Effects of Economic Globalisation on Employment Trend and Wages in Developing Countries: Lessons from Nigeria Experiences

Since 1986, Nigeria has gradually been integrating with the global economy. This paper examines the effect of globalization on employment and wages in Nigeria. The effects of globalization have been difficult to isolate and evaluate theoretically and empirically due to it multi-faceted nature, but this study attempt to analyse the effects on employment and employeesâ wages by looking at what happened before, during and after globalization in Nigeria. Information and data were mainly gathered through secondary sources, The results of the analysis shows that globalisation of the Nigeria economy through various economic reforms, deregulation and privatisation has led to downsizing of employment in civil service thereby compounding the widespread job queuing in Nigeria. The collapse of some of the private sector firms has also led to retrenchment of workers following stiff competition from import after libralisation thereby increasing both rural and urban unemployment in Nigeria. Also revealed is the problem of increase in income inequality in the country. There appeared to be a wide gap between earnings of the skilled and unskilled workers in the country. Many less skilled workers and experienced worker have also lost their jobs as a result of globalisation. On the positive side, globalisation has led to high employment creation in the informal sector compared with the job lost in the formal sector due to the increasing number of private firms. Most of the jobs created in informal sectors are insecure despite there higher pay compared to wages in the formal sector. There is the need for training and re-training of employee in order to assist them in maintaining their jobsglobalization, labour market, employment, wages, developing countries and Nigeria, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital,

Comparative Analysis of Households’ Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics and Food Security Status in Urban and Rural Areas of Kwara and Kogi States of North-Central Nigeria

Food security is a critical issue in Nigeria today as the country struggles with high rates of food prices and poverty. This study analysed the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of Household Heads (HHH) and classified them according to food security status. Household level data from the cross-sectional survey was employed in November 2006 to February 2007through a well-structured questionnaire to 396 HHH with a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were analysed through a descriptive statistics and Rasch model. Average age of the HHH was 42.45years with Standard Deviation (SD) of 9.57 years in Rural Areas (RA) against 43.29 years and SD of 9.83 years in Urban Areas (UA). The HHH level of education was much higher in UA compared to RA. The Household Size (HSZ) was 5.88 with SD of 2.29 in RA against 5.91 and SD of 2.17 in UA, and monthly income of N9, 244.86 with SD of N11, 071.77 in RA against N10, 194.15 and SD of N14, 936.30 in UA. The results from Rasch Model for classifying households according to food security status show that differences exist between households’ food security status in rural and urban areas of Kwara and Kogi States. While 15.6% HHH were food secure (FS) in RA of Kogi State, only 11.1% were FS in the RA of Kwara State. On the other hand, 20.7% HHH were FS in UA of Kogi State compared to 17.1% in UA of KwaraState. Disaggregating food security status of adults and children in households separately revealed that, 25.8% adults in RA of Kogi State were FS compared to 19.2% in Kwara, while 24.4% urban adults were FS in Kogi against 23.2% in Kwara. In addition, 40.6% children in RA of Kogi State were FS against 32.3% in Kwara, while only 29.9% Kogi urban children were FS against 46.3% in Kwara. In general, households were more FS in Kogi State compared to Kwara and more FS in UA compared to RA. The rural children in Kogi State were also more FS compared to the urban, while urban children in Kwara were more FS when compared to rural children. In order to improve households’ food security status in both rural and urban areas, there is the need to take into account some significant variables such as reduction in household size through birth control, and increase in household heads’ participation in agricultural activities especially those residing in urban areas through urban agriculture

Determinants of Savings Rate in Rural Nigeria: A Micro Study of Kwara State

The inability of households to save over time has significant influence on the rate of capital accumulation and economic growth in developing countries. In order to understand this trend, this research assesses savings rates and its correlates in rural Kwara state, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to obtain data from 120 households. This was then analyzed using two descriptive statistics: the generalized linear model and the Tobit regression model. Results show that majority of the rural households were male-headed (81.0 percent) and combined farming with other non-farming activities (73.5 percent). The Tobit regression model reveals that age squared (

