Types of Corruption in Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) in Ibadan, Nigeria

Corruption is a phenomenon that manifests in various types and forms especially among operators of Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs). Many actions of the operators which constitute corrupt practices often tend to be overlooked in spite of their grave consequences for the success SMEs in Nigeria. The fight against corruption in Nigeria is more concentrated in the formal sector. This study was, therefore, designed to investigate various forms in which corrupt practices are carried out among Small and Micro Enterprises in Ibadan, Nigeria. Business owners, their employees, apprentices and consumers constituted the study population. Primary data were collected using questionnaire administered on 200 business owners, 150 employees and 150 apprentices randomly chosen in five business districts in Ibadan; and the conduct of 10 in-depth interviews with purposively selected participants. Quantitative data were analysed at uni-variate level using simple percentages and frequencies while qualitative data were content analysed. Findings from the study revealed that corrupt practices were rampant among actors in SMEs and the common types of corrupt practices included stealing (60%), deception of customers (78.4%), tax evasion (62%), sale of fake products (76%), sale of expired products (65.2%), tampering with measurement scales (69.6%), bribery (82.4%), and poor service delivery (73%). The study concludes that the level of corruption in SMEs calls for concern and government should extend the fight against corruption to the informal sector in Nigeria

Towards a feasible and representative pan-African research infrastructure network for GHG observations

There is currently a lack of representative, systematic and harmonised greenhouse gas (GHG) observations covering the variety of natural and human-altered biomes that occur in Africa. This impedes the long-term assessment of the drivers of climate change, in addition to their impacts and feedback loops at the continental scale, but also limits our understanding of the contribution of the African continent to the global carbon (C) cycle. Given the current and projected transformation of socio-economic conditions in Africa (i.e. the increasing trend of urbanisation and population growth) and the adverse impacts of climate change, the development of a GHG research infrastructure (RI) is needed to support the design of suitable mitigation and adaptation strategies required to assure food, fuel, nutrition and economic security for the African population. This paper presents the initial results of the EU-African SEACRIFOG project, which aims to design a GHG observation RI for Africa. The first stages of this project included the identification and engagement of key stakeholders, the definition of the conceptual monitoring framework and an assessment of existing infrastructural capacity. Feedback from stakeholder sectors was obtained through three Stakeholder Consultation Workshops held in Kenya, Ghana and Zambia. Main concerns identified were data quality and accessibility, the need for capacity building and networking among the scientific community, and adaptation to climate change, which was confirmed to be a priority for Africa. This feedback in addition to input from experts in the atmospheric, terrestrial and oceanic thematic areas, facilitated the selection of a set of 'essential variables' that need to be measured in the future environmental RI. An inventory of 47 existing and planned networks across the continent allowed for an assessment of the current RIs needs and gaps in Africa. Overall, the development of a harmonised and standardised pan-African RI will serve to address the continent's primary societal and scientific challenges through a potential cross-domain synergy among existing and planned networks at regional, continental and global scales

The Impacts of Climate Change on Ecosystem Services and Resulting Losses and Damages to People and Society

So far, studies of Loss and Damage from climate change have focused primarily on human systems and tended to overlook the mediating role of ecosystems and the services ecosystems provide to society. This is a significant knowledge gap because losses and damages to human systems often result from permanent or temporary disturbances to ecosystems services caused by climatic stressors. This chapter tries to advance understanding of the impacts of climatic stressors on ecosystems and implications for losses and damages to people and society. It introduces a conceptual framework for studying these complex relations and applies this framework to a case study of multi-annual drought in the West-African Sahel. The case study shows that causal links between climate change and a specific event, with subsequent losses and damages, are often complicated. Oversimplification must be avoided and the role of various factors, such as governance or management of natural resources, should be at the centre of future research.</p

Sensitivity to Enterocins of Biogenic Amine-Producing Faecal Enterococci from Ostriches and Pheasants

Enterococci are widespread bacteria forming the third largest genus among lactic acid bacteria. Some possess probiotic properties or they can produce beneficial proteinaceous antimicrobial substances called enterocins. On the other hand, some enterococci produce biogenic amines (BAs), so this study is focused on the sensitivity to enterocins of biogenic amine-producing faecal enterococci from ostriches and pheasants. Altogether, 60 enterococci isolated from faeces of ostriches and pheasants were tested for production of BAs. This target of the identified enterococci involved 46 strains selected from 140 ostriches and 17 from 60 pheasants involving the species Enterococcus hirae, E. faecium, E. faecalis, and E. mundtii. Although BAs histamine, cadaverine, putrescine, and tryptamine were not detected in the enterococci tested, in general high BA production by the tested enterococci was noted. The species E. hirae formed the majority of the enterococcal strains from ostrichs faeces (34 strains). High production of tyramine (TYM) was measured with an average amount of 958.16 ± 28.18 mg/ml. Among the enterococci from pheasants, the highest was production of TYM compared to phenylethylamine, spermidine, and spermine. Enterococci featured high BA production; however, they were sensitive to seven enterocins with inhibition activity ranging from 100 up to 25,600 AU/ml. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.2/0004/14, VEGA, Vedecká Grantová Agentúra MŠVVaŠ SR a SAV; 2/0006/2017, VEGA, Vedecká Grantová Agentúra MŠVVaŠ SR a SAVSlovak Scientific Agency VEGA [2/0004/14, 2/0006/17