Logistic modelling of smallholder livestock farmers’ adoption of tree-based fodder technology in Zimbabwe

Based on field data collected from 131 small scale dairy farmers that were randomly selected from four agro-ecological zones, this study assessed the potential of adoption of fodder bank technology as a means for improving livestock production and income generation for smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. Using a logit modelling approach, it also identified the drivers of adoption of the technology by analysing the influence of household characteristics and ecological factors on farmers’ decision to adopt the technology. The model correctly predicted 75% of observed adoption and non-adoption by farmers. Results reveal that dairy herd size, land holding size, membership of dairy association and agro-ecological potential are the key factors influencing farmers’ adoption of fodder bank. Age, sex, household size and educational level of farmers play lesser role. Male and female farmers were equally likely to take up and practice fodder bank if they are given equal access to information and incentives. The study recommends farmer-led extension approaches where farmers who possess certain key characteristics should constitute the initial group for disseminating information regarding the technology in rural communities. The results highlight the importance of access to dairy product markets as a driver for the adoption of fodder banks. It is recommended that forging a strategic partnership with the Dairy Development Programme (DDP) will offer high potential for enhancing the scaling up of the adoption and impact of fodder bank technology in the country.Livestock Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Constitutive Modeling of Wind Energy Potential of Selected Sites in Nigeria: A Pre-Assessment Model

In this chapter, the authors present the result of a study carried out to develop a pre-assessment model that can be used to carry out a preliminary study on the availability of wind energy resources of a site. 21 years’ (1987 – 2007) monthly average wind speeds for 18 locations in Nigeria were used to create the simple constitutive model. The locations span across the six geopolitical zones of the nation with three stations from each zone. Various statistical procedures were employed in the development of the model. The outcome gave an empirical model, which if employed, will lead to determining the mod- est range of wind energy potential of a site. Further, the results from this model were compared with those from the well-established two-parameter Weibull statistical distribution function and found to be reasonably adequate. Thus with this model, decision on site selection for complete assessment can be made without much rigour

Assessment of Wind Power Potential and Wind Electricity Generation Using WECS of Two Sites in South West, Nigeria

The study was used to analyze the wind characteristics of Shaki (08.40’ N; 03.23’ E; Altitude 457.0 m; Air density 1.1723 kg/m3) and Iseyin (07.58’ N; 03.36’ E; Altitude 330.0 m; Air density 1.1869 kg/m3), two local sites in Oyo State, Nigeria. 21 years monthly mean wind speeds at 10 m height obtained from the Nigeria meteorological department were employed together with the Weibull 2-parameter distribution and other statistics to carry out monthly, seasonal and whole years’ analyses of the sites’ wind profiles for electricity generation. It was found that the whole data spread ranged between 0.9 and 9.1 m/s for the two sites while the 21 years’ average ranged between 3.2 and 5.1 m/s and 2.9 and 4.7 m/s for Shaki and Iseyin sites respectively. Three wind energy conversion systems were employed with the results and it was discovered that, the sites have capacity to generate MWh to GWh of electricity at an average cost/kWh of between € (0.025 and 0.049) and that a turbine with technical parameters of cut-in, cut-out and rated wind speeds of 3.0, 25 and 11.6 m/s is appropriate for the sites

Assessment of wind energy potential of two sites in North-East, Nigeria

The study is used to assess the wind energy potential of Maiduguri and Potiskum, two sites in North-East, Nigeria. 21 years (1987e2007) monthly mean wind data at 10 m height were assessed from the Nigeria Meteorological department and subjected to 2-parameter Weibull and other statistical analyzes. The result showed that average monthly mean wind speed variation for Potiskum ranged from 3.90 to 5.85 m/s, while for Maiduguri, it ranged from 4.35 to 6.33 m/s. Seasonally, data variation between the dry and wet seasons revealed that, the mean wind speed variation for Potiskum ranged from 4.46 (for dry) to 5.16 m/s (for wet), while for Maiduguri it ranged from 5.10 (dry) to 5.59 m/s (wet). The wind power density variation based on the Weibull analysis ranged from 102.54 to 300.15 W/m2 for Potiskum and it ranged from 114.77 to 360.04 W/m2 for Maiduguri respectively. Moreover, Maiduguri was found to be the better of the sites in terms of monthly and seasonal variation of mean wind speed, but they both can be suitable for stand alone and medium scale wind power generation

Association between knowledge of Human Immunodeficiency Virus transmission and consistent condom use among sexually active men in Nigeria: An analysis of 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey.

