Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in southwestern Nigeria and traditional healers’ perception of indigenous knowledge digitisation

This paper investigated the ethnobotany of medicinal plants among traditional healers in southwest Nigeria. It identified plants, the diseases they are used to treat, and explored the indigenous healers’ perceptions of digitisation of their medical knowledge. Structured interview schedule was used to elicit information from 18 interviewees. The study showed that 44 families, comprising 82 genera and 96 species with Asteraceae, Malvaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Poaceae and Fabaceae having the highest number of genera and species. Species cited with high fidelity levels included  Phragmanthora capitata (100%), Anacardium occidentale (100%),  Anacardium occidentale (100%) and Gossypium hirsutum (80%).  Interviewees possessed an appreciation for computer; and were in fullsupport of documentation and digitisation of traditional medical knowledge. They perceived documentation, digitisation and involving libraries as ways of preserving traditional knowledge. Barriers to traditional healers’ practice included use of herbicides, scarcity of medicinal plants, urbanisation, undefined dosages and/or side effects, deforestation, overgrazing  activities, and bush burning. Documentation and digitisation of traditional healing knowledge should be treated with urgency thereby preserving the rich culture of Yoruba people for posterity. Libraries for indigenous knowledge systems should be established across Nigeria. Mounting courses at the general or first-degree levels can be contributory to medicinal plants preservation.Keywords: Digitisation, documentation, ethnobotany, medicinal plants, nigeria, traditional healers

Retirees and their information needs: A survey

Retirement is said to be a follow-up of industrialization of the 19th century European world. It is regarded as an aspect of social experiences in modern employment society with its patterns differing from one country to another. The need for increased attention to the roles fulfilled by retirees and their new social status necessitated the study of their information needs. This study investigated the information needs of retirees using a survey design. Five objectives were set for the study and questionnaire was used to elicit information from respondents. Findings show that 77.8% were male while 22.2% were female. Most respondents (18.5%) had Grade II Teachers’ Certificate with a lesser percentage 9.3% of the respondents having Master’s degree. 55.3% retired from government organizations. 65% never underwent pre-retirement seminar. Findings also reveal that information needs of retirees covered environment (100%), investment (100%), volunteer service (100%), news and current affairs (100%), health (97.1%), finance (95.9%) and religion (94.7%). Most preferred information channels on daily basis are television (98.2%), radio (93.7%), family (81.5%), face-to-face contact (82.1%), and newspapers (71.9%). Most constraints to meeting their information needs include little attention given to retirees’ information needs (69.6%), finance (63.8%), poor involvement of retirees in policy affecting them (59.4%) and poor coverage of retirement matters (59.4%). Retirees’ information needs are diverse. More attention should be given to these using the relevant channels. Public libraries are encouraged to have programmes for retirees that meet their information needs while they could possibly develop some private library for themselves.Keywords: Information, Information needs, Information channels, Retirees, Retiremen

Performance of the SunScan canopy analysis system in estimating leaf area index of maize

Rapid and reliable estimates of leaf area index (LAI) are important for studies of exchanges of energy and gases in the biosphere-atmosphere continuum.  This paper evaluates the field performance of SunScan canopy analysis system for rapid estimation of LAI.  Direct and indirect measurements of LAI were made in a maize (Zea mays L.) field at four phenological stages (emergence, vegetative, flowering and physiological maturity) at a tropical site in Ghana during the Glowa Vota Project field campaign (www.glowa-volta.de).  Similar measurements were repeated in early and late planting seasons with similar crop management practices.  The result showed a generally good performance of this sensor at all the phenological stages.  Average LAI from the sensor (LAIS), ranged from 0.40–4.45, and was consistently higher than the actual LAI, which varied from 0.31–4.22, respectively for both seasons.  Regression between LAI and LAIS showed a range of significant correlations with R2 > 0.74 for all the stages and seasons.  With combined datasets for all stages and the two plantings, a simple regression model was fitted to estimate LAI from LAIS with R2 = 0.97 and standard error of 0.23 (P < 0.0001).  The evaluated sensor yielded a good and reliable LAI estimates under maize canopy. Keywords: SunScan probe, field evaluation, leaf area index, maize, Ghana 

Reflections on COVID-19 and the viability of curriculum adjustment and delivery options in the South African educational space

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic brought unprecedented changes leading to `business unusual’ in all facets of life and livelihood on a global scale. The restrictions on gathering, social distancing and lockdown measures necessitated by the need to curtail its spread, had, and still have an enormous impact on the educational sector as indeed all spheres of life. These measures implied a change in the traditional modus operandi of curriculum and delivery options for educational institutions in South Africa in the bid to continue academic sessions. Hence, a transition of educational institutions from physical interactions to virtual meetings and the need to evolve curriculum contents and delivery. Aim: With the peculiarity of the South African socioeconomic and political space, this article assessed the viability of curriculum change and delivery options (e-teaching and learning) for both students and instructors in the higher institution and the varied implications. It drew from discourses around the theory of localisation within educative context to create a more student-centred approach especially with the situation of less physical contact. Setting: The discourse is set within the South African educational space. Method: Considering the novelty of Covid-19 research and the challenge of contact, the study adopted a participatory action desktop research method to collect and analyse secondary data. The article vividly discussed how institutions transitioned to a localisation of frameworks and policies to ensure successful academic sessions. Results: The educational landscape in South Africa is still plagued with historical antecedents of social injustice, funding, and resource allocation as well as the ever-present pressure of making education affordable to majority of local students. Also, the weakness of the online teaching methods to the physical contact method for learners and practitioners could be summed up into the issues of connectivity, technical knowledge, and attention span. Conclusion: The conclusion enumerated the need for the implementation of policies and frameworks on proper utilisation of online systems to adjust to the demands of less contact-based approaches in favour of virtual approaches. The study called for adequate consideration to issues around the localisation of teaching and learning techniques considering the peculiarities of South Africa with focus on the opportunities, feasibility, and challenges of online measures especially for those in economically disadvantaged spaces