Pr ofitability analysis of goat marketing in Ado Ekiti metr opolis, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Pr ofitability of a livestock business has a gr eat influence on its sour cing, distribution and sustainability . Thus, this study was carried out to determine the pr ofitability of goat enterprise. A total of sixty r espondents wer e randomly selected fr om two major markets in Ado-Ekiti metr opolis (Shasha and Oja-Oba markets). Data wer e collected thr ough the use of structur ed questionnair e coupled with personal interview on socio-economic characteristics of the r espondents, cost and r eturns fr om goat marketing. Data collected wer e analyzed using descriptive statistics and budgeting analysis. The r esults on socio-economic characteristics showed that goat marketers wer e pr edominantly married (63.3%) and r elatively old (with a mean age of 58 years) in the study ar ea. The costs and r eturns analysis showed that mean T otal V ariable Cost (TVC) incurr ed in the marketing of goats per annum was N489, 700.00 while the mean T otal Revenue (TR) was N720, 000.00 and the mean Gr oss Mar gin (GM) per seller was N230, 300.00. The r esults implied that goat marketing in the study ar ea is a pr ofitable business involving both young and old, male and female, educated and illiterate

Climate change adaptation options in farming communities of selected Nigerian ecological zones

This chapter examines the impacts of climate change on three tropical crops and assesses the climate change adaptation options adopted by rural farmers in the region. The study was conducted among farming communities settled in three major ecological zones in Nigeria. Over 37 years of data on rainfall and temperature were analyzed to examine climate change impacts on three major crops: rice, maize, and cassava. Farmers' adaptive capacity was assessed with a survey. Climatic data, crop yields, and survey data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The relation between rainfall/temperature and crop yields was examined using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results show a high variation in the annual rainfall and temperature during the study period. The major findings from this research is that crops in different ecological zones respond differently to climate variation. The result revealed that there is a very strong relationship between precipitation and the yield of rice and cassava at p <0.05 level of significance. The results further showed low level of adaption among the rural farmers. The study concludes that rainfall and temperature variability has a significant impact on crop yield in the study area, but that the adaptive capacity of most farmers to these impacts is low. There is a need for enhancing the adaptation options available to farmers in the region, which should be the focus of government policies

Gender analysis of rice production in Obafemi Owode local government area of Ogun State, Nigeria

There is limited information on gender roles and responsibilities in the production of Ofada, a local rice variety in Ogun State Nigeria. Therefore, a gender assessment study was conducted onOfada rice production in OgunState. A total of 80 and 40 male and female Ofada rice farmers were selected respectively. The result showed that 32.5% of male rice farmers were aged 51-60 years while 37.5% of female were aged 31-40 years. The mean age for male and female Ofada rice farmers were 46±13 and 41±12, respectively. Men were more involved in tedious operations, which include land clearing, tree felling, stumping and weeding, as females were more involved in less tedious activities. The level of involvement in Ofada rice production activities was low among more than half of both male (61.2%) and female (51.7%) Ofada rice farmers in the study LGA.Pest attack (42.5%) and inadequate funding (38.8%) were rated verysevere constraints to production of Ofada rice.No significant difference existed between male and female Ofada rice farmers in terms of level of involvement in Ofada rice production (t = 0.471; P > 0.05). For ease of access to credit facilities, farmers should form themselves into associations and cooperative groups through which members may have access to loans. This will help them prosecute their important farming operations and thereby expand their production enterprise