The economic and livelihood value of provisioning services of the Ga-Mampa wetland, South Africa

The size of the Ga-Mampa wetland (1 km2), in the Olifants River catchment in South Africa, was halved between 1996 and 2004. This jeopardizes the ecological integrity and influences the benefits people obtain from the wetland. This study therefore analysed the economic values of the provisioning services derived from the Ga-Mampa wetland and evaluated their contribution to the livelihoods of local stakeholders. Using a direct market valuation technique and based on a mix of data collection approaches that include questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field observation and measurements and collection of market prices, we estimated the economic value of the main provisioning services provided by the wetland (collection of edible plants, crop production, livestock grazing, fishing, hunting, fuel-wood, reeds and sedge collection). The results show that the contribution of the wetland to the livelihoods of local community, estimated at an annual net financial value of $211 per household, far exceeds its annual cash income of$35 per household and is about half of the average monthly cash income from all income sources. Crop production contributes the highest gross and net financial value, whereas sedge collection yields the highest cash income. Most of the materials harvested from the wetland are used for household subsistence and are rarely sold. In addition to their economic and livelihood value, the wetland services are also essential to sustain the social and cultural responsibilities in gift giving to neighbours and relatives. The study concludes that the local people are highly dependent on the wetland ecosystem services in many ways but that current use exceeds sustainability levels, which jeopardizes their future livelihoods. We therefore recommend that the local stakeholders be supported in identifying alternative sources of livelihoods while simultaneously developing sustainable management strategies for small wetlands such as Ga-Mampa. In addition, other ecosystem services (regulating, supporting and cultural, including recreational benefits) provided by the wetland to local and downstream stakeholders need to be further studied and economically assessed.ZONE HUMIDE;ECOSYSTEME;GESTION DE L'EAU;ANALYSE ECONOMIQUE;VALEUR NON MARCHANDE;AFRIQUE DU SUD;ECONOMIC VALUATION;LIVELIHOOD ANALYSIS;MARKET VALUATION;PROVISIONING SERVICES;WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS

Exploring Frontiers of Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management: Untold Stories of the Esie Stone Figurines

The north central Yorubaland homeland of the Igbomina Yoruba, in the modern Kwara State of Nigeria, is endowed with abundant natural and cultural resources. The cultural landscape of the area is indeed very rich. However, the vast majority of these significant elements of cultural heritage remain unexamined. In fact, most of these resources are hardly known. For about seven decades since the first and best known elements of cultural heritage in the area were unearthed in the town of Esie, we have yet to substantially expand the repertoire of knowledge concerning the cultural history of the region. For several decades, a number of scholars have decried the inadequacy of information on the ancient political, social, economic and religious structures tha

Modeling Volatility in Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market Using GARCH-type Models

In this study, the performance of GARCH-type model is considered in modelling Nigeria foreign exchange returns. The datasets consists of the foreign exchange of Nigeria naira for the periods before recession and during recession. It is observed that volatility is higher during recession than when there was no recession. Model selection criteria based on Hannan-Quinn Information Criterion (HQIC) shows that Gaussian process is least considered model to capture the variability in foreign exchange rate returns in Nigeria, but student’s  and Generalized Error distribution are more suitable, therefore forecast performance was used to access each of the Asymmetric models. The empirical analysis shows that GARCH (1, 1) and gjrGARCH (1, 1) with Student’s  error distribution and iGARCH(1, 1), sGARCH(1,1), and csGARCH (1,1) are the best fitted models. Fifty days out-of-sample forecast shows that csGARCH (1, 1) based on Generalized Error distribution is the best predictive model based on Mean Square Error (MSE), and sGARCH based on Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Directional Absolute Error (DAE). The study recommends that future study should consider alternative error distributions with a view to realizing a more robust volatility forecasting model that could guarantee sound policy choices. Keywords: Volatility, foreign exchange, GARCH-type models, Error Distribution

