Public alms solicitation among the Yoruba elderly in Nigeria

This paper reports on a pilot study of 108 Yoruba elderly persons engaged in public solicitation for alms in three major towns in south-western Nigeria. Data were collected through taped in-depth interviews of the elderly subjects on or near the locations in which they were soliciting alms. The aim of the study was to understand the circumstances which led to this choice of occupation. Specifically explored were the extent of the subjects' social embeddedness in their communities, their reasons for soliciting alms, and their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of this means of livelihood. It was found that the majority of the elderly beggars were those who for personal and health-related reasons "fell through " the informal traditional social safety net and for whom society provides no formal alternatives. These findings are used to draw attention to the increasing frailty of the extended family system in coping with the old-age demands in an increasingly urbanized and heterogeneous Nigerian society. The authors conclude that the need for formal social welfare services for poor, urban elderly persons is an imperative of equitable social developmen

Lignocellulosic Waste Degradation Potential of Some Cellulolytic Fungal Strains Isolated from Putrid Fruits

Fungi are plentiful in nature and they are found growing on wastes of wood materials. These wastes are equally found in our environment with no usefulness. The aim of this study was to exploit the probability of the isolated fungi from fruits to produce cellulase from wastes of lignocellulosic materials. Cellulase- producing fungi were isolated from fruits (tomato, banana, plantain). The organisms were screened for cellulase production. Culture conditions were optimized with pH, temperature and carbon. Cellulase was produced using lignocellulosic wastes; sawdust, corn cob, sugarcane bagasse. Six cellulase producers were isolated, four of which were selected for synthesis and quantification of the cellulase. The fungi were identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae4, Trichoderma species1 and Scopulariopsis brevicaulis1. Of all the tested substrates used in this study, pretreated sugarcane bagasse at 3% w/v concentration with Scopulariopsis brevicaulis gave highest cellulase production 18.18 U/mL at 40°C, 5day incubation time and pH 5, followed by Trichoderma with 12.39 U/mL. These fungi are good potentials cellulase producers that can be considered at industrial level