Micronutrient-rich food consumption, intra-household food allocation and child stunting in rural Nigeria

Objective: Children from rural households are often deprived of adequate micronutrient intakes either from food or supplementation. The present study examines: (i) the determinants of households’ micronutrient-rich food consumption; and (ii) the combined effect of vitamin A supplementation and micronutrient-rich food consumption on child stunting in households with different food allocation patterns. Design: Cross-sectional study. Households’ micronutrient-rich food consumption frequency and vitamin A supplementation were used as a proxy measure for child micronutrient intakes. Intra-household food allocation patterns were assessed from caregivers’ perception of the disparity in food distribution within the household. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were employed in analysing the study’s objectives. Setting: Rural communities in Kwara State, Nigeria. Participants: Included 419 children aged 6–59 months and 413 households. Results: Owning small livestock and a refrigerator, knowledge of micronutrient-rich foods and higher parental education had strong associations with households’ micronutrient-rich food consumption. Children from households that consumed micronutrient-rich foods and received more diverse diets were less likely to experience stunting. The combined effect of micronutrient-rich food consumption and vitamin A supplementation was stronger on the likelihood of stunting reduction than the separate effect of each. Conclusions: Assets ownership, human capital and knowledge of micronutrient-rich foods improve consumption of micronutrient-rich foods among the study population. Micronutrient supplementation to children with poor access to micronutrient-rich foods may not substantially enhance child growth unless reinforced through consumption of micronutrient-rich foods. Fruit and vegetable gardening, livestock holdings and nutrition education to parents should be integral parts of community nutrition programming

Accelerating Rural Growth Through Collective Action: Groups\u27 Activities and Determinants of Participation in Southwestern Nigeria

This study was conducted to investigate the types of activities promoted by cooperative groups and the determinants of participation intensity of members in cooperative activities in southwestern Nigeria. A multistage sampling approach was used to select 326 cooperators (45 groups). Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, difference of means test, and Tobit regression.Cooperative groups engaged in farm and off-farm activities such as arable crop production, fish farming, agricultural products processing, and produce marketing, among others. Farm input procurements and access to market information (74 percent), cooperative credits and thrift (53 percent), social networking (37 percent), multipurpose commercial activities (21.6 percent), and political influence (17 percent) were given as reasons for interest and participation in groups\u27 activities. Income realized by cooperators was significantly and consistently higher than income of non-cooperators who engaged in the same economic activity. Participation intensity was influenced by gender, farm size cultivated, and the social status of members

Public Library Service to Children in Selected State Library Boards in Nigeria

Abstract The paper focused on public library service to children in selected State Library Boards in Nigeria. Public library service is expected to be enjoyed by all the people living in the community where it is located. Adults, young adults, children, literates, and illiterates are being served by public libraries in all parts of the world. These categories of users have specific spaces where they are to be served in the public library. The children’s section is one of the sections to be provided for in every public library in every part of the world. This section provides resources and services to various categories of children in the library. Children develop reading skills, acquire cultural knowledge, and learn inquiry skills etc at a tender age in the public library which is to be complimented by the school library. With the numerous benefits derived by the children from using their section, some shortcomings have been observed. The researchers therefore investigated the state of the section in some selected library boards in Nigeria. Six selected public libraries in Nigeria were visited and observed to identify the state of the children section. Findings from the study revealed among others: 6(100%) selected libraries have provision and space for children’s library but only 1(16.7%) space was adequate; all the libraries provided textbooks and storybooks for children but their information resources were fairly current. Recommendations for improvement of service to children in public libraries in Nigeria were made from the findings of the study. Keywords: Children; Library; Public; Service; Nigeria

Information Communication Technologies Utilization and Profitability of Catfish Farming in Ijebu-Ode Zone of the Agricultural Development Programme, Ogun State

The effect of information communication technologies utilization on profitability was examined among 120 catfish farmers drawn through a multistage sampling procedure. Data were elicited with the aid of a structured questionnaire, analysed using percentages, budgetary technique and multiple regression model. Agricultural media information sources utilized by the farmers include mobile phone (79.2%), television (76.7%) and radio (68.3%).  The result revealed that ?592,448.90 was expended as cost per annum on fish production with ?970,700.54 as revenue and a gross margin of ?438,880.28 among ICT users while for non-ICT users ?652,067.47, ?1,026,428.66 and ?427,337.41 were obtained as total cost, revenue and gross margin respectively.  A value of 0.64 realized on the investment among ICT users implies that for every ?1 invested in catfish farming, ?1.64 is gotten as returns, leaving a profit of ?0.64 while a profit of ?0.57 is realized among non-ICT users. The factors that determine the profitability of catfish farming include household size (10%), input cost (1%) and television usage (5%) as agricultural media information source. Catfish farmers who utilized ICT have a higher profit level than non-users. Efforts and policies that will promote the farmers’ timely availability and accessibility of agricultural information, particularly through television is recommended

