Women’s Access to Land and Economic Empowerment in Selected Nigerian Communities

Despite various land policies that prescribe rights to land in many societies, women remain marginalized in access to and economic utilization of land. This is widespread in rural communities where informal institutions such as customs and traditions subsist. In most of these communities, the patriarchal structure of families is championed by the informal institutions that support male dominance. This study focuses on economic empowerment of women as it encapsulates sustainable wealth of women. It provides answers to two main research questions: a) what kind of relationship exists between land access and empowerment of women? And b) how important are individual and household attributes in informing women’s empowerment through land rights? The empirical results of this study provide some new insights as they demonstrate how land rights influence women’s economic empowerment. The study also finds that women’s earning capacity reduces when they take up the responsibility of becoming the heads of households and that their income increases as they become more educate

An assessment of improved soyabean processing adoption in Dass local government area of Bauchi state, Nigeria

No Abstract. Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 6 (1) 2007: pp.73-7

Proposed cooking method for satisfactory flavour of Nigerian broiler consumers

Degrees of consumer flavour acceptability and overall palatability of 8–10 weeks old broiler chickens cooked by boiling and by roasting (the most commonly used cooking methods) were evaluated to know their influence, if any, which can be explored for satisfaction of consumers. A 6-member trained and experienced consumer sensory panel participated in the evaluation. Panelists scored samples from each cooking method for flavour desirability and overall acceptability on a 5–point descriptive scale. Scores of each individual panelist were used for statistical analysis. The results for evaluation showed that both cooking methods produced acceptable flavour. Boiled chickens however, had a significant higher overall palatability when compared with roasted chicken meat. It is concluded that although either method of cooking could provide satisfactory flavour and overall palatability, boiled broilers would provide better preference to roasted one and this could be explored to provide more consumer satisfaction. Keywords: flavour, broiler, consumers, cooking method, acceptabilityNigerian Food Journal Vol. 23 2005: 248-25

Processing and utilization of soyabean in Toro local government area of Bauchi state, Nigeria

This study examined home and village processing and utilization of improved technologies of soybean in Toro local Government Area (LGA), Bauchi State, Nigeria, Twenty soybean technologies were selected for the study. Interview schedule was used to seek information from the farmers on their socio-economic characteristics, information sources and adoption of soybean improved in technologies, processing and utilization using a trained enumerator. Purposive sampling technique was used to choose three villages where soybean is being produced and used. These included Tilde, Gumau and Nabordo. Four sources of information were instrumental to adoption in this study. The most widely used sources of information were social group, which ranked first (71%), extension ranked second (64%), while radio/television was the least used and ranked 9%. The result also showed that factors influencing adoption of these innovations included age, educational level, farm size and labor source. Out of 20 innovations available, 16 were adopted, while four were not adopted at all (soya kunu, soya yoghurt, soya puff-puff and soya pancake). Soya awara and soya daddawa seemed to be popularly known and adopted with as high as 91% and 60% respectively. This study indicated that more promotional activities from extension workers will create more awareness and increase the adoption of these innovations. International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Vol. 2 (4) 2006: pp. 366-37

Adoption of selected innovations in rice production and their effect on farmers living standard in Bauchi local government area, Bauchi state, Nigeria

This study focused on the adoption of five selected agricultural innovations in rice production and their effect on farmers' income and standard of living in Bauchi Local Government Area (LGA) of Bauchi State. The innovations are fertilizer, agrochemicals, improved seeds, machinery and sprayers. The farmers categorized into three groups; adopters, partial adopters and non – adopters were selected from five villages using systematic sampling technique. Simple random sampling technique was used for the selection of 82 rice growers from these villages. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that 38% of the respondents had no formal education and 90% had less than 2.5 hectares of land for rice cultivation. Average income per hectare of adopter war N22, 745.2 from rice products for that season, while that of partial adopters and non-adopters were N18, 931.8 and N 20, 885.7. Also 10% of adopters, 60% of partial adopters fell under high standard of living, 55% of adopters and 35% of partial adopters fell under middle standard of living, while 35% adopters, 59% partial adopters and 100% of non-adopters fell within low standard of living. This indicates that the more adoption of relevant agricultural innovations in rice production, the more increase in yield and income. There is the need for effective and direct distribution of farm inputs to the rural farmers at the on set of farming season and at subsidized rate. International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Vol. 2 (4) 2006: pp. 317-32

Involvement of civil servant in agricultural production in Mangu local government area of plateau state, Nigeria

No Abstract.International Journal of Tropical Agriculture and Food Systems Vol. 1 (3) 2007: pp. 267-26

Adoption of technology for rice production: A case study fo Bauchi Local Government area of Bauchi state, Nigeria

No Abstract.Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 5 (2) 2006: pp. 135-13

Nutritional-related diseases and management: newspaper education and dissemination

Newspapers record events on daily basis. Important events such as health, politics and other happenings, such as births, marriages and death are also recorded. This investigation identifies the newspapers that have information on health tips, these are Punch, The Nation and The Guardian. This study is designed to identify some common nutritional-related diseases and their food remedies in order to create awareness about the importance of healthy eating or dieting. This study does not involve all the information about health in all the Tuesdays and Thursdays newspapers. The papers used were those that met the interest of the researchers on nutritional diseases such as cancer, hypertension, diabetes, eye problems, arthritis and obesity and the problem of diet and nutrition. Data were collected from 20 daily newspapers that were purposively selected from the year 2012 to 2015 for the study. Data compiled were analysed using descriptive statistics and bar graph. The result revealed that the occurrence of newspaper issues on dieting and health had 43.4 percent followed by cancer 20.7 percent and diabetes and eye problems had 13.2 percent, while hypertension and obesity had 2 percent each. The study showed that many people are ignorant of the importance of eating a balanced diet and eating right to prevent nutritional diseases. This is why the newspapers topics or health tips on diet and nutrition had the highest percentage frequency, because of its importance the needed emphasis it requires. Therefore, it is suggested that government, health workers and extension organizations should create awareness and make nutritional education compulsory in schools and higher institutions in Nigeria. This will consequently, reduce the nutritional ignorance of people, the occurrence of nutritional-related diseases and death rate.Key word: Nutritional; diseases; newspaper; educatio

Optimization of Fabrication Technique to Prepare Acacia Wood Reinforced Bio-Composites

This chapter discuss the preparation and optimization of wood polymer composites based on the impregnation by polymer and nanoclay. Wood impregnation is one of the basic and most frequently used techniques to enhance the wood properties. This fabrication technique offers a wide range of applications depending on type of impregnants applied. Impregnation could make the wood less flammable, more dimensionally stable, more resistant to decay, harder, stronger, and more stable against UV rays. Softwood (Acacia) was impregnated with acrylonitrile, poly(vinyl) alcohol and organically nanoclay. The specimen preparation was carried out using the vacuum-chamber in a laboratory scale. The physical and mechanical properties of the modified wood were analyzed through Tensile and Flexural tests, SEM, FTIR, TGA and DSC. Mechanical test results shown that Tensile and Flexural strength have improvements with the addition of the nanofillers. The FTIR test shown that the chemical bonding between PVA into the wood cell would certainly enhance the matrix adhesion and contribute to its property enhancement. SEM illustrate the samples surface morphology which confirm the impregnation of the specimen. TGA results shown the additives impregnate into the wood component increase the thermal stability compared to the raw wood. DSC results indicate the impregnate wood has a higher melting temperature compared to the raw wood, due to existing of the polymer and nanoclay interfacial bonding among cell wall of the wood. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the conditions for the preparation of wood composites. The design experiment was carried out using Design Expert 11