CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGRICULTURAL LAND-USE CHANGE: EVIDENCE FROM SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Agricultural Land-Use Change (ALUC) in Sub-Saharan Africa has emerged as a dynamic issue in theenvironment-development discourse. Unpacking what perspectives exist in scholarly publications is relevantsince scholarly ideas often shape policy directions. This paper offers critical reflections on the three broadcategories of perspectives on ALUC that have implications on agricultural productivity and environmentalwellbeing: Agricultural land expansion, agricultural land reduction, and agricultural intensification. Differentfactors were found to have driven these changes in the region. They include; population growth, economicopportunities, poverty, land tenure, environmental factors, government policies, urban development, and landconflicts. The paper highlights how agriculture in the region has contributed to and has been affected by changesin the landscape over the years. It shows that the region has experienced all the three manifestations ofagricultural land-use change, and has the presence of observable variation in the pattern of change across itsgeographical landscape

Socioeconomic and profitability analysis of catfish production: a case study of Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria

This study examined the economics of catfish production in Nigeria using Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria as a case study. To achieve the study objectives, 40 catfish producers were randomly sampled and data for the study were collected with the aid of questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and net farm income analysis were employed for the analysis of the data collected. The study findings show that most (85%) of the catfish farmers were males, and majority of them are in their active ages (<35 to 55 years). About 20% of the total population sampled was involved in full time catfish farming and 80% were able to finance their catfish farm from personal savings. Majority of the respondents have rich experience in catfish farming and have attained some level of education which is expected to influence their output positively. The total cost of catfish production was estimated to be ₦584,968.041 ($1,614.73) per production cycle (average 7 months), and the total revenue generated from the sale of market size catfish in the study area was ₦2,257,098 ($6,226.48) per production cycle. The respondents made a net farm income of ₦1,672,129.96 ($4,615.70) in one production cycle (average 7 months). This indicates that catfish production is profitable in the area. To enhance the performance of catfish production, the study recommends improvement in infrastructural facilities that will create an enabling environment for increased productivity and profitability.Keywords: catfish; production; profitability, socio-economic factor

Integrating biocultural conservation and sociocultural valuation in the management of sacred forests: What values are important to the public?

1. The need to recognise plural values and integrate these into policy design has long been of interest in nature conservation. However, we also need to understand whether and how different values are prioritised among diverse stakeholders. This is particularly important when indigenous and traditional cultures play a role in how land is managed and protected. 2. Working in the sacred forests of Nigeria, we applied the principles of biocultural conservation and sociocultural valuation to understand the values that underpin people's relationship with nature and with other users of nature. We operationalised this by employing participatory workshop methods to identify multiple values of sacred forests, and conjoint analysis to elicit local people's value priorities and preferences for conserving sacred forests. 3. We identified multiple values attributed to sacred forests, but the strongest preferences were for improved provision of medicinal values. However, preference heterogeneity analysis showed that sacred forests are valued differently among clusters of people with distinct sociodemographic profiles. 4. Our findings also showed that the current management strategy for the conservation of sacred forests is inadequate to galvanise shared and collective responsibility from diverse stakeholders. Using a value-based approach, more robust management strategies that will yield high utility to the public were determined and recommended for implementation. 5. Policy implications. Overall, our study demonstrates that sacred forests are valued in multiple ways above and beyond their role in a cultural belief system. New strategies are therefore needed to effectively manage and conserve them. We recommend a plural approach to the conservation of sacred forests that will incorporate multiple values. This can be achieved by integrating biocultural conservation and sociocultural valuation

The choice of climate change adaptation strategies among food crop farmers in Southwest Nigeria

The performance of food crop production is currently, greatly threatened by climate change. However, the extent to which these impacts are felt depends principally on the adaptation measures used by farmers to cushion the effects of climate change. This study centered on the factors that drive the choice of major adaptation measures by farmers in Southwestern Nigeria. The study used multistage sampling procedure to select 360 food crop farmers in the area. Primary data were collected through surveys to achieve this. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and multinomial logit model. The results indicated that the main climate change adaptation strategies were multiple crop varieties, land fragmentation, multiple planting dates, crop diversification, off-farm employment and cover cropping. Factors influencing the choice of these adaptation strategies were household size, age, education, gender, average farm distance, access to credit, tenure security, and agro-ecology. A summary of their influence on the farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies suggests a relatively growing popularity for the use of cover cropping as an adaptation strategy among them. Increased use of cover cropping as climate change adaptation strategy should therefore be encouraged among farmers. In addition, land tenure security encouraged the choice of crop diversification among the respondents. This is also considered a very important strategy, given that different crops have varying degrees of resilience to climate change. A kind of land reform strategy that could make the farmers more land secured is therefore recommended