An estimated 1.7 million people were living with HIV in Nigeria in 2020, with over 86,000 people newly infected. Although the global rates of HIV have remained consistent over time, Nigeria has the second-highest number of people living with HIV and contributes to 9% of the global burden of HIV/AIDS. This is due to several structural and individual-level factors that limit knowledge of HIV and condom utilization. In this context, this study examines the association between knowledge about HIV transmission and consistent condom use among sexually active men in Nigeria. The data utilised in this study was sourced from the latest Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2018. The sample included a total of 9,346 men between the ages of 15-59 years who were sexually active at the time of data collection. Frequency distribution, univariate and multivariable analyses were performed at 95% confidence interval and p-value less than 0.05 to determine the association between the key independent variables and covariates. The results showed that 85.03% of sexually active men who had no knowledge of HIV engaged in inconsistent condom use. The key independent variable showed that sexually active men who had knowledge of HIV had higher odds [AOR = 1.37; 95%(CI = 1.10-1.72)] of consistent condom use compared to those without knowledge of HIV. However, sexually active men who were previously married [AOR = 0.38; 95%(CI = 0.24-0.61)], and those residing in the South Eastern region of Nigeria [AOR = 0.62; 95%(CI = 0.44-0.96)] had lower odds of consistent condom use. This study established the association between HIV knowledge and consistent condom use among sexually active males in Nigeria even after controlling for confounders. Educational level, wealth index, and ethnicity are also associated with condom use. This calls for the consideration of social determinants of health, localised and cultural health promotion and targeted public health strategies at all governmental levels to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria. [Abstract copyright: Copyright: © 2022 Bolarinwa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

'BioNessie(G) - a grid enabled biochemical networks simulation environment

The simulation of biochemical networks provides insight and understanding about the underlying biochemical processes and pathways used by cells and organisms. BioNessie is a biochemical network simulator which has been developed at the University of Glasgow. This paper describes the simulator and focuses in particular on how it has been extended to benefit from a wide variety of high performance compute resources across the UK through Grid technologies to support larger scale simulations

Geoelectric Evaluation of Subsoil for Optimum Cocoa Yield in Parts of Ondo State, Southwestern Nigeria

Geoelectrical resistivity and direct pitting investigations of subsoils from different cocoa plantations across two senatorial districts of Ondo state, Nigeria were conducted with a view to delineating the subsoil units, identifying the nature and composition of the subsoil units and determining the influence of geology, subsoil resistivity and thickness on the growth and yield of cocoa plants. The study involved reconnaissance geological mapping, Schlumberger vertical electrical resistivity sounding and direct pitting techniques. Eight sounding data were collected with ABEM SAS 1000 resistivity meter. The interpretation of the sounding data involved partial curve matching and computer iteration techniques with direct pitting and geological data as control.  Three to four distinct subsurface geoelectric/geologic layers were identified. These included the topsoil; the weathered layer/fractured basement/cretaceous sediment and basement bedrock. The layer resistivity’s range were 126 - 2306; 37 – 1453 and ? ohm-m respectively while the thickness values of the upper two layers were 0.6 – 1.9 m; 1.9 - 25.2 m respectively. The weathered/fractured column and cretaceous sediments constituted the dominant water saturated unit.  Resistivity and thickness thresholds of 37 - 511 ohm-m and 1.9 - 19.8 m are suggestive of a significant proportion of clay and sand in the soil identified with Idanre, Oda-Akure and Ondo farm sites that usually gave optimum yields. However, other farm sites as Arimogija, Ikpemen and Ago Panu in Owo, Ibulesoro-Akure and Ile-Oluji soil profiles graded into more sandy soils with resistivity and thickness/depth thresholds of the topsoil and weathered layers between 126 - 2306 ohm-m and 5.3 – 35.2 m respectively. It was concluded that the relatively thick column of the weatherable products of the gray gneiss/charnockitic rocks as sandy clay/clayey sand of the upper two layers may have remained the most important underlying geologic units for optimal growth of cocoa in the state. Keywords: Schlumberger, Sounding, Resistivity, Thickness, Soil, Weatherable

