COST REDUCTION STRATEGIES AND THE GROWTH OF SELECTED MANUFACTURING COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

The problem of high manufacturing costs has led to the shutdown of many manufacturing companies in Nigeria. This study examines the relationship between cost reduction strategies and the growth of manufacturing companies in Nigeria using data from annual reports of 40 manufacturing companies quoted on the Nigeria Stock Exchange within the period of 2012-2016. 40 manufacturing companies were sampled purposively for this study. The study took changes in material cost, changes in labour cost and changes in administrative overhead as variables for cost reduction strategies while changes in turnover as the variable for Growth. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the association cost reduction strategies and growth while, regression analysis was used to determine the impact of cost reduction strategies on the growth of manufacturing companies. Results showed a positive significant relationship between cost reduction strategies and growth of manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study recommends that manufacturing companies should implement value analysis in order to reduce material costs and the implementation of cost reduction strategies in all manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Key words: Strategic Management Accounting, Cost reduction strategies, Value analysis, Budget Discipline, Nigeri

DESIGN OF MULTIPLE DEPENDENT STATE SAMPLING PLAN USING ZECH DISTRIBUTION WITH APPLICATION TO REAL LIFE DATA

In this work, a multiple dependent state sampling plan, which is an inspection procedure that determines whether an attribute is conforming or non-conforming to a specific requirement, in which the decision criterion for each lot dictates whether to accept the lot; reject the lot; or conditionally accept or reject the lot based on the disposition of future related lots, is introduced. This plan has some advantages over other acceptance sampling plans, like increased efficiency, improved ability to discriminate between acceptable and non – acceptable lots or batches, flexibility in designing the sampling process, and improved cost-effectiveness. To reject a lot, the plan made use of the properties of the sampled current and preceding lots. The study aims to reduce the average sampling number by using a non-linear optimization problem that is subjected to some constraints. With regards to a life test that is truncated in time, the product’s median life was used for the proposed sampling plan assuming that the lifetime of the product follows Zech distribution. The usage of median life was necessitated because Zech distribution is an asymmetric distribution with longer tail to the right. Two points on the operating characteristic curve were used for the proposed sampling plan and the following parameters were found; number of preceding lots which is required for deciding if the current lot should be accepted or rejected, the size of the sample, rejection number, and acceptance number. For different shape parameters, we constructed tables for various combinations of consumers’ and producers’ risks. A real example was provided which showed that a multiple dependent state sampling plan is a good sampling plan for fitting the datasets. Comparing the proposed plan with a single sampling plan, the results reveal that the proposed plan is more effective at securing the consumer and the producer with less inspection. The approach introduced in this study provides an ample opportunity for the manufacturers to reduce the cost and time of inspection by having the sample size reduced without compromising the decision-making accuracy. By implementing the findings of this study, the consumers are confident that their hard-earned money is not used to purchase sub-standard goods

YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHALLENGES OF AGRICULTURE: AN OVERVIEW OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS' FARM PRACTICE PROGRAMME IN NIGERIA

Young people who have the strength required to take up agriculture shy-away from the work, leaving it to an ageing and dying population of old farmers, the continuation of this will force us to wonder what the fate of agriculture would be in Nigeria. Agricultural development specialists and policymakers around the world are concerned with the fact that young people are not interested in agriculture, as agriculture is very crucial to the current economic status of Nigeria. A sample of 384 respondents from the population was drawn using multistage sampling method and 40 in-depth interviews. Five research questions were raised in the study and two hypotheses were generated and tested (at 0.05 level of significance) using the chisquare inferential statistical method. Data were collected using a well-structured questionnaire; the research design was a descriptive survey. While the theories used for this research are the social exchange and rational choice theory. The major finding of the research showed there is no significant relationship between the sociodemographic characteristics of young people and their level of involvement in farm practice, while there was a significant relationship between the benefits attached to farm practice and the level of students’ involvement

Effectiveness of Agriculture Productivity on Inclusive Growth in Nigeria, 1981-2016

Accordingly, three stage least squares technique of analysis was used in evaluating the data. Inequality, poverty and unemployment were used as a proxy for inclusive growth while agriculture output, agricultural value-added, agricultural labour employed, government expenditure in agriculture, gross capital formation as well as bank loan and advances to agriculture were used as indicators of agricultural development. The study finds that agriculture has insignificant impact on inclusive growth in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommends that it is imperative for the country to develop its agricultural sector through sufficient government spending in order to set-up its inclusive growth. Keywords: agriculture, inc

