Econometric Analysis of Factors Influencing Fuel Wood Demand in Rural and Peri-Urban Farm Households of Kogi State

This study was designed to determine variables influencing fuelwood demand in rural areas of Kogi State. Eighty households were randomly sampled from all the Agricultural Zones of the state. A 2SLS method was then used for estimation of the coefficients of the simultaneous equation model. The most significant determinants of fuelwood demand in the study area are the price of fuelwood, kerosene’s price, household size and personal incomes of the household heads. In light of this study’s findings, recommendations included reduction of kerosene prices, investment in renewable energy, cooking gas and electricity and use of agricultural extension agents to educate farmers on sustainable farming

Impact of Poverty Alleviation Programmes on Indigenous Women's Economic Empowerment in Nigeria: Evidence from Port Harcourt Metropolis

The study was designed to assess the impact of participation of Port Harcourt indigenous women in poverty eradication programmes in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study used questionnaires to elicit responses from 385 indigenous women randomly selected in a multi-stage technique. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used to analyze the data collected. Results showed that majority (58.3%) of the women were members of a cooperative society, 63.5 percent were members of community-based organizations (CBO) while 60.9 percent were members of “Esusu” (rotator credit schemes). About 66.3 percent of the women had engaged in jobs aimed at poverty alleviation. Only 6.0 percent identified that they were not members of any poverty alleviation programmes (PAP) by government. It was found that after joining the PAP, 75.5 percent of them experienced an increase in income of 36.6 percent. Significant differences existed in the income of the women after joining poverty alleviation programmes. It was therefore recommended that more programmes designed to alleviate poverty in Rivers State should target indigenous women; government should also establish entrepreneurship capacity-building programmes to enable women to bring out their optimal input while participating in the poverty eradication programmes

Economic Analysis of Climate Change Effects on Arable Crop Production in Nigeria

The study was designed to evaluate the effects of climate change on arable crops’ productivity, in Nigeria. It estimated the influence of climate factors on farm productivity (net revenue variability) in the country. The study relied mainly on institutional (NIMET) and primary data for its analysis. Data were obtained using a set of structured questionnaire administered in a multi-stage, stratified random sampling manner on arable crop farmers producing maize, rice, cassava, yam and cowpeas. Sixty (60) farmers each were randomly selected from 5 states in each of the five agro-climatic zones in Nigeria giving a total sample size of 300.  Data collected were analyzed using Ricardian model. It was found that rainfall and temperature variations, planting materials costs, household size and labour cost exerted statistically significant effects on level of gross margins.  Their elasticities were 1.199 (p <0.01), 8.219 (p <0.01), 0.108 (p < 0.05), 0.097(p <0.01) and 0.124 (p <0.05) respectively. Keywords: Climate variability, climate change risks, arable crop productivity, Ricardian Mode

Large-Scale Land Acquisitions by Foreign Investors in West Africa: Learning Points

Recent reports indicating that large portions of land (estimated 50-80m hectares) have been bought by international investors in middle- and low-income countries, with roughly two-thirds of those purchases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, calls for a cursory appraisal of the implications of the trend of land grabbing for West African food security. This study reviews cases of land grabbing by foreign investors in West Africa, identifies the possible drivers of large-scale land acquisition by foreign investors in the region, and discusses the implications of the findings for agricultural and land policy reforms in West Africa. Land transactions involving foreign investors have increased in the area over the past 10 years. Over 100,000 ha have been documented in Nigeria. Ghana and Mali have many significant transactions on land by foreign investors. Several investors have more than 100,000ha. Burkina Faso has one significant land transaction (200,000 ha) while Niger and Senegal have relatively small land transactions. Most lands grabbed in West Africa were profit driven (by biofuel investors) and were made under the guise of using the lands acquired for agricultural investments. There were noted dangers in the deals with respect to food security drive, food safety, environmental safety, employment generation, and land tenure threats, which endangered peace, sovereignty, and the economic wellbeing of citizens. We recommend applying a regional approach by African countries, implementing land reforms that will involve the local communities who own the land, stopping long-term leasing beyond 50 years, building capacity, and creating awareness about land transactions of large magnitudes

Contributions of financial sector reforms and credit supply to Nigerian agricultural sector (1978-2009)

This study analyzed the trends and pattern of institutional credit supply to agriculture during pre- and post-financial reforms along with their determinants. It then compared the effects of reform policies on access to institutional credits in Nigerian agricultural sector before and after the reforms (1978 - 1985; and 1986 -2009). Relying mainly on time series data from CBN and NBS, it used ordinary least squares method (linear, semi-log and double log) to model the determinants of banking sector lending to the agricultural sector during the review period. The models were subjected to several econometric tests before accepting one. Chow test was used to verify the presence of structural change in the selected equation before and after the reforms. Results indicated an exponentially increasing trend of agricultural credit supply in the economy after the reform began. Econometric analysis shows that stock market capitalization, interest rate and immediate past volume of credit guaranteed by ACGSF significantly influenced the quantity of institutional credit supplied to the agricultural sector over the period in review. There was a significant difference between the credit supply function during the pre-reform and post reform periods. It was recommended that government must consider interest rate regulation as a veritable tool for making credit accessible to farmers at affordable levels; increase fund allocation to ACGSF; boost monitoring capacity of CBN on banks generally and strengthen the microfinance banks to be more responsive to agricultural credit needs