Election Gifting and the Ordeal of Democracy in Nigeria

Over-time, researchers have failed to show how citizens share, if not all, a part of the blame in Nigeria's failing democracy. Through election gifting, the community of voters in Nigeria have been selling their commonwealth to politicians who should not be anywhere close to power. Using secondary sources of data and relying on Robert Dahl’s theory of democracy, the paper argues that since the people are the custodians of the political mandate in any democracy, they should be held accountable when there is a problem. The paper further identifies the history, effect, scope, and predisposing factors of election gifting in Nigeria. This paper focuses on the fact that the non-evaluative and clientelist approach to democracy are the reason for the sad realities in Nigeria and concludes that only the engagement in a civil society can revive Nigeria’s failing democracy

Livelihood Diversification and Settlement Patterns among Agro-Pastoralists in Ibadan/Ibarapa Agricultural Zone, Oyo State, Nigeria

This study assessed livelihood diversification and settlement patterns among agro-pastoralists in Ibadan/Ibarapa Agricultural Zone, Oyo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 106 agro-pastoralists, while data were collected with the aid of pre-tested and validated interview guide. Data were subjected to descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean) and inferential (chi-square) statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results revealed that the mean age of respondent was 43 years, and that 60.4% of the respondents were sole owner of their cattle. The major livelihood activities were sale of cattle, crop farming and sale of milk/milk products. Findings also showed that many of the agro-pastoralists practiced either the transhumance (25.5%) or semi-transhumance (55.7%) settlement patterns. It was further revealed that the respondents benefited from equitable access to land, expansion of business trade and market integration. Some of the challenges faced by the agro-pastoralists include; cattle defecating on streams and roads (78.3%), extensive sedentarization (80.2%), farmland invasion by cattle (85.8%), and overgrazing on fallow lands (80.2%). Chi-square analysis revealed that there were significant associations between settlement patterns and livelihood diversification; selling of milk and milk product (χ2 = 12.248, p≤0.01), cultivation of crops (χ2 = 15.362, p≤0.01), petty trading (χ2 = 7.957, p≤0.05) and commercial selling of livestock (χ2 = 9.456, p≤0.05). It was concluded that the transhumance or semi-transhumance settlement patterns adopted by the agro-pastoralists had positive influence on their livelihood diversification into different activities.  It is therefore recommended that agro-pastoralists should diversify into more income generating livelihood activities

Secondary Postpartum Hemorrhage due to Spontaneous Uterine Artery Rupture after Normal Vaginal Delivery Managed by Selective Arterial Embolization

Secondary postpartum hemorrhage due to an intraperitoneal bleed following a vaginal delivery is extremely rare. We present a case of spontaneous rupture of the uterine artery following a normal vaginal delivery with a delayed presentation, which resulted in significant morbidity. This case discusses the presentation and management of this rare obstetrical emergency. The report also discusses the role of selective arterial embolization in management of secondary postpartum hemorrhage

Anthropometric characteristics of roadside auto-mechanics: a case study

The study evaluated the relevant/corresponding anthropometric characteristics of the people involved in engine-repair activities. The study was carried out on the selected roadside auto-engine repairers along Lagos-Ibadan express way, in Nigeria. This was with a view to providing ergonomic design data for optimal working condition among this set of workforce and redesigning the mechanics inspection-pit. Material and methods: The static and the functional anthropometric characteristics of the mechanics were measured. The data obtained from 110 auto-mechanics, randomly selected, were employed to evaluate efficient design parameter for roadside workstations. Results: The results indicated that inspection-pit is about 1626 mm deep; seat height ranges between 375 mm and 405 mm; optimal work posture sitting is between 483 mm and 622 mm. Conclusions: Adopting the data presented in this paper in optimizing the auto-mechanics working conditions for effective workplace comfort and productivity among the roadside auto-mechanics in Nigeria will be of immense advantage