Harvesting and feeding of dispersed forage plants to small ruminants by youths in Nsukka urban, Enugu State, Nigeria

The study was designed to assess harvesting and feeding of dispersed forage plants to small rumants by youths in Nsukka urban of Enugu State, Nigeria. Data for the study were collected from 95 youths through the use of a structured interview schedule. Frequency distribution, percentage and mean statistic were used in the analysis of the data. The findings revealed that a greater proportion (72.63%) of the youths were at their very tender age (10 – 19 years) with a mean age of 12 years. Both male and female youths were involved in the harvesting and feeding of dispersed forage plants in the study area and they did not harvest for commercial purposes. All (100.0%) the respondents had some training for skill acquisition in identifying, selecting, harvesting and sorting of dispersed forage plants. Their major sources of training included their parents and peers. Harvesting was normally carried out once per day and preferably, in the morning hours. Apart from harvesting the dispersed forage plants for their parents, they also participated in feeding the small ruminants. Height of some dispersed forage plants, seasonal variation and snake bite / insect sting were the major problems militating against effective harvesting. It was suggested that the Department of Agricultural Extension and the Department of Animal Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka should come-up with small ruminants feeding improvement programme through which the youths could be better informed, especially, about identification, selection, harvesting, sorting and storage of dispersed forage plants. Keywords: Forage plants, Nsukka-Urban; Ruminants, NigeriaAgro-Science Vol. 3 (2) 2006: pp. 45-5

Production of Biodegradable Detergent from Castor Oil

This research work was carried out with the objective of extraction of oil from castor seeds and its utilization to produce a biodegradable detergent. Solvent extraction method was employed in extracting the oil and the total percent oil yield was found to be 23.8%. The experimentally determined saponification value of the oil was 183.7275mgKOH/g of oil. The detergent efficiency, determined as a measure of the foamability of the detergent was found to be 2.6cm. The pH tests revealed mildly basic properties. The color, scent and efficiency of the detergent were improved with the addition of bleaching agent, perfume and foaming agents respectively. Keywords: Castor seeds, Castor Oil, Biodegradable detergent, Saponification DOI: 10.7176/CMR/11-1-0

Impact of Integrated Transport System (Its) on the Productivity of Smes in Selected South-Western States of Nigeria.

This paper examines the impact of Integrated Transport System on the productivity of SMEs in selected states of South-Western Nigeria. The sample frame consisted of SMEs that registered with the Chambers of Commerce and Industries of the selected states and are located within the state capital of the study area. Stratified sampling technique supplemented by cluster sampling was adopted. Data were elicited with the aid of structured questionnaire administered on 460 registered SMEs out of which 424 were found analysable. The study revealed that there is a strong (P= 0.864) inverse relationship between SMEs’ productivity and Government Policy (GP) on Integrated Transport System that is, slow responsiveness to Integrated Transport System by Nigeria Government. Based on the findings of this research, it was concluded that Nigeria Government’s responsiveness is slow and having provided the efficacy of ITS in aiding SMEs’ effectiveness in developing countries, the time is ripe for it accelerated adoption and implementation not only with SMEs but with other sectors of the economy. Key Words: Transport, Transport System, Integrated Transport, SMEs, Infrastructure