Econometric Analysis of Influences of Trade Openness, Economic Growth and Urbanization on Greenhouse Gas Emission in Africa (1960-2010)

This study investigated the influences of economic growth, increased urbanization and trade openness on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Africa. The study used time series data accessed from World Bank Data Base and Environmental Information Association (EIA) covering 51 years (1960-2010). The data were subjected to various econometric tests including Unit root tests before applying the bound test for cointegration using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL). It was found that GDP growth rate (p<0.05) and trade openness (p<0.05) were the major long-run and short-run determinants of emissions (Green House Gas emissions) on the continent. The findings which agreed with other environmental economists’ and Kuznet’s postulation informed us to recommend that African countries should begin to take proactive measures that will bring about green economy on the continent. Keywords: Green House Gas Emission in Africa, Economic Growth, Trade Openness, Urbanizatio

Determinants of Market Participation in Nigerian Small-Scale Fishery Sector: Evidence from Niger Delta Region

This study was designed to determine the factors that influence fisher farmers to participate in the marketing of their produce in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A total of 120 fish farmers were randomly selected for the study. The data gathered through the use of a structured questionnaire were analyzed using the logistic regression model. The probability of participating in fish marketing was significantly determined by household size, distant to the nearest marketing channel, price of the commodity and sex of the fish farmer/marketer. Market infrastructure development, provision of marketing incentives to women and development of an institutionalized marketing information service are recommended

Formulation and characterization of artemether-loaded sodium alginate microcapsules

Purpose: To increase the solubility of artemether (ART) in Transcutol® HP through microencapsulation in sodium alginate polymer to achieve  sustained in vivo release.Method: Graded concentrations of ART (0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 g) microcapsules were produced using Tween® 80 by the cold  homogenization method at 24 x 1000 rpm for 15 min. Characterization based on yield, encapsulation efficiency (EE), particle size, pH stability,  differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and in vivo release using Peter’s four-day suppressive protocol in Wistar mice infected with Plasmodium berghei, were determined.Results: The results obtained indicate that 0.5 g ART-loaded microcapsules (AMC) showed the highest yield of 96.85 %. The EE of 88.3 %  corresponded to 0.75 g ART-loaded microcapsules. DSC results revealed that there was a significant reduction in enthalpy in all the formulations compared to the crystalline drug, but no strong bond interaction occurred except for the blank microcapsules. The AMC1.0 showed high dose-dependent plasmodial growth inhibition of 88.75 % while AMC0.25 had the least (68.13 %).Conclusion: The artemether microcapsules showed sustained release characteristics for oral delivery of artemether and therefore may reduce some of the adverse effects associated with high dose artemether therapy in conventional oral tablets. Keywords: Malaria, Artemether, Transcutol® HP, Sustained-release, RBC count, Antiplasmodial activit

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke — the second leading cause of death worldwide — were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry1,2. Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were highly correlated across ancestries. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping, in silico mutagenesis analysis3, and transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association analyses revealed putative causal genes (such as SH3PXD2A and FURIN) and variants (such as at GRK5 and NOS3). Using a three-pronged approach4, we provide genetic evidence for putative drug effects, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as possible targets, with drugs already under investigation for stroke for F11 and PROC. A polygenic score integrating cross-ancestry and ancestry-specific stroke GWASs with vascular-risk factor GWASs (integrative polygenic scores) strongly predicted ischaemic stroke in populations of European, East Asian and African ancestry5. Stroke genetic risk scores were predictive of ischaemic stroke independent of clinical risk factors in 52,600 clinical-trial participants with cardiometabolic disease. Our results provide insights to inform biology, reveal potential drug targets and derive genetic risk prediction tools across ancestries

Voluntary Risk Disclosure in Corporate Annual Reports: An Empirical Review

Corporate governance scandals and the global financial crisis have led to calls for better risk disclosure. However, such disclosure may be stifled by the proprietary cost hypothesis that firms limit voluntary disclosure to avoid risk of adverse actions. Against this background, several studies have examined the determinants of risk disclosure in corporate annual reports. The purpose of this paper is to review empirical evidences on risk disclosure determinants in the literature. The researcher uses qualitative-archival research methodology, involving secondary information obtained from journal articles, MSc dissertation and finance texts. It is discovered that most of the findings suffered from discrepancies and inconsistency even though the studies under review are characterized by methodological similarities in the employment of regression analysis and sampled companies namely: listed non-financial firms. The study concludes that no globally accepted risk disclosure determinants exist at present and offer that policy makers put in place a framework for risk disclosure pattern of companies to ensure credible, comparable, consistent and easy to follow but tough to escape material risk reporting around the globe. Besides, extending the frontiers of knowledge on risk disclosure to developing economy, the paper gives the ongoing debate on risk disclosure determinants a global approach towards contributing to search on convergent risk reporting dynamics. Keywords: Annual reports, Determinants, Risk, Voluntary disclosure, Proprietary cost, Non-financial firms