Access to Land and Food Security: Analysis of ‘Priority Crops’ Production in Ogun State, Nigeria

Using Ogun State located in south-western Nigeria, this chapter draws attention to the increase in output productivity of priority crops in the State from 2003 to 2015 due to the acquisitions of over 47,334 hectares of agricultural land across 28 communities in different Local Government Areas (LGAs). From Ogun State Agriculture Data, eight priority crops are analyzed: cassava, maize, rice, melon, yam, cocoyam, potato and cowpea. Statistics reveal that the cultivation of cassava gives the highest average output of 4,515,620 metric tonnes and yield per hectare of 16.41 relative to other produce which affirms that Ogun State has the most comparative advantage in the cultivation of cassava followed by maize. The chapter further explores other pro-poor programmes directed at ensuring food security in the State

Socioeconomic Effects of Farmer-Pastoralist Conflict on Agricultural Extension Service Delivery in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study examined the socio - economic effect of farmer-pastoralist conflict on family farming in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select to 60 farmers and 60 pastoralists for the research and were interviewed with structured questionnaire. Results showed that a little above half (52.6%) were between the ages of 30-50 years. The majority (63.3%) had household size of 5-9 members. Crop damage (63.3%) and indiscriminate bush burning (46.7%) were considered the most common causes of conflict between farmers and pastoralists. The majority (71%) of farmers suffer economic losses from farmer-pastoralist conflicts. About seventy five percent of farmers used more of problem-oriented (e.g. early harvesting/stock disposal) coping strategies while the majority of herdsmen (73%) used more of emotion-oriented strategies (e.g. use of charms/Vengeance. There was a significant difference (p=0.000) in socio-economic losses among farmers and pastoralists. Farmers are the worst hit of Farmer-pastoralist conflicts as it affects their family farming. Setting up of a three-tier farmer-herdsmen conflict management committee is recommended.Keywords: Farmers, Pastoralist, Agricultural Extension

Evaluating the quality characteristics of kunun produced from dry-milled sorghum

Kunun is a traditional beverage in Nigeria produced by wet milling from sorghum, maize or millet. This work evaluates kunun produced from dry-milled sorghum flour. The sorghum was dehulled, milled and sieved to obtain flour. The flour was steeped for 24 h and mixed with spices to produce kunun and the quality of the resultant kunun was compared with that of kunun manufactured by the wet-milling process. With dry-milling process, the yield of kunun was 80% while the yield from the wet-milling process was 60%. Titratable acidity was lower in kunun samples prepared from dry-milled sorghum (0.40%) than in the kunun manufactured by wet milling (0.55%). The pH and total soluble solid of kunun prepared from dry milled sorghum were higher (5.10 and 14.82, respectively) than kunun from wet milling process (4.12 and 13.42, respectively). Protein content recorded for dry milled sample was 5.55% and that of wet milled sample was 4.20%. Crude fibre content was also assessed to be 0.25% for dry milled sample and 0.45% for wet milled sample. Kunun samples from wet milling process were preferred to those from dry milling process. Microbial counts indicate that both samples were free from feacal contamination. Total viable count for kunun samples prepared from dry milling process was 1.0 x 04, and for wet milled sample total viable count was 1.6 x 104