Competitiveness of Jatropha Curcas Production in South-West Nigeria

Nigeria still suffers enormous fuel and energy crises, manifesting in various forms, despite her position as Africa's largest crude oil exporter. Thus, the development of new energy sources such as biofuels from the agricultural sector has been viewed as a way of expanding domestic energy supply, preventing increased dependence on imported oil, as well as diversifying the economy particularly in the face of falling oil prices. This draws attention to Jatropha curcas, an inedible hardy shrub, as a viable choice of feedstock for biodiesel. This study examined the competitiveness, comparative advantage and the effect of government policies on Jatropha curcas production in Southwest Nigeria. Descriptive statistics and the Policy Analysis Matrix were the analytical tools employed. Although the less than unity values of 0.0219 and 0.022 of the domestic resource cost and social cost-benefit ratio respectively, showed that the zone had comparative advantage in Jatropha curcas production, production was not economically profitable under existing government policies as revealed by the negative private profit of ₦587.4393/ton. The prevailing incentive structure also affected producers negatively and policy indicators were found to be sensitive to changes in the exchange rate. The study recommends the large-scale cultivation of the produce and the provision of incentives to producers to enhance the competitiveness of the commodity

Food Insecurity Status of Rural Households during the Post-Planting Season in Nigeria

About two-thirds of rural households in Nigeria are engaged in crop and livestock production as their main source of livelihood. These households are especially vulnerable to chronic food shortages owing to adverse weather and the unavailability of enough food from home production, especially during the post-planting season. This study attempts a proper empirical identification of the food insecure and the reasons for their insecurity, through a profile of food insecurity indices and an investigation of the factors influencing their status during the post-planting season in rural Nigeria. We construct food insecurity indices and specify a probabilistic model, employing the post-planting visit data of the first wave of the General Household Survey-Panel (2010). Results showed that almost half (49.4 percent) of rural households in the country were food insecure during the post-planting period. Identified key rural food insecurity determinants include: gender of household head, tertiary education of household head, access to both formal and informal credit and remittances, household size, dependency ratio and living in the North-Central, North-East, South-East and South-West Geopolitical zones of the country. Since food availability remained below the required levels for large parts of the rural populace during this season, identified food insecure households should be targeted for safety nets

Effects of Wheat and Fish Trade Restriction Policies on Households’ Vulnerability to Poverty in Nigeria

Against the expected trade liberalization policies as enunciated under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement, Nigeria currently uses trade restriction policies through tariffs and quotas to protect local producers and ensure self-sufficiency in staple food especially wheat and fish, which constitute 56% of annual food import. However, the general equilibrium effects of restrictive policy instruments are yet to be fully understood especially for the poor and the vulnerable. Living Standard (HNLSS) survey data for 2009/2010 and the NISER’s 2011 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) were used. An 80% wheat and 50% fish tariff increase as currently implemented in Nigeria were used for the simulations. Data were analyzed using computable general equilibrium (CGE) technique and Vulnerability To Poverty (VTP) measure. Prior to policy simulations, vulnerable rural and urban households in NW had the highest observed poverty (68.2% and 71.2%) while, while the rural and urban households in the south-south zone had the least (53.0% and 45.5%) respectively. The expected poverty was highest in simulation three across vulnerable and non-vulnerable households. Consequently, the ratio of expected to observed poverty indicates that vulnerable rural and urban households have the highest likelihood of sinking deeper into poverty particularly with the combined policies in simulation three. It is therefore recommended that government should strengthen domestic production of food import substitutes backed with strong value addition. Keywords:Computable general equilibrium, Per-capita consumption expenditure, Social accounting matrix, Trade restrictions, Vulnerability to poverty DOI: 10.7176/JPID/50-06 Publication date:June 30th 201

Edwardsiella ictaluri, an unusual cause of bacteraemia in a Nigerian child with acute bloody diarrhoea

Enteric septicaemia of catfish was first detected in 1976 as an economically significant disease associated with commercial catfish production. Initially, Edwardsiella ictaluri was a host specific pathogen of catfish species but has also been reported from other hosts other than the catfish such as the zebrafish. E. ictaluri has not been isolated in humans hence it is not a zoonotic infection. There has been no previous report of isolation of this organism in humans. This was a case report of a 5 year old boy who presented with fever, vomiting, passage of bloody stool of 6 days and abdominal pain of a day duration. In the case of this 5 year old boy who presented with features of dysentery, blood culture using BACTEC™ grew E. ictaluri. E. ictaluri may be a pathogen which can infect humans just like another closely related species, Edwardsiella tarda. Although, E. ictaluri has not been reported in humans, could this be the first case? Non availability of diagnostic technique appropriate for its diagnosis may explain the rare incidence of the organism in humans, hence many cases would have been treated without isolating the organism

