Agricultural Credit Guarantee in Nigeria and the Uncertainties of the Macroeconomic Environment

Efforts to revitalize agricultural credit delivery became a reality in 1977 with the establishing of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund. This study assesses the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) under the Nigerian macroeconomic environment. It assesses the real value of loans guaranteed overtime; analyzes agricultural output in agriculture credit guarantee scheme, analyses the effect of changes in interest rate and other variables on the volume of loans guaranteed. Data obtained were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. This study suggests that the macroeconomic environment has not been friendly with ACGS operations. Credit guarantee contributes positively to increased agricultural output, but the number and value of loans guarantee as well as the performance of loans and agricultural sector output would be greatly enhance by policies that make interest rates, inflation, stock market capitalization, nominal exchange rates and other variables of the macroeconomic environment agricultural sector friendly and supportive.  Keywords: Credit Guarantee, Agricultural Sector, Macroeconomic environment, Nigeria. JEL Classifications: H81 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.910

Removal of emerging contaminants for water reuse by membrane technology

Emerging trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) are broadly defined as any synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals that have not been routinely monitored but have the potential to enter the environment and cause known or suspected adverse ecological or human health effects [1]. Most of these TrOCs are from municipal, agricultural and industrial wastewater sources (see Figure 9.1). Their release to the environment had likely occurred for a long time but was only recently recognised by new and advanced analytical methods [2]. In some cases, emerging contaminants can also result from the synthesis of new chemicals either intentionally as a chemical of industrial interest or unintentionally as a by-product. A notable example of the latter is the N-nitrosamine group that can be formed as by-products due to a range of industrial activities including the production of rocket fuel, rubber and tobacco as well as water or wastewater disinfection by chloramine [3]

Indirect Potable Reuse: A Sustainable Water Supply Alternative

The growing scarcity of potable water supplies is among the most important issues facing many cities, in particular those using single sources of water that are climate dependent. Consequently, urban centers are looking to alternative sources of water supply that can supplement variable rainfall and meet the demands of population growth. A diversified portfolio of water sources is required to ensure public health, as well as social, economical and environmental sustainability. One of the options considered is the augmentation of drinking water supplies with advanced treated recycled water. This paper aims to provide a state of the art review of water recycling for drinking purposes with emphasis on membrane treatment processes. An overview of significant indirect potable reuse projects is presented followed by a description of the epidemiological and toxicological studies evaluating any potential human health impacts. Finally, a summary of key operational measures to protect human health and the areas that require further research are discussed

Graphene membranes for water desalination

Extensive environmental pollution caused by worldwide industrialization and population growth has led to a water shortage. This problem lowers the quality of human life and wastes a large amount of money worldwide each year due to the related consequences. One main solution for this challenge is water purification. State-of-the-art water purification necessitates the implementation of novel materials and technologies that are cost and energy efficient. In this regard, graphene nanomaterials, with their unique physicochemical properties, are an optimum choice. These materials offer extraordinarily high surface area, mechanical durability, atomic thickness, nanosized pores and reactivity toward polar and non-polar water pollutants. These characteristics impart high selectivity and water permeability, and thus provide excellent water purification efficiency. This review introduces the potential of graphene membranes for water desalination. Although literature reviews have mostly concerned graphene's capability for the adsorption and photocatalysis of water pollutants, updated knowledge related to its sieving properties is quite limited.Peer reviewe

Nanofiltration of hormone mimicking trace organic contaminants

The removal mechanisms of three hormone mimicking organic compounds by nanofiltration (NF) membranes have been examined. Two NF membranes having different pore size were used in laboratory-scale nanofiltration experiments with feed solutions spiked with a hormone mimicking compound ¾ nonylphenol, tert-butyl phenol, or bisphenol A. Retention of the compounds was determined at various solution chemistries, namely aqueous solution pH, ionic strength, and presence of natural organic matter. The nanofiltration behavior of the selected hormone mimicking compounds appears similar to that of natural hormones as reported in our previous work. While the solution pH can dramatically influence the retention of hormone mimicking compounds by a loose NF membrane, ionic strength does not affect the nanofiltration of such contaminants. However, in the presence of natural organic matter in the feed solution, ionic strength appears to play a significant role in solute-solute and solute-membrane interactions, resulting in increased retention due to partitioning of the hormone mimicking compounds onto organic matter at a higher ionic strength

Case Ascertainment on Australian Registers for Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease

In Australia, disease registers for acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) were previously established to facilitate disease surveillance and control, yet little is known about the extent of case-ascertainment. We compared ARF/RHD case ascertainment based on Australian ARF/RHD register records with administrative hospital data from the Northern Territory (NT), South Australia (SA), Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WA) for cases 3–59 years of age. Agreement across data sources was compared for persons with an ARF episode or first-ever RHD diagnosis. ARF/RHD registers from the different jurisdictions were missing 26% of Indigenous hospitalised ARF/RHD cases overall (ranging 17–40% by jurisdiction) and 10% of non-Indigenous hospitalised ARF/RHD cases (3–28%). The proportion of hospitalised RHD cases (36%) was half the proportion of hospitalised ARF cases (70%) notified to the ARF/RHD registers. The registers were found to capture few RHD cases in metropolitan areas (SA Metro: 13%, QLD Metro: 35%, WA Metro: 14%). Indigenous status, older age, comorbidities, drug/alcohol abuse and disease severity were predictors of cases appearing in the hospital data only (p < 0.05); sex was not a determinant. This analysis confirms that there are biases associated with the epidemiological analysis of single sources of case ascertainment for ARF/RHD using Australian data