The effect of flood on food security of rural women in Ogbaru local government area of Anambra state

No Abstract.Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences Vol. 3 (1) 2005 pp. 53-6

Male and Female Participation in Selected Agricultural Development Programmes in Edo state

The study assessed the level of male and female equality in participating in agricultural development programmes in Edo state. Purposive sampling was used to select 135 respondents made up of both men (79) and women (56) from the intervention programmes present in the three selected LGAs. Data were collected from the respondents using questionnaire and interview schedule. The results show that the respondents had mean age of approximately 45 years; most of the respondents were married and had one form of formal education or the other. The male had grand participation mean of 2.94 and participation index of 0.74, while the female participants had grand participation mean of 3.52 and participation index of 0.88. It was concluded that female farmers in Edo State had a higher level of participation than their male counterparts.Keywords: Gender participation in agricultural programmes, intervention programme in agricultural development

Colonial Heritage, Identity-Building and Communication: English and Nigerian Languages in Biafra

The Biafran War (1967–1970) has often been called “the forgotten war”, yet it marked a watershed in the development of the Nigerian foreign policy, gave birth to the NGO Médecins sans frontières and its refugee camps taught foreign journalists the intercultural skills they were to use later to report on other African conflicts. While many books and scholarly articles have been written on the war, its use of languages and impact on post-war language policies have never really been considered. Using media bulletins compiled by the author between 1968 and 1970, data collected by French journalists and published in 1968–1969, memoirs published later by various people involved in the humanitarian efforts of the period and songs recorded by the Biafran Red Cross during the conflict, this chapter will reveal how war years confirmed language preferences built during the colonial period. It will show how the necessity to communicate both with the outside and within the Biafran enclave contributed to gradually shape language practices, and will consider the reasons behind that choice. It will finally confirm the huge emotional and psychological power mobilised by languages during the conflict