ECOTOURISM VALUES AND SUSTAINABILITY OF OBUDU CATTLE RANCH, NIGERIA

This paper estimated the total recreation use value to the eco-tourists of the Obudu Cattle Ranch (OCR) and assessed the sustainability potential of the ranch. An on-site individual observation travel cost method, count data distribution and a discounting framework were used to estimate a measure of the present recreation use of the ranch and the total discounted recreation value for a medium-term of 50-year period. Budgetary analysis was used to determine the net farm income/ hectare which was compared to the Total Recreation Value/hectare and so determine the problem of sustainability. The empirical estimates of the average representative visitor’s present equivalent surplus willingness to pay based on the impact assumption of closure or loss of access to the ranch were N139.00. This, for a visit of three days per eco-tourist to the ranch, was N3,417.00. This translated to current recreation value for 516 recreation days in a year to N101,088,528.00. The future long-term (fifty years) utilities derivable from the OCR based on the current total recreation value was N442,406,302.38. The annual net farm income/hectare from the major alternative land use of arable crop farming was higher than that of the total recreation value/hectare. This brings about sustainability problems as communities around the ranch are likely to encroach on the ranch area for food crop production to sustain their livelihoods. The sustainability problem will equally be sustained if government emphasizes the descrip- tive approach based on market rates for determining future discount rates rather than the lower future discount rates of the prescriptive approach in the appraisal of ecotourism projects that depict *economics of happinessâ€

Endomyocardial Fibrosis: Still a Mystery after 60 Years

The pathologist Jack N. P. Davies identified endomyocardial fibrosis in Uganda in 1947. Since that time, reports of this restrictive cardiomyopathy have come from other parts of tropical Africa, South Asia, and South America. In Kampala, the disease accounts for 20% of heart disease patients referred for echocardiography. We conducted a systematic review of research on the epidemiology and etiology of endomyocardial fibrosis. We relied primarily on articles in the MEDLINE database with either “endomyocardial fibrosis” or “endomyocardial sclerosis” in the title. The volume of publications on endomyocardial fibrosis has declined since the 1980s. Despite several hypotheses regarding cause, no account of the etiology of this disease has yet fully explained its unique geographical distribution

Demand for Ecotourism Recreation and Welfare Benefits in Obudu Cattle Ranch, Nigeria

This paper estimated the expected on-day site demand for recreation, the elasticity with respect to the recreation cost, income and welfare benefit tourists derive from recreation at the Obudu Cattle Ranch (OCR). On-site individual observation Travel Cost Method (TCM), count data distribution, price and income elasticities of on-day site demand for recreation were the analytical tools adopted. In addition the Marshalian consumer surplus was used in estimating the welfare benefit the tourists derived from recreation in the ranch. The on-day site demand for recreation in the ranch was 3 days. The price elasticity of 18.44 implied the demand was elastic while income elasticity was 3.02. The recreation use benefit for a representative visitor for each day of visit was N380.00 which was N1,140 for a three days visit and N196,080 for the 172 sampled visitors Computing this for the 516 recreation days per year for the sample tourists, it was N101,177,280. These implied recreation in OCR is a luxurious environmental commodity that can only benefit the elites and the affluent despite the great hidden economic value it holds to the society. Therefore, there is need for government to intervene through a subsidy regime and enhanced advertisement to attract indigenous and foreign tourists to the ranch