The Economic Role of Nigeria’s Subsistence Agriculture in the Transition Process: Implications for Rural Development

This study examined the role of subsistence-oriented agriculture in Nigeria in the 1990s to 2000s. The start out by discussing the diverging economic effects of the growth of subsistence agriculture in Nigeria since the transition process started. The quantitative analysis of this sector’s role is carried out by means of an applied Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model applying a 1994 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) as base year data. The innovation of the article is to disaggregate primary agricultural production not by products but by farm types, which enables us to distinguish their institutional and economic characteristics. The study simulates two Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the government. The results of the post SAP period highlight that Nigeria’s subsistence agriculture was an important shock absorber against further agricultural output declines during transition. A simulation, which looks into the effects of a devaluation of the Nigeria Naira, shows that the financial crisis should have increased the relative competitiveness particularly of large-scale crop farms versus small-scale farms. The reforms of successive governments show that efficiency enhancing institutional change would benefit both large-scale and small-scale farms. However, within small-scale agriculture, a shift from subsistence to commercial agriculture would take place.Subsistence agriculture, CGE model, Exchange rate, Institutional Development, Structural Constraints, Nigeria, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth in Nigeria

The paper seeks to examine the relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in Nigeria using the Johansen and Juselius Co-integration technique based on the Cobb-Douglas growth model covering the period 1980-2008. The study adopted also conducted the Vector Error Correction Modelling and the Pairwise Granger Causality test in order to empirically ascertain the error correction adjustment and direction of causality between electricity consumption and economic growth. The study found the existence of a unique co-integrating relationship among the variables in the model with the indicator of electricity consumption impacting significantly on growth. Also, the study shows an evidence of bi-directional causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth. Prominent among the policy recommendation, is the need to strengthen the effectiveness of energy generating agencies by ensuring periodic replacement of worn-out equipment in order to drastically curtail transmission power losses

Effects Of Adoption Of Improved Varieties Of Cassava Stem On Income In Cassava-Based Farm Holdings In Delta State, Nigeria

The study examines the adoption of improved varieties of cassava on income generation and factors that influence adoption process. Purposive sampling was used in the collection of primary data. Ten local Government Areas (LGAs) were identified as major cassava growers in the state out of which 4 LGAs were randomly selected. Questionnaire was used to obtain data from 370 cassava growers. However, 350 observations were found useful for subsequentanalysis. The result of the finding shows that awareness level of improved varieties was high (88.6%) while 250 (80.7%) respondents adopted the improved varieties. Farmers that adopted the improved varieties received revenue of N46330 higher than non-adopters. Cassava growers adoption score, education, access to marketing facilities and extension facilities identified as factors influencing higher income and facilitates adoption process. Hence, increase use of these factors can facilitate adoption process and enhanced increase income

Analysis of table egg production as a livelihood activity in Ekiti state

This paper examines table egg production, as a livelihood activity in Ekiti Stat, Nigeriae Table egg production needs to be economically analyzed to determine its profitability. To be able to achieve this, variables such as socio-economics characteristics of the producers, cost and returns of table egg activity, constraints of production need to be considered. The study was conducted in Ekiti State, Nigeria.Eighty table egg producers who were available at poultry farmers’ monthly meeting at the time of data collection were purposively sampled for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data and this was analyzed using frequency count, percentages, linear regression was also used. The result showed that average age of the respondents was 43 years. All the respondents have formal education. Sixty-one point two percent of respondents were male while 38.8% were female, most (81.2%) of the respondents use deep litter system. The result of regression analysis showed that 30.7% of the variation in returns from table egg production was explained by the independent variables. These comprised of number of numbers of birds kept (0.262) and type of production system used (0.214), which were significant at 5% level. Also, hired labour (0.345) was significant at 1% level. However, family labour (-0.280) had a negative coefficient and significant at 5% level

Teachers‟ Experience and Students‟ Numerical Proficiency in Solving Physics Problems in Secondary Schools

This paper examined the influence of teachers „experience on students‟ numerical proficiency in solving physics problems in secondary school in north central zone of Nigeria. SS 111 physics teachers from sixty co-educational secondary schools were selected using purposive sampling technique. (Sixty co-educational secondary schools and their SSS111 physics teachers were selected using purposeful sampling technique). The population of teachers that participated in the study was sixty (60). Thirty nine of the schools were taught by experienced physics teachers and twenty one schools by less experienced physics teachers. The Sampled students were made up of 300 males and 300 females. Data collected through Numerical Proficiency Test and Physics Teachers Problem Solving questionnaire were subjected to t-test. Five null hypotheses were formed and tested at 5% level of significance. Results show that numerical proficiency of students taught by experienced teachers were better than those taught by less experienced teachers. There was no significant difference in the numerical proficiency of male and female students taught by less-experienced physics teachers. However, there was significant gender difference in numerical proficiency of those students taught by experienced teachers. It was concluded that students taught by experienced teachers were numerically more proficient than their counterparts taught by les experienced physics teachers.Key words: Teacher‘s experience, numerical proficiency, problem solving, secondary school physics, student

Wind Power Generation, a Review of the Doubly Fed Induction Generator

In recent years, there’s been a renewed interest in renewable energy sources due to environmentalproblems and the eventual shortage of fossil fuels. Wind energy made considerable strides especially inEurope, particularly Denmark and Germany [1, 2]. Wind is a source of energy which has gained popularityin the last few years, coupled with the fact that it is a non-polluting and renewable energy source withminimal costs involved in operating expenses. A lot of distribution systems use this energy source for theirpower supply. A lot of generators are in use with wind as a source of energy, however the most commonlyused generator in modern times, and especially with units above 1 MW is the doubly fed induction generator(DFIG). This paper aims to look at the features of the doubly fed induction generator which has made it anenviable bride in wind power generation

The Problem of Evil and the Probity of Theodicy from William Rowe\u27s Evidential Evidential of Evil

In this research, we discussed the types of evil: moral and natural, which are cited by atheistic philosophers as evidence against the existence of God. The so-called evidence from evil has been used by the atheistic and other non-theistic scholars to raise hypothesis on evaluating the possibility or likelihood that an omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good God exists in a world that is littered with evil. Moral evil is evil that arise from the misuse of free will by moral agents, while natural evils are natural disasters such as: earthquakes, famine, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes etc. We discussed moral evil and Plantinga’s free will defense. We also discussed the natural evil and how it poses threat to theism. The logical and the evidential arguments from evil are the forms of arguments developed from moral and natural evils. While many scholars have agreed that Plantinga’s free will defense adequately responds to the problem of logical evil, the same consensus does not necessarily apply to the evidential argument from evil. We also examined William Rowe’s evidential argument which he developed from cases of intense animal and human sufferings considered by him to be pointless or gratuitous with no known reasons or goods for which God should have allowed the visceral experience of such sufferings. The work of Rowe and other non-theistic philosophers have made evidential evil a relevant and predominantly modern argument, addressing real life cases of animal and human sufferings, thereby making a case for atheism and also creating an awareness for not just the irrationality of theism but also the problem of the probity, morality, or rightness of doing theodicy. We also considered the works of other atheistic, and even some theistic scholars, who argue against the morality and rightness of doing theodicy. Some of these scholars consider theodicy to be a failed enterprise simply because, according to them, it ignores or suppresses the effects of horrendous and terrible evils that human beings and animals experience. Many theistic scholars on the other hand reject the notion that theodicy ignores suffering by developing various positively moral reasons to support not just the plausibility of theism but also to demonstrate that theodicies have successfully provided answers to problem of evil. The thesis of this research examines various problems associated with evils and the effects of Rowe’s instances of intense suffering on the enterprise of theodicy. It challenges the act of theodicy and questions its morality on the basis of its purposes, goals, attitudes, problems, truth, and accomplishment. This research concludes that theodicy is not a failed enterprise, but it is the only rational explanation to the problem of evil and the only option that gives hope and comfort with respect to the effects of various intense and horrendous evil in our world