the welfare of households in rural Nigeria, using total annual household consumption expenditure as a measure of their welfare. Propensity score matching approach was used for the analysis, and the result shows that rural households that engage in non-farm enterprise activities are having higher consumption expenditure than those that did not diversify into such activities. This suggests that, non-farm enterprises could be a pathway for improving the wellbeing of rural households in Nigeria and in the remaining sub-Saharan African countries

The effect of shocks on household consumption in rural Nigeria

This paper examines the impact of both exogenous idiosyncratic and covariate shock events on the consumption of farm households in rural Nigeria by using an ordinary least square method. The result of the overall sample shows that whilst idiosyncratic and climatic shock have no significant effect on household consumption, price shocks are having a significant negative impact on household consumer. By disaggregating the sample into poor and non-poor households the result suggests that that the non-poor households are able to adequately insure against the effect of idiosyncratic shocks as well as the climatic shock on their consumption while the poorer ones had not been able to insure against the effect of shocks related to death, livestock loss, climate change and price changes on their consumption. This suggests that the farm households should be provided with an adequate and effective social protection measures that would mitigate the effect of shocks on their welfare

The Effect of Household Poverty on Child Labor in Nigeria

This paper uses the recent nationally representative household level data from Nigeria to empirically examine the effect of poverty on the likelihood of the poor households to engage their children in labor activities. Univariate probit model was used for the analysis and the result shows that per adult consumption expenditure as a proxy for household welfare has a significant negative effect on child labor decision of the households. The estimated result also suggests that the characteristic of the child, parent, household and the community significantly affects household child labor decision. Specifically, age of the child, household composition, education of the parents and rural locality determine child labor decision. Thus, it is inferred from this finding that the overall economic condition of the people needs to be improved to overcome child labor in Nigeria. Keywords: Household Poverty; Child Labor; Nigeri

Asymmetric Effect of Oil Shocks on Food Prices in Nigeria: A Non Linear Autoregressive Distributed Lags Analysis

This paper examines the asymmetric effect of oil shocks on food prices in Nigeria, using quarterly time series data for the period of January 2010 to December, 2017. Non Linear Autoregressive distributive lag framework was used to analyse both the asymmetric short run and long run effect of oil shocks on food prices. The results indicate that positive oil price shocks have a positive and significant effect on food price while negative changes have no significant effect on food prices. Thus, the paper suggests the need for the government to strengthen its effort in the development of agricultural sector as well as diversifying its sources of income. There is also need for an institution that is mandated to save and invest the excess liquidity that arises from positive oil shocks in the development of agricultural sector and other sectors of the economy. Keywords: Asymmetric, Oil Price Shocks, Food Prices, Non Linear Auto regressive Distributive Lag, Nigeria JEL Classifications: B4, E3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.731

Assessing Indigenous Soil Ureolytic Bacteria as Potential Agents for Soil Stabilization

Microbially induced carbonate precipitation by ureolysis is a biomineralization process that has been adapted by various microorganisms in different natural environments. This widespread natural phenomenon can be employed in numerous civil engineering and soil stabilization applications. In the present study, the potential of indigenous soil urease-producing bacteria as potential agents for soil stabilization methods was investigated. Assessment of the eight active urease-producing bacterial species isolated from the farm soil samples has demonstrated that all the isolates were Gram-positive rod-shaped bacteria with promising characteristics such as the formation of endospore which is essential for bacterial survival in harsh conditions within the soil environment. The pH profile and growth profile of the isolates were studied and urease activity was measured by the phenol hypochlorite assay method. Two isolates designated isolate O6w and isolate O3a were selected based on the highest urease activity recorded at 665 U/mL and 620 U/mL, respectively, and they were able to increase and sustain alkaline culture condition (pH 8.71 ± 0.01 and 8.55 ± 0.01) which was suitable for CaCO3 precipitation. The isolates were identified based on 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing to be Bacillus cereus (O6w) and Bacillus paramycoides (O3a). This current study suggested that indigenous soil ureolytic bacteria are potential raw material for the biotreatment of soils stability.

