DOES ASSET OWNERSHIP REDUCE CHRONIC POVERTY?

Assets play an important role in the understanding of chronic poverty. This study was conducted in southern Nigeria to quantitatively assess the poverty level of households with respect to ownership of assets. Using the multistage sampling technique, primary data were obtained from 150 households with the aid of questionnaire. Data were subjected to analyses using the Foster Greer Thorbecke weighted poverty index and stochastic dominance analysis. Results indicate that poverty incidence, depth and severity was lower for households who own certain assets as land, houses, cars, motorcycles and sewing machines. The δ-value of the difference in the two sub-groups’ poverty incidences is significant (P < 0.01). Findings reveal that asset portfolio of majority of households was substantially low as more than 70 percent owned assets valued less than N100,000. Results of stochastic dominance analysis reveal that there was first order stochastic dominance. Result underscores the need to focus on poverty reduction policies that will increase the asset portfolio of rural households who are mostly dependent in farming for their income and food supplie

Poverty and Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership among Households in Southern Nigeria

Whereas gender equality is a basic human right, and closing the gender gap is key to achieving many development objectives, development stakeholders concerned with achieving gender equality are often constrained by inadequate information to justify channeling limited resources toward closing the gender gap. This study was conducted to fill this lacuna by providing information on gender inequality in the ownership of certain assets among households. With the aid of structured questionnaire, data were obtained from 60 households using the multistage sampling technique. Results of analysis were presented using histograms. Results show considerable gender differentiation in the ownership of land, home, business and savings. The degree of gender differentiation in the ownership of consumer durables reveal that women in most households own appliances associated with domestic labour whereas men have a near monopoly in the ownership of transport vehicles, refrigerators and media sets. Result also indicates that poultry was owned by women in majority of the households. Result shows a high degree of gender disparity with respect to the share of male and female homeowners. Because access to land is crucial for the livelihoods of the rural poor, policies to ensure that women who form the bulk of the rural poor have secure access to land and other vital resources should be encouraged. Policy options that will encourage women own occupier homes should also be formulated

Consultancy: inventarisatie Diaphania perspectalis aanwezigheid en schade door Daphania perspectalis in de Nederlandse boomkwekerij

In mei 2007 werd in het zuidwesten van Duitsland ernstige vraatschade geconstateerd in Buxus (o.a. B. microphylla, B microphylla var. insularis, B. sempervirens, B. sinica). De vraat aan de bladeren en scheuten werd veroorzaakt door rupsen van de soort Diaphania perspectalis Walker (syn. Glyphodes perspectalis). Het betreft een voor Europa nieuw plaaginsect, overgekomen vanuit Azië. De European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) heeft deze rups opgenomen in haar ‘alert list’ omdat het een potentiële bedreiging vormt voor Buxus, o.a. op kwekerijen (http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/Alert_List/alert_list.htm). . In Nederland is de Buxus-teelt een belangrijke teelt binnen de boomkwekerij. Voor 2008 was in Nederland nog geen melding gemaakt van deze rups, wel waren in 2007 vier vlinders aangetroffen: twee in de regio Boskoop en twee langs de grote rivieren ten zuiden van Gorinchem. Gezien het risico voor de Buxus-teelt is het belangrijk dat aanwezigheid van de rups op kwekerijen vroegtijdig wordt opgemerkt. Het doel van dit onderzoek is om de aanwezigheid van Diaphania perspectalis in de Nederlandse Buxus-teelt in kaart brengen om ernstige schade, zoals in Duitsland, te kunnen voorkomen

Comparison of Poverty among Peri-Urban Farming Households in Uyo, Nigeria

Rapid urbanization is being accompanied by a phenomenon known as the urbanization of poverty. Though urban poverty is often overlooked, it is even more acute than rural poverty and threatens to become worse as the rural exodus increases. This study compares poverty among peri-urban households by decomposing different poverty groups into sub-groups using Foster, Greer and Thorbecke weighted poverty measure. With the aid of well-structured questionnaire, 80 peri-urban households were sampled through two stage procedure. Results reveal that 0.48 of peri-urban farming households were impoverished whereas the poorest of the poor were 0.29. A comparison of poverty shows that male headed households were poorer than female headed households. Findings further reveal that the incidence of poverty increased with age and household size, but decreases with years of formal education

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways