DOES ASSET OWNERSHIP REDUCE CHRONIC POVERTY?

Assets play an important role in the understanding of chronic poverty. This study was conducted in southern Nigeria to quantitatively assess the poverty level of households with respect to ownership of assets. Using the multistage sampling technique, primary data were obtained from 150 households with the aid of questionnaire. Data were subjected to analyses using the Foster Greer Thorbecke weighted poverty index and stochastic dominance analysis. Results indicate that poverty incidence, depth and severity was lower for households who own certain assets as land, houses, cars, motorcycles and sewing machines. The δ-value of the difference in the two sub-groups’ poverty incidences is significant (P < 0.01). Findings reveal that asset portfolio of majority of households was substantially low as more than 70 percent owned assets valued less than N100,000. Results of stochastic dominance analysis reveal that there was first order stochastic dominance. Result underscores the need to focus on poverty reduction policies that will increase the asset portfolio of rural households who are mostly dependent in farming for their income and food supplie

Poverty and Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership among Households in Southern Nigeria

Whereas gender equality is a basic human right, and closing the gender gap is key to achieving many development objectives, development stakeholders concerned with achieving gender equality are often constrained by inadequate information to justify channeling limited resources toward closing the gender gap. This study was conducted to fill this lacuna by providing information on gender inequality in the ownership of certain assets among households. With the aid of structured questionnaire, data were obtained from 60 households using the multistage sampling technique. Results of analysis were presented using histograms. Results show considerable gender differentiation in the ownership of land, home, business and savings. The degree of gender differentiation in the ownership of consumer durables reveal that women in most households own appliances associated with domestic labour whereas men have a near monopoly in the ownership of transport vehicles, refrigerators and media sets. Result also indicates that poultry was owned by women in majority of the households. Result shows a high degree of gender disparity with respect to the share of male and female homeowners. Because access to land is crucial for the livelihoods of the rural poor, policies to ensure that women who form the bulk of the rural poor have secure access to land and other vital resources should be encouraged. Policy options that will encourage women own occupier homes should also be formulated

Emergence and spread of two SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest in Nigeria.

Identifying the dissemination patterns and impacts of a virus of economic or health importance during a pandemic is crucial, as it informs the public on policies for containment in order to reduce the spread of the virus. In this study, we integrated genomic and travel data to investigate the emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants of interest in Nigeria and the wider Africa region. By integrating travel data and phylogeographic reconstructions, we find that these two variants that arose during the second wave in Nigeria emerged from within Africa, with the B.1.525 from Nigeria, and then spread to other parts of the world. Data from this study show how regional connectivity of Nigeria drove the spread of these variants of interest to surrounding countries and those connected by air-traffic. Our findings demonstrate the power of genomic analysis when combined with mobility and epidemiological data to identify the drivers of transmission, as bidirectional transmission within and between African nations are grossly underestimated as seen in our import risk index estimates

Consultancy: inventarisatie Diaphania perspectalis aanwezigheid en schade door Daphania perspectalis in de Nederlandse boomkwekerij

In mei 2007 werd in het zuidwesten van Duitsland ernstige vraatschade geconstateerd in Buxus (o.a. B. microphylla, B microphylla var. insularis, B. sempervirens, B. sinica). De vraat aan de bladeren en scheuten werd veroorzaakt door rupsen van de soort Diaphania perspectalis Walker (syn. Glyphodes perspectalis). Het betreft een voor Europa nieuw plaaginsect, overgekomen vanuit Azië. De European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) heeft deze rups opgenomen in haar ‘alert list’ omdat het een potentiële bedreiging vormt voor Buxus, o.a. op kwekerijen (http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/Alert_List/alert_list.htm). . In Nederland is de Buxus-teelt een belangrijke teelt binnen de boomkwekerij. Voor 2008 was in Nederland nog geen melding gemaakt van deze rups, wel waren in 2007 vier vlinders aangetroffen: twee in de regio Boskoop en twee langs de grote rivieren ten zuiden van Gorinchem. Gezien het risico voor de Buxus-teelt is het belangrijk dat aanwezigheid van de rups op kwekerijen vroegtijdig wordt opgemerkt. Het doel van dit onderzoek is om de aanwezigheid van Diaphania perspectalis in de Nederlandse Buxus-teelt in kaart brengen om ernstige schade, zoals in Duitsland, te kunnen voorkomen

Comparison of Poverty among Peri-Urban Farming Households in Uyo, Nigeria

Rapid urbanization is being accompanied by a phenomenon known as the urbanization of poverty. Though urban poverty is often overlooked, it is even more acute than rural poverty and threatens to become worse as the rural exodus increases. This study compares poverty among peri-urban households by decomposing different poverty groups into sub-groups using Foster, Greer and Thorbecke weighted poverty measure. With the aid of well-structured questionnaire, 80 peri-urban households were sampled through two stage procedure. Results reveal that 0.48 of peri-urban farming households were impoverished whereas the poorest of the poor were 0.29. A comparison of poverty shows that male headed households were poorer than female headed households. Findings further reveal that the incidence of poverty increased with age and household size, but decreases with years of formal education