Is renal medullary carcinoma the seventh nephropathy in sickle cell disease? A multi-center Nigerian survey

Introduction: Previous studies had enlisted renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) as the seventh nephropathy in sickle cell disease (SCD). Clinical experience has contradicted this claim and this study is targeted at refuting or supporting this assumption.Objective: To estimate the prevalence of RMC and describe other renal complications in SCD.Materials and methods: 14 physicians (haematologists and urologists) in 11 tertiary institutions across the country were collated from patients’ case notes and hospital SCD registers.Results: Of the 3,596 registered sickle patients, 2 (0.056%) had been diagnosed with RMC over a ten year period, thereby giving an estimated prevalence rate of 5.6 per 100,000. The most common renal complication reported by the attending physicians was chronic kidney disease (CKD). The frequency of routine renal screening for SCD patients varied widely between centres – most were done at diagnosis, annually or bi-annually.Conclusion: The ten year prevalence of RMC in Nigerian SCD patients was determined to be 5.6 (estimated incidence of 0.56). RMC is not more common in SCD patients and therefore cannot be regarded as a “Seventh Sickle nephropathy”. Most of the managing physicians reported that the commonest nephropathy observed in their SCD patients was chronic kidney disease.Keywords: Renal medullary carcinoma, seventh nephropathy, sickle cell disease, Nigerian surve

Is renal medullary carcinoma the seventh nephropathy in sickle cell disease? A multi-center Nigerian survey.

Introduction: Previous studies had enlisted renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) as the seventh nephropathy in sickle cell disease (SCD). Clinical experience has contradicted this claim and this study is targeted at refuting or supporting this assumption. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of RMC and describe other renal complications in SCD. Materials and methods: 14 physicians (haematologists and urologists) in 11 tertiary institutions across the country were collated from patients\u2019 case notes and hospital SCD registers. Results: Of the 3,596 registered sickle patients, 2 (0.056%) had been diagnosed with RMC over a ten year period, thereby giving an estimated prevalence rate of 5.6 per 100,000. The most common renal complication reported by the attending physicians was chronic kidney disease (CKD). The frequency of routine renal screening for SCD patients varied widely between centres \u2013 most were done at diagnosis, annually or bi-annually. Conclusion: The ten year prevalence of RMC in Nigerian SCD patients was determined to be 5.6 (estimated incidence of 0.56). RMC is not more common in SCD patients and therefore cannot be regarded as a \u201cSeventh Sickle nephropathy\u201d. Most of the managing physicians reported that the commonest nephropathy observed in their SCD patients was chronic kidney disease

Non-farm diversification, shocks, capital endowment and incidence of poverty amongst farm households in rural Nigeria

The study comprised of three independents objectives that examined the effects of non-farm diversification, shocks and capital endowments on incidence of poverty among farm households in rural Nigeria, using nationwide representative data of Nigerian rural households collected by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the World Bank. The first and second objectives utilized the data collected in 2010/2011 while the third objective used the data collected in 2010/2011 and 2012/2013. The first objective examined the determinants of nonfarm diversification (NFD) among the households and its effect on their economic wellbeing. Tobit result showed that NFD significantly depends on household members’ education, social capital, financial capital, community level infrastructures and regional location. Two Stages Least Squares and Propensity Score Matching results also suggested that NFD has a significant positive impact on per capita consumption expenditure of the households. However, the result revealed that non-poor households are benefiting more than the poor ones from NFD. The second objective explored the effect of shocks on household consumption and choice of coping measures. The result suggested that whilst idiosyncratic shocks measured by illness and death had no significant impact on household consumption, covariate shocks specifically climatic and economic shocks had significant negative effect on household consumption. This portrayed the relevance of informal coping strategies in smoothing household consumption. However, the Multivariate Probit result revealed that the informal coping strategies chosen by the households are likely to make them vulnerable to poverty. The third objective assessed the contribution of initial capital endowments to changes in per capital consumption expenditure and incidence of poverty of the households, using Variant Difference Model and Multinomial Logit model respectively. The study found that initial endowments of physical, human, financial and social capital, significantly improved wellbeing and reduced poverty. On this basis, the study recommend for the provision of adequate and essential capital endowments to improve the wellbeing of the households. Overall results obtained are potentially useful to policy makers in developing effective policies that would improve household economic wellbeing as well as reduces Arural poverty