An Inventory of Medicinal Plants used to Treat Gynaecological-Obstetric-Urino-Genital Disorders in South Nandi Sub County in Kenya

This survey aims at identifying plants that may contribute to the identification and development of new drugs.An ethnomedicinal survey was conducted among the communities in Aldai Division, South Nandi Sub County, Kenya. A total of 56 plants were documented with 30 families are included. The majority of species belong to the families namely Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae, Apocynaceae and Fabaceae. Over half of all plants recorded are used treat infections, while ¼ for used labour-child birth and copulation disorders. Keywords: Ethnomedicine, gynaecological-obstetric-urinary, medicinal plants, Nandi

Couples’ social characteristics, family planning, and unwanted pregnancy risk: Evidence from two Nigerian Demographic and Health Surveys

Increased cases of child abandonment, homeless and street children in developing countries are traceable to proportionate rates of unwanted pregnancies. Such pregnancies impose hardships on households and increased social vices in society. In Nigeria, baby factories are continually being discovered in almost every state, thereby raising concerns about the exposure of women to the dangers of unwanted pregnancies. In order to contribute to the government’s efforts to control unwanted pregnancies in Nigeria, this study examined the effects of couples’ social characteristics and family planning methods on unwanted pregnancies in Nigeria. We applied the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method of regression analysis because of its efficiency and unbiased property in statistical analysis. Survey data from the 2013 and 2018 Nigeria’s Demographic and Health Surveys were used in the analysis. Results indicated that the more family planning methods are used in Nigeria, the fewer unwanted pregnancies will occur. Furthermore, the social characteristics of men are more important than those of women in predicting unwanted pregnancies. Based on other findings, literacy campaign in the Northern Nigeria where literacy rate is low, more counselling on the importance of modern family planning, and use of different strategies in population health awareness campaign across the different regions in Nigeria is encouraged.   Les cas accrus d'abandon d'enfants, de sans-abri et d'enfants des rues dans les pays en développement sont attribuables à des taux proportionnés de grossesses non désirées. De telles grossesses imposent des difficultés aux ménages et augmentent les vices sociaux dans la société. Au Nigeria, des usines à bébés sont continuellement découvertes dans presque tous les États, ce qui soulève des inquiétudes quant à l'exposition des femmes aux dangers des grossesses non désirées. Afin de contribuer aux efforts du gouvernement pour contrôler les grossesses non désirées au Nigeria, cette étude a examiné les effets des caractéristiques sociales des couples et des méthodes de planification familiale sur les grossesses non désirées au Nigeria. Nous avons appliqué la méthode d'analyse de régression des moindres carrés ordinaires (OLS) en raison de son efficacité et de sa propriété impartiale dans l'analyse statistique. Les données d'enquête des enquêtes démographiques et de santé du Nigéria de 2013 et 2018 ont été utilisées dans l'analyse. Les résultats ont indiqué que plus les méthodes de planification familiale sont utilisées au Nigeria, moins il y aura de grossesses non désirées. De plus, les caractéristiques sociales des hommes sont plus importantes que celles des femmes pour prédire les grossesses non désirées. Sur la base d'autres résultats, une campagne d'alphabétisation dans le nord du Nigéria, où le taux d'alphabétisation est faible, davantage de conseils sur l'importance de la planification familiale moderne et l'utilisation de différentes stratégies dans les campagnes de sensibilisation à la santé de la population dans les différentes régions du Nigéria sont encouragé

Dynamics of Population, Urban Agglomeration and Economic Growths in Sub-Saharan Africa : Evidence from Panel Data

Open Access via Wiley publishing agreement.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Segmentation in Agriculture and Farmers’ Productivity: Evidence from Survey of Poultry Farms

The World Bank intervened in Nigeria agriculture in 2009 to increase productivity in 5 farm areas, namely-poultry, rice, maize, cashew and pineapple farming through the value chain strategy. Agricultural activity was segmented and farmers were encouraged to go into one farm operation only. Proponents of the segmentation argue that it holds the key to solving the low agricultural productivity in developing counties because farmers will only specialize in one farm area. That is, specialization will enable the farmer to innovates better ways of tackling problems, time the market and planting period to mitigate climate change. The aim of the research is to examine the effects of the segmentation practice on the productivity of Poultry farmers in Nigeria, using a survey data. Result from the survey using regression analysis did not support encouraging segmentation in poultry farming. This is because poultry farmers who engaged in more than one poultry practice had more yield of egg per bird. The lesson for agricultural policy is that farmers should be encouraged to engage in multiple farming practice

Government Spending Pattern and Macroeconomic Stability in Nigeria: A Vector Autoregressive (VAR) Model

Macroeconomic stability has not kept pace with the pattern of Public sector spending in majority of the developing countries. Unfortunately, past studies have mainly focused on the consequences of aggregate government spending on macroeconomic variables, or at most disaggregated government spending into capital and recurrent. In order to use government spending to effectively bring macroeconomic stability in developing countries, government spending must be decomposed according to sectors. Only very few studies have done this. We made effort to find out the components of government spending that cause macroeconomic instability in Nigeria, using Vector Autoregressive (VAR) Model. Result reveals government capital expenditure on economic services is the major cause of inflation in Nigeria. Impulse response function shows inflation will respond very sharp and positively to any shock in government capital spending in economic sector and social and community services. Therefore, if government must pursue economic stability through inflation control, she must re-examine her investment in those sectors. Keywords: Government, Spending, Pattern, Macroeconomic, Stability JEL Classifications: H5, E

REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT: THE CASE OF ASEAN COUNTRIES

ABSTRAC

Deconstructing gender myths in Margaret Ogola’s I Swear by Apollo and Marjorie Macgoye’s Victoria and Murder in Majengo

This paper explores how Margaret Ogola, in I Swear by Apollo, and Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, in Victoria and Murder in Majengo, deploy narrative strategies to debunk/(de)construct gender myths as perpetuated by traditional gender roles, marriage and family, and sexuality. It further interrogates how the authors champion religion and education as major factors to catalyse paradigm shift from tradition to modernity, focusing on the significance of location and culture in justifying the paradigm shifts in people’s attitudes and conceptualization of gender and power concerns. Ogola and Macgoye’s attempt to redefine family is examined by illuminating new perspectives that counter traditional concept of family. Within this conceptualization is the changing reality that destabilizes myths on roles and responsibilities of men and women, that is, division of labour by sex within family and society at large, against changing social trends. In so doing, the paper examines modernity, particularly the influence of location and culture, as factors that deconstruct gender myths. The concept of modernity, that is, myths behind modernity, relationship between traditional African and western/modern cultures, are examined in light of how it influences gender and power play. We consider the different approaches Ogola and Macgoye in I Swear by Apollo and Victoria and Murder in Majengo, respectively, give to challenges of life supported by a new culture and modernity in a new cultural space provided by modern contexts

Does Incentive Improve Export Performance of Firms? An Evidence

Trade is an engine of growth, and favourable international trade is essential to attain internal and external stability. In recent times, many developing countries, including Nigeria, have chosen the path of export incentives as the means of achieving a favourable international trade balance. The paradigm shift is a pointer that globalization has made international trade very competitive and firms in less developed countries are at the receiving end. The present study examined the effect of export incentives on the export performance of Nigerian firms. Data were collected through a survey of 60 firms that benefited from export expansion grants (EEG). The Fixed Effect method was adopted in the study. The result shows that the export performance of the firms improved significantly with the export expansion grant. It then suggests that if the country implements all its incentive programmes, the country's external trade will improve significantly