Spatial Decomposition of Poverty in Rural Nigeria: Shapley Decomposition Approach

Poverty is largely a rural phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa. The contribution of mean income and inequality to spatial variations in rural poverty were investigated in this study using the 2003/04 National Living Standard Survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Shapley Decomposition (SD) techniques. Results showed that across the GPZs, the contribution of mean income to poverty was higher than inequality (Ly) for both P0 and P1.The contribution of mean income to severity of  poverty (P2) was higher than Ly in North-East (µ = -0.0530; Ly = -0.0334); North-West (µ = -0.0844; Ly =0.0429); South-East (µ = 0.0505; Ly = 0.0136); South-South (µ=0.0254; Ly=0.0048); South-West (µ = 0.0450; Ly = 0.0201). However, inequality contributed more than mean income in North-Central (µ = -0.0184; Ly = 0.0240). The marginal contribution of within-GPZs inequality to poverty indices were higher than between-GPZs inequality. Keywords: Poverty, inequality, decomposition, Shapley and rura

The Effects of External Debt Management on Sustainable Economic Growth and Development: Lessons from Nigeria

This paper reviewed the roles of debt management practices on sustainable economic growth and development with particular emphasis on Nigeria. Information was generated extensively from literature, the Nigeria Central Bank and National Bureau of Statistic reports. The analyses of the data collected with descriptive statistics shows that, availability of access to external finance strongly influences the economic development process of any nation. Debt is an important resources needed to support sustainable economic growth. But a huge external debt without servicing as it is the case for Nigeria before year 2000 constituted a major impediment to the revitalization of her shattered economy as well as the alleviation of debilitating poverty. The much needed inflow of foreign resources for investment stimulation, growth and employment were hampered. Without credit cover, Nigerian importers were required to provide 100 percent cash covers for all orders and this therefore placed them to a competitive disadvantage compared to their counterparts elsewhere. Failure of any owing country to service her debt obligation results in repudiation risk preventing such to obtain new loans since little or no confidence will be placed on the ability to repay. It will also undermine the effort to obtain substantive debt relief over the medium term with a tremendous increase in interest, arrears and other penalties. This will subsequently depress the economy both in the long and short runs. Best arrangement in debt payment must be put in place from time to time in response to changes in the economy and the polity. Debt can only be productive if well managed so as to make the rate of return higher than the cost of debt servicing.Debt Management; Sustainability; Economic Growth; Economic Development; and Nigeria

Public-Private Partnerships for Inclusive Agribusiness Sustainability in Africa

This paper examines important areas where Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been effective in agribusiness and agro-industrial development, and assesses whether PPPs are being increasingly promoted as a mechanism for pooling the needed finance in agribusiness. The study explores the current state of knowledge in relation to PPPs. It also reviews some of the relevant discussions on the use of PPP in agribusiness in the last decade. PPPs are increasingly used in joint agricultural research, innovation and technology transfer, building and upgrading market infrastructure, and delivery of business development services to farmers, small and medium enterprises. The use of PPPs has the potential of propelling sustainable and inclusive agribusiness development in African countries despite the outstanding challenges. Strong political will, good governance, and provision of enabling economic and regulatory environment by the public sector for the private sector to operate are major drivers of success of PPPs implementation in agribusiness. Development of agribusiness and agro-industries in African countries require a substantial infusion of both fixed and working capitals from private sector which are difficult for the public sector alone to provide

Mitigating the Recessional Impact of COVID-19 on Nigerian Economy through Agricultural Enterprises Promotion

