Understanding the determinants of household cooking-fuel choice in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from Nigeria

Overreliance on traditional cooking fuels by agricultural households poses a significant obstacle to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 by 2030 in Nigeria. Despite the emerging recognition of remittances as a crucial factor influencing cooking-fuel choices in the energy-transition literature, there is a paucity of studies examining this influence in Nigeria. Using data from 4400 agricultural households sourced from the fourth wave of the Nigerian Living Standard Measurement Survey data sets, this study examined the influence of remittances on cooking-fuel choices, among other factors in Nigeria. Employing descriptive statistics and the multinomial logit regression model, the analysis reveals that traditional cooking fuels, including wood, crop residue and animal dung, continue to dominate the cooking-fuel landscape. The empirical result of the multinomial logit model showed that households that receive remittances are more likely to use modern cooking fuels. Furthermore, wealthier, more educated households with access to electricity are more likely to use modern and transitional cooking fuels than traditional cooking fuels. Based on the findings, the study suggests the incentivization of remittances into the country through the reduction in associated transaction costs and accelerated public infrastructural investment in affordable electricity and good road networks to connect rural areas to gas-supply networks to drive the transition to modern cooking energy. Additionally, educational and awareness campaigns about the health risks associated with traditional cooking energy, particularly indoor air pollution, should be encouraged, especially in rural areas

Adoption of agricultural practices with climate smart agriculture potentials and food security among farm households in northern Nigeria

Despite the conceptual promise and attractiveness of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in ensuring farmers’ resilience and food security, empirical evidence of its success are observed to be scanty and mixed in terms of results, thus prompting further research. In this article, we analyzed the effect of adopting six Agricultural Practices with CSA Potentials (AP-CSAPs) on food security status using recent cross-sectional data on 238 maize farmers from Northern Nigeria. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Probit regression. The results showed that 92.4% of the maize farmers were male, with a mean age and household size of 44 years and nine persons, respectively. We find that 37.0% of the farm households were food insecure, and adoption of the AP-CSAPs was generally low. However, while refuse retention and agroforestry influenced food security, the remaining four practices considered did not. In addition, we find that land fragmentation, off-farm income and age influence the likelihood of being food secure. We recommend further research on the medium- to long-term effects of AP-CSAPs and suggest that policies aimed at consolidating landholdings to promote monocropping among rural farmers be discouraged