Analysis of the Effects of Climate Change on Crop Output in Nigeria

This study investigates the effects of climate change factors and non-climate change factors on crop output in Nigeria. Empirical research approach was adopted with the use of secondary sources of time series annual data obtained from reputable sources for the period 1980-2013. Error Correction Mechanism was used for the analysis. It was found that in the short run, only rainfall tested significantly positive to crop output among the climate change factors but there is evidence of significant effects of all climate change factors on crop output in the long-run. For example, temperature, carbon dioxide emission, carbon emission and rainfall were tested significantly to crop output. Furthermore, non-climate change factors like economically active population, gross capital formation, and land area equipped for irrigation were significantly positive to crop output. To forestall the effects of climate change on crop output, the study recommends that policy makers should formulate policies that will aid farmers towards adaptation practices in farming that can mitigate the effects of climate change. Furthermore, governments and other relevant agencies should also design programmes that can motivate the masses to increase their involvement in crop production

Cost Reduction Strategies and the Growth of Selected Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

The problem of high manufacturing costs has led to the shutdown of many manufacturing companies in Nigeria. This study examines the relationship between cost reduction strategies and the growth of manufacturing companies in Nigeria using data from annual reports of 40 manufacturing companies quoted on the Nigeria Stock Exchange within the period of 2012-2016. 40 manufacturing companies were sampled purposively for this study. The study took changes in material cost, changes in labour cost and changes in administrative overhead as variables for cost reduction strategies while changes in turnover as the variable for Growth. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the association cost reduction strategies and growth while, regression analysis was used to determine the impact of cost reduction strategies on the growth of manufacturing companies. Results showed a positive significant berelationship between cost reduction strategies and growth of manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study recommends that manufacturing companies should implement value analysis in order to reduce material costs and the implementation of cost reduction strategies in all manufacturing companies in Nigeri

Reducing Small Scale Farmers Poverty through Credit access in Kwara State Nigeria

This is a study of credit access by small scale farmers and its impact on poverty reduction in Kwara state. The study made use of survey research design and adapted the Cobb-Douglas production function which measured the productivity of small scale farmers using ordinary least square method. The study also measured profitability, Net farm income and poverty status of borrowers and non-borrowers. It was found that though credit users had higher productivity, profitability and Net farm income compared to non-credit users, the difference was insignificant. Also, it was found that the poverty level of the famers who had access to credit was lower than that of farmers who did not have access to credit. Hence, the study concludes that credit can guarantee poverty reduction and also assist to include small scale farmers in the growth process if it is made available in sufficient quantities. The study therefore recommends an increase in credit available to small scale farmers through collaborative efforts between formal financial institutions and government since credit can positively impact on poverty reduction. Keywords: Credit, Small Scale Farmers, Poverty reduction

Analysing Rural-Urban Disparity in Access to Safe Toilet in Nigeria

This study examines the socio-economic determinants of access to safe toilet facilities in Nigerian households. It also investigates the factors responsible for rural-urban disparity in accessing safe toilets among Nigerians. It uses the 2013 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) on Nigeria for all the analyses. Binary and Ordered Probit Regressions Models as well as Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition were used to determined factors affecting access to safe toilet facilities in the country. The results shows that, households head age, marital status, gender, household size, education, wealth index, locations, ethnicity and geopolitical variations are the significant determinants of households’ access to safe toilets in Nigeria. While, household size, rural locality, zones, gender, and lower wealth index have negative impacts; households head age, marital status, ethnicity and education level, have positive effects on the households’ access to safe toilets in the country. Secondly, differences in the age of households head, household size, wealth index, gender, zones and marital status are the factors responsible for the rural-urban variation in access to safe toilets in Nigeria. The study recommends poverty reduction programmes, public-private partnership, provision of public toilets, rural development, educational improvement, cultural and value re-orientation and social security programme among others as measures to improve access to safe toilet facilities in the country. Keywords:Safe toilets, socioeconomic, probit, Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and socio-economic development

FORMAL CREDITS ACCESS AND FARMERS WELFARE IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

This is an analysis of the impact of credits from formal financial institutions on the welfare of farmers in Plateau state Nigeria. The study used survey research design and the instrument of questionnaire to capture input variables, output data and welfare data. Data was partly fitted into the Cobb-Douglas production function for analysis to ascertain the impact of credit on productivity, and welfare data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. It was found that credit available to farmers in Plateau state is inadequate to significantly raise farm productivity and hence the welfare conditions of farmers. It was further found that profitability, Net farm Income and welfare status of borrowers were slightly higher than that of non-borrowers. The study therefore recommends a renewed commitment of both government and formal financial institutions towards improved quality and quantity of credit to farmers so as to boost output and welfare conditions of the farmers in the state. Keywords: Credit, Welfare, Farmer