Information Communication Technologies Utilization and Profitability of Catfish Farming in Ijebu-Ode Zone of the Agricultural Development Programme, Ogun State

The effect of information communication technologies utilization on profitability was examined among 120 catfish farmers drawn through a multistage sampling procedure. Data were elicited with the aid of a structured questionnaire, analysed using percentages, budgetary technique and multiple regression model. Agricultural media information sources utilized by the farmers include mobile phone (79.2%), television (76.7%) and radio (68.3%).  The result revealed that ?592,448.90 was expended as cost per annum on fish production with ?970,700.54 as revenue and a gross margin of ?438,880.28 among ICT users while for non-ICT users ?652,067.47, ?1,026,428.66 and ?427,337.41 were obtained as total cost, revenue and gross margin respectively.  A value of 0.64 realized on the investment among ICT users implies that for every ?1 invested in catfish farming, ?1.64 is gotten as returns, leaving a profit of ?0.64 while a profit of ?0.57 is realized among non-ICT users. The factors that determine the profitability of catfish farming include household size (10%), input cost (1%) and television usage (5%) as agricultural media information source. Catfish farmers who utilized ICT have a higher profit level than non-users. Efforts and policies that will promote the farmers’ timely availability and accessibility of agricultural information, particularly through television is recommended

Information Communication Technologies Utilization and Profitability of Catfish Farming in Ijebu-Ode Zone of the Agricultural Development Programme, Ogun State

The effect of information communication technologies utilization on profitability was examined among 120 catfish farmers drawn through a multistage sampling procedure. Data were elicited with the aid of a structured questionnaire, analysed using percentages, budgetary technique and multiple regression model. Agricultural media information sources utilized by the farmers include mobile phone (79.2%), television (76.7%) and radio (68.3%).  The result revealed that ?592,448.90 was expended as cost per annum on fish production with ?970,700.54 as revenue and a gross margin of ?438,880.28 among ICT users while for non-ICT users ?652,067.47, ?1,026,428.66 and ?427,337.41 were obtained as total cost, revenue and gross margin respectively.  A value of 0.64 realized on the investment among ICT users implies that for every ?1 invested in catfish farming, ?1.64 is gotten as returns, leaving a profit of ?0.64 while a profit of ?0.57 is realized among non-ICT users. The factors that determine the profitability of catfish farming include household size (10%), input cost (1%) and television usage (5%) as agricultural media information source. Catfish farmers who utilized ICT have a higher profit level than non-users. Efforts and policies that will promote the farmers’ timely availability and accessibility of agricultural information, particularly through television is recommended

Food demand, nutrition and policy analysis in Nigeria

Higher food prices, dwindling purchasing power and socio-economic inequalities are crucial factors promoting under-nutrition in Nigeria. Previous efforts to enhance food consumption and nutrition achieved limited successes as most of the interventions focused largely on food supply with little detailed appraisal of drivers of food demand, especially at the household level. Consequently, this study examines the structure of food demand among households with emphasis on price and income as key variables on which interventions can be built to boost food consumption and nutrition. The study utilises the Nigeria Living Standard Survey and the food price data for 2003/2004 from the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria for analyses while employing the double-hurdle model, nutrient deficiency index and a pro-undernourished policy index as analytical tools. A Bayesian (Gibbs sampler) approach is used to estimate the almost ideal demand system (AIDS) model within the framework of the multivariate double-hurdle model. The ensuing demand elasticities indicate food demand patterns characterised by substitutability and complementarity relationships among food subgroups. Approximately 3.99 million people in Nigeria could have been pushed into hunger and calorific under-nutrition as a result of the recent global food price crises. Higher per capita food consumption and accelerated attainment of the Millennium Development Goals on nutrition can be achieved in Nigeria if future economic growth is accompanied by pro-poor income redistribution strategies. A universal transfer strategy or a targeting mechanism with broader scope than the child targeting mechanism being used under the existing conditional cash transfer scheme might be more efficient in reducing under-nutrition among poor households in Nigeria. Although the results suggest that a food stamp scheme would be more cost-effective in raising food consumption and nutrition among the neediest household groups in the country than a cash transfer intervention, its introduction should be considered with some circumspection.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Demand for Diverse Diets: Evidence from Nigeria

