Willingness to pay for ecosystem benefits of Agroforestry driven green growth in Ogun State, Nigeria

This paper investigates the Willingness To Pay (WTP) for ecosystem benefits derivable from Agroforestry (AF) driven green growth practice in Ogun state, Nigeria. The environmental service functions of AF were valued. Multi-stage sampling procedure involving purposive and simple random sampling was adopted in deriving a sample size of 160 households from a sampling proportion of 65 % of the study area. The methodology involved descriptive statistics, contingent valuation method and the binary choice logit model. The mean WTP for AF ecosystem benefits is N 84.67/month. With a population of 1,295,648 people in the two zones considered, the total WTP/year is N1,316,430,193.92 and for the whole study area, it is N3,811,308,285.60. The log of bid offered had a negative and significant effect (p< 0.05) while income and contact with extension agents had positive and significant effects (p<0.10) on the likelihood of the bid acceptance in the WTP for the ecosystem benefits of AF. That the international community should share from the cost for the promotion of green growth through AF was highly accepted by 70 % of the respondents as they believed environmental benefits have no international boundary. There is therefore a need to put ecosystem services payment policy in place to sustain benefits derivable from AF systems. Dialogues that emphasize 70 % cost appropriation to the developed economies for green growth infrastructures that act as “sinks” in the developing countries to their industrial carbon emissions need to be fostered and protocols endorsed for green growth promotion. These will enhance the derivable ecosystem benefits of AF that transcends beyond international borders

Socio-Economic Importance of Tree Nursery Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria

There is a growing interest to understand the role of tree nursery enterprises in Nigeria and the horn of Africa. Tree nursery enterprises, which are vital economic activities in major cities of Nigeria and particularly in the city of Lagos are not adequately studied and well documented. Therefore, this study seeks to fill a gap in understanding the socioeconomic importance and profitability potential of tree nursery enterprises. Multistage sampling technique with a 3-stage design was adopted in this study using aquantitative data collection techniques through the use of structured questionnaire administered to 120 nursery entrepreneurs. Data were analyzed using descriptive, inferential, and budgetary analysis. The result revealed that tree nursery entrepreneurs are literate, mostly male in their youthful age. Furthermore, the total annual revenue earned by the respondents was \u20a61,712,222.22 with a mean annual net income of \u20a61,458,038.72 while the return per naira invested was \u20a65.71. This shows that tree nursery enterprise is profitable in the study area. However, most entrepreneurs were faced with shortage of land for establishments of tree nursery in the study area. Therefore, appropriate actions in reducing cost of land lease/purchase are recommended to encourage new entrepreneurs and strengthen the sector\u2019s development

Economic Analysis Of Rabbit Production: On Farm Research Approach

Many studies have justified rabbit production as a desirable and profitable venture. Most of these research investigations projected their results based on data collected through farm surveys that greatly relied on the memory recall capabilities of the respondents. These data apart from being prone to biasedness, may not he too insightful as to depict the true situation on ground. It is on this premise that this study was conceived to ascertain the cost and revenue structure as well as theprofitability and efficiency of rabbit production, through actual production process using On-farm Research Approach the findings of the study were then compared with a similar one that made use of data collection through farm survey. Three does and one buck were used as start-off for the on-farm research using the prevalent small scale traditional backyard method of rabbit production. Two cycles of production were monitored and used to project file cycle which is the average for subsistent rabbit production in the tropics. The results re-emphasize rabbit production as a profit and efficient productive venture. Two hours of labour time was found to be necessary to produce 1 kg of rabbit meat. The rate of return to investment was found to be 152% (that is,₦1.52 return to every ₦l.00 invested). That for fixed cost was 1299% (that is ₦12.99 return to every ₦1.00 incurred on fixed asset) while the rate of return on variable cost was 274.5% that is ₦2.75 return to every ₦1.00 invested on variable inputs). These were quite higher when compared with a similar research investigation that depended on farm survey. The technical data derived from this indicate that technical data are more efficient and dependable in determining production outcomes on the filed relative to survey data. As a result of this, on-farm research was thus suggested as a way by which correct information on cost, returns and profitability of agricultural production could be obtained especially for baseline data collection.Keywords: On-farm research, economic, rabbit production