Rural Households’ Access to Microcredit and Poverty status in Obafemi- Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria

This study examined the effect of access to micro-credit on poverty status of rural households in Obafemi-Owode LGA in Ogun state, employing data collected from 94 randomly selected households in the study area. Data were analysed with the aid of FGT poverty index and the Logit regression model. The results of descriptive analysis reveal that majority of the poor households in the study area were large sized, male headed with no formal education and no access to credit. The head count poverty index also reveals that about 35 percent of households in the study area were poor, subsisting below the poverty line of 6,279.33 naira per capita per month. The econometric analysis shows that age, household size, secondary and tertiary education of household head, access to credit and sector of primary occupation of the household head were the significant factors that determine poverty status in the study area. The study concludes that poverty reduction in the rural areas requires effective targeting with educational programmes and most importantly, availability and accessibility of rural households to credit facilities in order to improve their income earning opportunities thereby enhancing their welfare

HOUSEHOLDS’ PERCEPTION AND WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR BREAD WITH CASSAVA FLOUR INCLUSION IN OSOGBO METROPOLIS, OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

The rising cost of wheat importation for the production of bread, a well-established and accepted food product relished by the general public, has been a matter of great concern to the Nigerian government in recent times. This has led to the increased interest in cassava flour which has been identified as a close, cost-effective substitute to wheat flour in bread production. Motivated by the far-reaching benefits of the new cassava policy on the substitution of wheat flour with cassava flour in bread production to the economy, a logistic regression model was employed to examine households’ perception and willingness to pay for bread with cassava flour inclusion in Osogbo Metropolis, Osun State, Nigeria. Findings suggest that bakery owners adopting the use of cassava flour in bread production pay careful attention to the taste, packaging, size, colour and price of the bread since these variables affect the buying decisions of the consumers. While consumers’ willingness to pay a premium varied with degrees of cassava flour inclusion, households’ willingness to pay showed a negative relationship with the premium price and a positive, significant relationship with household income and share of bread in total household food expenditure. Thus, proper attention should be given to price stabilization of bread with cassava flour inclusion as well as the design of empowerment programmes targeted at increasing household income

Rural livelihood diversification and income inequality in local government area Akinyele, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria

The pattern of income distribution has been a major concern in the developing world. This is because high levels of income inequality are likely to create a hostile atmosphere for economic growth and development. This study examined rural livelihood strategies and their contribution to the overall income inequality of households in Akinyele local government area of Oyo state. Primary data employed in the study were obtained from 105 respondents selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multinomial logit and the generalized entropy inequality indices as a measure of inequality. The distribution of respondents by type of livelihood strategy adopted revealed that almost half of the respondents adopted the combination of farm and non-farm strategy while 14.3% and 40.0% adopted only farm and non-farm strategy respectively. Income inequality was the highest among non-farming households and the lowest among farming households, implying that income from non-farm activities contributed most to income inequality in the study area. The study revealed that the major factor which negatively influenced the choice of farming as a livelihood strategy was household size while factors such as age and land ownership had positive and negative effects on the adoption of the non-farm strategy respectively. The study recommends that policies targeted at rural dwellers should centre on improved access to productive assets such as land for the landless farmers as well as the provision of improved technology, which could encourage the ageing farming population to engage in farming activities

Credit Constraints and Agricultural Productivity of Rural Households in Nigeria

This study, employing descriptive statistics and the Endogenous Switching Model, examined the link between credit constrained condition and agricultural productivity of rural households in Nigeria. Findings show that under credit constrained condition, education, labour, technology and other production inputs were not optimally utilized by the households. Credit constrained households had lower productivity than a random household from the sample would have had. However, in credit constrained households, being a male-headed household implied higher productivity. On the other hand, high value of assets and cost of hired labour had negative effects on productivity, while level of education and access to information had no significant effects. The study thus recommended intensification of efforts at ensuring the formulation of rural credit policies that will provide access to a reasonable amount of credit to rural households to secure required farm inputs, while formal credit institutions should diversify their loan scheme to incorporate different financial needs of the households

HOUSEHOLDS’ VULNERABILITY TO POVERTY IN IBADAN METROPOLIS, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

This paper empirically assessed vulnerability to poverty at the household level using a two-period panel data set obtained from 150 households sampled from two local government areas within Ibadan Metropolis. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, poverty indices and probit regression analysis. Analysis of the socio-economic characteristics and their relationship with vulnerability to poverty revealed that large-sized households headed by men who were old, widowed, self-employed, uneducated or who had only primary school education and no access to any form of credit, were more vulnerable than other households. The estimated probit regression model showed that marital status and tertiary education status of respondents reduced vulnerability to poverty while primary education status and household size enhanced households vulnerability to poverty