Awareness and effects of climate change on cocoa production in Ondo State, Nigeria

According to estimates, the contribution of cocoa, which is the Nigeria’s highest foreign exchange earner among all agricultural commodities, has dropped from 308,000 tonnes in the 70’s to an average of 215,000 tonnes in recent years. This, according to reports, resulted from climate failure, among other factors. In the light of this, this study examined awareness and effects of climate change on cocoa production in Ondo State, the Nigeria’s leading cocoa producing state. Specifically, the study decribed socio-­‐economic characteristics of cocoa farmers in the study area, investigated the awareness and perceived effects of climate change on cocoa production by the farmers and identified the adaptation strategies practised by the farmers. Primary data obtained through a combination of purposive and random sampling techniques of 120 farming households from the six Local Government Areas noted for cocoa production in the state were used for the study. Descriptive statistics involving frequency distribution tables, mean, mode and percentages were used for the analysis. The results revealed that 80.8% of the respondents were aware of climate change. The general effects of climate change experienced by the farmers were excessive rainfall (23.3%), less rainfall (12.5%), irregular rainfall pattern (59.2%), delayed onset of rainfall (5.0%), high temperature (37.5%), drought (5.0%) and variation in sunshine hours (28.3%). The visible effects of climate failure on the farmer cocoa production were pest attack (35.8%), disease attack (44.2%), late ripening of cocoa pod (20.8%), reduced weight of cocoa bean (53.3%) and contaminated cocoa bean (45.0%). This is unfavourable to farmers and the Nigerian economy in general. Therefore, this study calls for dissemination of timely information on sound adaptation strategies to effects of climate change by agricultural development agencies and provision of training by relevant stakeholders to improve the technical knowledge and skills of the farmers on measures to mitigate effects of climate change on cocoa production

PATENT MEDICINE VENDORS’ PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF COVID-19 INFECTION IN A NORTH-CENTRAL STATE IN NIGERIA

Objective: This report aimed to determine the immediate effect of the IPC training on the knowledge and role of patent medicine vendors (PMV) in the COVID-19 outbreak response in Nigeria. Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study before and after the IPC training among 1076 PMV in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 23. Eight questions were asked, for which each was assigned a score of “1”. Participants who had scored<50% were categorized as “Fail”, while those with scores ≥50% were categorized as “Pass” in both the pre and post-tests. The Chi-square test was used to test for the association between sociodemographic characteristics and performance of respondents in the pre-and post-IPC knowledge results, and paired t-test to test for significant differences between the pre and post-tests mean scores. The level of significance was set at p<0.05 for all statistical tests. Results: The mean age of the 1076 respondents was 37.06±10.96, 463(43%) passed the pre-test, while 617 (57.3%) passed the post-test. The mean pre-test IPC training score was 3.1310±1.5631, while the mean post-test IPC training score was 3.7351±1.6028 (t=-11.337, p=<0.001). In all, 617(57.3%) scored higher in posttest. Overall, 560 (92.41%) identified community sensitization and health education on COVID-19 preventive measures as roles of PMV. Conclusion: Regular trainings on COVID-19 preventive practices among PMV should be conducted. PMV should be empowered to sensitize and educate their clients on the prevention of COVID-19

Job Incentives For Rural Women In Nigeria: An Appraisal Of The Shea-Butter Extraction Option

This study examined the viability of women livelihoods that is dependent on Shea butter extraction activities in Nigeria, using Kwara State as a case study. Specifically, the study examined Shea- butter extraction practices and facilities, costs and returns structure to Shea- butter extraction, factors affecting Shea- butter extraction and determinants of investments in Shea- butter extraction activities. For the study One hundred and twenty women households involved in Shea-butter processing were surveyed across the study area, Kwara State. Data collected was analysed using the descriptive statistics, partial budget analysis and regression Analyses. Results revealed that most women involved in Shea butter extraction activities were married and agile youths. Some of the women undertook Shea butter extraction activities as a minor occupation while about half of them undertook the activities as their major occupation.most of them were also members of cooperatives in their localities. Cost and returns analysis showed that the average gross revenue recorded in the study area is N776.58 per kilogram of processed Shea-nut. Total cost is N521.50 while the net income is N255.08. Returns to labour and management (RLM) is N86.18). Labour used, years of involvement in extraction and the quantity of Shea fruits processed were revealed as contributors to Shea butter output while years of formal education was shown to be an insignificant contributors. Constraints limiting Shea butter activities were shown to include inadequate capital, poor packaging and market, low domestic consumption/patronage of Shea-butter products, insufficient supply of water as well as high cost of equipment maintenance. The study therefore calls for sourcing of better market, provision of crucial social amenities including banks and micro-finance and the need for women to mobilise and collate rural funds via cooperatives. Key Words: viability, average gross revenue, Returns to labour and management (RLM), Total cos

