Extent of mobile phone technology use in marketing agricultural products in Ankpa L.G.A Kogi State, Nigeria

This study examined the extent of use of mobile phone technology in marketing agricultural products in Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi State. The study specifically described the socioeconomic characteristics of agricultural products marketers, extent of mobile phones usage in marketing agricultural product and the challenges associated with the use of mobile phones by the marketers. Two-stage random sampling technique was employed to select 120 agricultural products marketers and questionnaires were administered to them. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics and mean score from a Likert - type scale. Results from the study revealed that the marketers were dominated by (76.67%). Also, majority (70.8%) of the respondents were married, and had between male 1 to 10 years of experience in marketing. The results on extent of mobile phone usage revealed that it was used in obtaining prevailing market price ( = 3.91), getting updates on market situations ( = 3.78), level of demand of products ( = 3.25) to a great extent. The major challenges faced by the respondents in using the mobile device to market their products were lack of electricity (=3.75), network failure (=3.50), high tariff charges by operators (=3.38), and the high cost of mobile phones (=3.22). It is recommended that concerted efforts should be made by the government in stabilizing power supply in the country, so that the problem of power supply associated with the used of mobile phones in marketing of agricultural products can be resolved, and that the network service providers should make available toll-free lines where exchange of information related strictly to agriculture could be exchanged. &nbsp

Assessing the level of community involvement in post-disaster housing reconstruction and current green design practices towards net-zero energy buildings

The post-disaster housing reconstruction (PDHR) is a process discrete from the construction of housing when circumstances are undisturbed because sensitive measures are put in place following disasters occurrence. Most of the time, the successfulness of emergency relief efforts are usually recorded but the same cannot be said of PDHR projects because they often fail to meet sustainability factors. These days, the topic of sustainable building has become a leading concern in the academic, construction industries, and governmental agencies. Sustainability in the building sector has shifted emphasis towards a new concept called net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs). Data collection was done through a self-administration of structured questionnaires to 257 flood victims involved in the reconstruction projects. Findings indicated that community involvement in resource mobilisation and reconstruction process was insignificant due to misplacement of reconstruction priorities. This is capable of determining the failure of the project as beneficiaries’ requirements were not considered, and the construction industry is still unaware of NZEBs. This study is vital as stakeholders beginning with flood victims will have a more resilient housing, the government will be updated with robust strategies to solving resourcing and reconstruction issues, and donors will have value for their money

Socioeceonomic characteristics influencing participation in national poverty eradication programmein Dekina local government area of Kogi State, Nigeria

This study assessed the influence of socio-economic characteristics of National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) participants in Dekina local government area of Kogi state, Nigeria.. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain 52 NAPEP Data were collected using well structured questionnaire and analysed through the use of descriptive statistics and multiple regression. Findings indicate that 67.0% of the participants were male while 32% were female. About 40.0% of the participants were of the age range of 44-53 years and 62% were married with 60.0% having a household size of 5-8 persons. About 95.0% of the participants had one form of formal education or the other with 38% having trading as their major occupation. Furthermore, the regression result shows that age, household size, educational level, and membership of co-operative group positively affect respondents’ decision to participate in NAPEP. The implication of the result is that older people with larger household, formal education and are members of co-operative group will willingly participate in NAPEP to alleviate poverty and diversify livelihood means. Also, age, marital status, educational level and household size were significant at various levels of probability. Therefore, it implies that participation in NAPEP is influenced by the significant variables. Youth should be encouraged to participate and involve in cooperative societies’ activities as one of the criteria for participation