Consumption of diverse diets is an important factor in promoting good health and nutrition. Most of the studies on food demand in developing countries focused largely on the quantity consumed of specific foods or food-groups with marginalized attention on dietary diversity. This study examines the extent of food consumption diversity and the factors influencing demand for diverse foods in Nigeria using micro-data on 18191 households. The transformed versions (logistic transformation) of Berry and Entropy measures of dietary diversity were used as regressands in the econometrics models employed for analysis. Low-income households and households whose heads are females or without formal education have lower than the norm in terms of diversity in food consumption. Income, food prices (captured by food price index), access to remittance, educational attainment up to secondary school, sex of household head and spatial factors are important determinants of demand for varied diets. Income improvement strategy, renewed emphasis on nutrition education especially in secondary schools, efforts to curtail food price inflation and sensitively-guided gender-based interventions are advocated, among others. Findings call for evaluation of the extent to which policy actions in agriculture and other relevant sectors weaken or advance diet diversity in order to devise holistic strategies for nutrition and health

Affordability of Healthy and Sustainable Diets in Nigeria

This study examines the cost and affordability of healthy diets in Nigeria. Using the 2015/16 and 2018/19 waves of Nigeria General Household Surveys, we find that, generally, the least-cost options to meet dietary recommendations for vegetables, dairy, and protein-rich foods are more expensive to meet than that of other food groups. Despite improvements during the survey years, the challenges of affordability of healthy diets appear more pronounced in rural than urban, among poorest household groups, and in northern than southern Nigeria. Results suggest that it will be more expensive to meet the dietary recommendation for dairy foods if priority will be given for food systems sustainability over concerns for food preferences of the households. It will however be cheaper to achieve dietary recommendations for vegetables, fruits and starchy staples even when households give more consideration to food systems sustainability than tastes and preferences in their choice of healthy foods. Relative affordability of protein-rich foods are less affected by whether (or not) tastes/preferences or food systems sustainability drives healthy food choices. Key implication is that interventions targeting on affordability of healthy diets should give greater attention to the poorest of the poor, to rural than urban, and to northern than southern Nigeria. Implications relevant for research, policy, and other actors that focus on transformation of the food systems toward achieving healthier diets in a sustainable food systems are discussed

QUALITY OF LIFE FOR OCCUPATIONAL RISKS OF COCOA FARM WORKERS IN NIGERIA

Research background: Cocoa remains the Nigeria’s highest foreign exchange earner among all agricultural commodities, Contributed 12.5-14% of the national GDP. Currently, Nigeria is the fourth largest cocoa producing country in the world, produced approximately 328,652 tons annually. Occupational risk is a major factor reducing productivity of farm workers as it impairs physical capacity and increase vulnerability to ill health, diseases and injuries. Risk of agrochemical exposure has been attributed to work demand and unhealthy work environment. Purpose of the article: This study aimed to estimate life quality for agrochemical exposure risks of cocoa farm workers in Ondo state Nigeria. The study specifically estimates the amount an individual willingness to pay by respondents for occupational risk reduction. Methods: Multistage sampling technique that guaranteed cocoa farmers who could provide desired information on the basis of the objectives of the study was adopted for the study. Random selection of 180 cocoa farm workers from the study area. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and percentage) and Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) approach that dovetailed into choice modelling and conditional logistic regression were the analytical tools used. Findings & Value added: the result revealed that 74% of the cocoa farm workers are on active age and mainly male with the mean age of 46 years. Most of the workers are illiterate that cannot read instructions on the agrochemical container. Average workers are willing to pay 830 Nigerian naira for personal protective equipment, 92 Nigerian naira for 15% wage discount as financial benefit of workplace injuries and 1024 Nigerian naira for training of workers in pesticide usage. The study concluded that better health conditions and appropriate use of personal protective equipment minimize the occupational risk. It was therefore recommended that educational programmes that will enhance farmer’s knowledge, skills and attitude to use safe methods (appropriate use of protective equipment) in pesticide usage should be adequately planned. Appropriate use of personal protective equipment to reduce exposure to agrochemicals and the risks involved in the misuse and abuse of agrochemicals should be adopted