Gender Analysis of Sweet Potato Production in Osun State, Nigeria

Aims: The research investigated the determinants of gender differentials in the output of male and female sweet potato farmers in the study area. Specifically, the study examined the socio economic characteristics of the sweet potato farmers, gender levels of potato production, the efficiency estimates of the farmers and factors that determine gender outputs in the study area. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Osun State Agricultural Development Programmes (OSADEP) between April 2010 and September, 2011. Methodology: The sampling frame for this study is the sweet potato farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. The sample of 16 respondents were randomly selected from five (5) Osun State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) zones giving a sample size of 80.Primary data were collected with the use of structured questionnaireand personal interviews. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and Cobb-Douglas production function. Results: The result suggests that Land clearing, preparation and ridging were found to be done by 90%, 87.5% and 93.8% of the male and 12.5%, 35.0% and 10.0% of the females, respectively. The analysis of the mean output in kg per hectare of the male and female sweet potato farmers shows the difference in the mean output. The efficiency distribution shows that male operate at the efficiency range lower than that of the females. The study reveals that women are more interested and committed to sweet potato farming. Farm size, quantity of input, depreciation, age, education, farming experience and care economy were found to affect output of all the respondents. Conclusion: It is therefore pertinent that policy makers should pay attention to the female sweet potato farmers as they are found to be more productive, since it was revealed that the female produced more output than their male counterparts. This implies that the female took sweet potato farming more seriously and did not play a supportive or complimentary role to their male counterparts

Biopolymer-mediated Green Synthesis of Noble Metal Nanostructures

Polymer-coated noble metal nanoparticles are currently of particular interest to investigators in the fields of nanobiomedicine and fundamental biomaterials. These materials not only exhibit imaging properties in response to stimuli but also efficiently deliver various drugs and therapeutic genes. Even though a large number of polymer-coated noble metal nanoparticles have been fabricated over the past decade, most of these materials still present some challenges emanating from their synthesis. The metal nanoparticles when encapsulated in a polymer and taken up by human cells might show a lower degree of toxicity; however, the degree of toxicity for some of the starting materials and precursors has raised serious concerns. Hence, there is a need to implement the principle of green chemistry in the synthesis of nanomaterials. The use of environmentally benign materials for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles provides numerous benefits ranging from biocompatibility, availability, cost-effectiveness, amenable scale-up to eco-friendliness. The biopolymer-based nanovehicles have been found to be more suitable in the field of nanotechnology owing to their high reproducibility, ease of manufacture, functional modification and safety (they are not carcinogenic). Unlike synthetic polymers where the raw material can be derived from petrochemicals or chemical industrial processes, biopolymers are produced from renewable resources such as plant and/or living organism. They are degradable by natural processes down to elemental entities that can be resorbed in the environment. Furthermore, they can also be modified to serve a particular purpose which explains the myriad of their potential applications. The macromolecular chain of these biopolymers possesses a large number of hydroxyl groups which can easily complex with metal ions. Additionally, these biopolymers also contain supramolecular structures that can lead to new functionalities of their composites with metal and semiconductor nanoparticles. In this chapter, a comprehensive discussion on different biopolymers, green synthesis of noble metal nanostructures, mechanisms, characterization and application in various fields is presented

Influence of Arsenic (III), Cadmium (II), Chromium (VI), Mercury (II), and Lead (II) Ions on Human Triple Negative Breast Cancer (HCC1806) Cell Cytotoxicity and Cell Viability