COVID-19 is undoubtedly depressing the world economy and the Nigerian economy is no exception. The economic slowdown is triggering food and non-food price shocks with declining income to small, medium, and large- scale businesses. This paper examines the implications of COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy and highlights how the promotion of agricultural enterprises can help to mitigate the recessional impact arising from the pandemic. The paper is extensively theoretical and conceptual in its nature. Findings show that COVID-19 pandemic, though a threat to lives and the economy, has provided opportunities in some enterprises. Digital technologies have become a positive enabler facilitating business continuity and connecting people more than ever in the phase of economic paralysis due to lockdown and movement restriction of people. The paper concludes that scaling up of innovations in agribusiness enterprises will save the country from the imminent deleterious impact of COVID-19. Digital agriculture solutions and e-commerce are required in order to stimulate food production, processing, and marketing during and after the pandemic. Active measures are required to reduce food wastes and losses that may arise from supply chain bottlenecks. Provision of subsidies to food producers and reduction of import tariffs will assist investors in agribusinesses to continue their activities. The government could temporarily review taxation policy on imported goods to compensate for potential cost increases and the impact of the devaluation of the currency

Analysis of differences in rural-urban households food expenditure share in Kwara and Kogi States of Nigeria

This study focused on analyzing the differential in households’ food expenditure between urban and rural households in North-central, Nigeria. Data used in the study were obtained through the use of a well structuredquestionnaire administered to 396 household heads, randomly selected from Kogi and Kwara states based on the proportional distribution of their population. The analytical tools employed were descriptive statistics such as percentages, means and charts. The pooled results from the two states revealed that households in the rural areas spend as high as 66.04% of their expenditure on food compared to 69.37% in the urban. Also observed was that, Kwara households spend more on food (74.39% in rural and 75% in urban) than their Kogi counterpart (57.41% in rural and 60.49% in urban). The female-headed households spend more (68.17%) on food than the male headed (68.01) ones. The results also show that expenditure on food increased with number of household members but decreased with household per capita income in line with Engel law. Household expenditure on staple food items was the highest in both rural and urban areas of Kogi and Kwara, followed by meats and other animal products. The proportion was found not to have decreased even with increase in household income contrary to the Bennett’s law. The percentage per capita expenditure of other important food items like fruits and vegetables was found to be very low compared to the staples and meat group. This has serious health implications on households in the study areas for an active and healthy life. Expenditure share on fruits and vegetables should therefore be increased. There is need for household size reduction through birth control and rate of dependency by other distant relationships besides providing food subsidy by the government to households

Maize Biodiversity and Food Security Status of Rural Households in the Derived Guinea Savannah of Oyo State, Nigeria

The incidences of food insecurity and loss of crop biodiversity are devastating in the developing countries including Nigeria. The continued loss of genetic diversity of agricultural crops has major negative consequences on food security. This study examined the effects of maize biodiversity on household food security status of rural maize farm households in the southern guinea savannah of Oyo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 200 maize-farm households. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, recommended daily calorie approach, Logit model, agro-biodiversity indices (Margalef, Shannon and Simpson) and the two-stage least Square. Based on the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommended daily energy requirement of 2260 Kcal, about 76.5% of the rural households were food secure. The highest proportion of the farmers with abundance of maize cultivars were within 30 to 49 years old, with five to nine household members, had formal education and 10-19 years of farming experience and cultivated five to nine hectares of farmland. Food security headcount increases with maize richness, cultivar evenness and relative abundance. Most of the farmers grow improved varieties such as \u27Tsolo\u27, \u27NS-1\u27, \u27N.S 5\u27, \u27TZB\u27, \u27TZBP\u27, \u27OBA Supper\u27 (Yellow and White) and Popcorn varieties. Farmers growing Tsolo had the highest percentage of abundance, while the least abundant species were \u27NS-1\u27, \u27N.S 5\u27, \u27TZB\u27, \u27TZBP\u27, \u27OBA Supper\u27 (Yellow and White) and Popcorn varieties. Disaggregation of maize diversity into its components showed that its effect on household food security status was based on the age of the farmer and the annual gross farm income. Maize diversity is positively related and truly endogenous to household food security status without reverse causality