The hazardous consequences of heavy metal ions (HMIs) on human health necessitate the immediate need to probe fundamentally the interactions and cytotoxic effects of HMIs on humans. This study investigated the influence of five toxic HMIs (arsenic (As (III)), cadmium (Cd (II)), chromium (Cr (VI)), mercury (Hg (II)), and lead (Pb (II))) on human TNBC (HCC 1806) cell viability using optical microscopy, trypan blue dye-exclusion assays, and flow cytometry. The TNBC cells were exposed to varying concentrations of HMIs for 24 and 48 hours. We evaluated the influence of the concentrations and duration of HMIs exposure on TNBC cell viability. Light microscopy, cell viability assays, revealed that after 48-hour treatment of TNBC cells with 1 x 10-5 M of As (III), Cd (II), Hg (II), Cr (IV), and Pb (II) resulted in cell viabilities of 23%, 34%, 35%, 56%, 91% respectively, suggesting that As (III) has the greatest cytotoxicity (77% cell death) while Pb (II) showed the least (9% cell death). Furthermore, flow cytometry revealed that while Pb (II), As (III) and Cr (IV) had significant increases in cell death, Hg (II) caused a G1 arrest. Together, this study revealed that HMIs cause a differential cytotoxic effect on TNBC cells and suggest that they may have very different genotoxic targets and implications in their mutagenic potential

ASSESSMENT OF COMMERCIALIZATION LEVEL AND TRENDS IN MARKETING INITIATIVES FOR SUSTAINABLE SMALLHOLDER FARMING DEVELOPMENT IN THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA

Transforming farm produce to cash is the primary objective of anyone going into farming as an occupation but the reality on ground is that most of these farmers are not linking up with their desire results due to inadequate market or no market in some instances. This paper investigates the reasons farmers are not getting their farm produce sold into profiting, Socioeconomic characteristic of the farmers in the area and to know their level of commercialization level at which they operate in the selected area. Well-structured questionnaires were used to elicits data from 120 respondents that were purposively selected because of the location of the smallholder farmers in Tyefu in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. A commercialization index was used in measuring the commercialization level, Descriptive statistics were used in describing the socioeconomic characteristics and in profiling the challenges of marketing in the study area. Results revealed that the area has more male with 68.3% while female farmers were 31.7%,. Further, 65.8% of the farmers were married with the mean age of 61-65years having the highest percentage of 38.3%. The farmers are doing well in maize production at 5% and 10% level of significance. Profiling the challenges faced by farmers in the study area indicated that bad road network and storage facilities are parts of the major problems they are in area. The commercialization level was measured as 0.45 indicating that smallholder farming is a lucrative venture in the study area. There is future for small farms as they are the integral part of productions in Nigeria. Government and policy, makers must assist the smallholder farmer with various aids in grants, this will attract many people to farming and there will be more food supply and more profits will be made by the individual farmers

The impact of farming on river banks on water quality of the rivers

A study was carried out in a strip of a river in the dry and rainy seasons to assess the effect of farming along river banks on the quality of water in rivers. The results showed that there was an increase in the concentration of nitrate in the water downstream in both the rainy and dry seasons. In both rainy and dry seasons, the total nitrogen in the soil was highest (p<0.01) in the middle section. Significant seasonal differences (p<0.01) were observed for phosphate in water, being higher in the dry season. In the soil, the concentration of phosphate showed significant sectional differences (p<0.01) in the rainy season with the highest concentration observed in the lower section (1.74±0.01mg/l) and the least in the upper section (1.02±0.01g/l). However, in the dry season, the highest concentration was obtained in the middle section (1.69±0.01mg/l) and the least in the upper section (1.15±0.02 mg/l). The results suggest that the farms along the riverbanks have an impact on the water quality of the water in the river. It is therefore recommended that there should be close monitoring of the activities of the farms on riverbanks to minimise their impacts on the natural ecosystems that they interact with. Frequent monitoring of the water quality in the rivers relative to the farming estates should be done

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

Investment in SARS-CoV-2 sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences generated, now exceeding 100,000 genomes, used to track the pandemic on the continent. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries able to sequence domestically, and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround time and more regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and shed light on the distinct dispersal dynamics of Variants of Concern, particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron, on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve, while the continent faces many emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century