PERCEIVED EFFECT OF COACHING AND MENTORING ON EMPLOYEE JOB PERFORMANCE AMONG ACADEMIC STAFF IN UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

The study assessed the effect of coaching and monitoring on employees’ job performance among academic staff in University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used in obtaining data from ninety academic employees of Faculty of Agriculture University of Ibadan for the study. The data was analysed using Chi square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The mean age of the respondents was 51years while 66.3% were between ages 51-70 years, 52.3% were female and 50.2% were married. The average year of experience of the respondents was 18.1 years while majority (79.1%) of the respondents has obtained their PhD degree. On challenges facing coaching and mentoring, respondents identified mentee unwillingness to be mentored (x̅=2.84), and non conducive environment for coaching and mentoring (x̅=2.67) as the major constraints, while the least constraint was time and workload pressure (x̅=2.03). Many (62.1%) of the respondents have high job performance level. There was significant relationship between respondents’ marital status and job performance (P≤0.05). The study concluded that coaching and mentoring influence employees’ job performance positively among academic staff in academic institutions and recommended that provision of good work-environment for coaching and mentoring of academic staff should be provided by university management.   &nbsp

The choice and preference of sorghum value chain actors in Mali

The production and adoption of sorghum-improved varieties are faced with biotic and abiotic stresses affecting both its utilization and marketability by different actors in the sorghum value chain. This study aims to understand why and how different social groups and value chain actors make decisions on the utilization of sorghum and how these decisions influence the choice and adoption of the sorghum cultivars introduced and promoted by the breeding programs. This study was conducted in Mali’s Sudan and Savanna zones, wherein the different agroecological zones have differentiated production and utilization realities and traits demand. Mixed methods (surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews) combined with intersectional and value chain approaches were used for data collection and analysis. The data were collected from 836 respondents in 12 villages including 384 females (46%) and 452 males (54%) representing sorghum growers, processors, consumers, and traders. While the findings show gender-specific trait preferences, actors’ traits choices revealed the gender dynamics in value chains in which the different roles, interests, and challenges of men and women influence their choices and adoption of sorghum cultivars. The results also revealed there is an increased opportunity for the sale of sorghum grains (38%); this may be explained by the continuous efforts made by research institutes to develop high-yield sorghum varieties and the evolving processing sector in Mali

What unleashes innovations in the Legumes and Cereals farming Systems in the drylands: A gendered perspective

Agricultural and natural resource management innovations have often been introduced, promoted and adopted among local communities / farmers. However, how the innovation process is perceived by men and women, the relationships involved, the distribution of benefits and the differing capacities of women and men to take advantage of the new opportunities in agriculture are not always carefully thought-out. This study examined both community and individual men and women's experiences with agricultural innovations and practices and how these interactions support or hinder the achievement of agricultural innovations across various contexts. By providing robust empirical evidence on the relationship between gender norms, agency and agricultural innovation, the study revealed that sociocultural structures and household dynamics chiefly shapes how individuals negotiate for space, freedom, resources and the capacities needed to innovate

Examining the Gender Productivity Gap among Farm Households in Mali

AbstractThis paper decomposes the gender agricultural productivity gap and measures the factors that influence the gap between male and female agricultural plot managers in Mali. The Oaxaca–Blinder approach and the recentred influence function (RIF) decompositionmethodology are applied to a nationally representative survey of Mali. The results show that the agricultural productivity of female plot managers is 20.18%lower than that of male plot managers. Additionally, while more than half (56%) of the agricultural productivity gap is influenced by female-specific structural disadvantages, 44% of the gap is due to an endowment effect. Socioeconomic characteristics such as the educational level and age of the plot manager, environmental factors and agricultural production practices, i.e., the differential use of inputs (organic or inorganic fertiliser and improved seeds) and the use of hired female workers seem to affect the female-specific structural disadvantages. To reduce or close the gender productivity gap, the underlying causes of femalespecific structural disadvantages must be addressed to enable female farmers to obtain the same returns as men. Traditional means of addressing the gender gap, such as providing education for women in rural areas and facilitating rural women’ access to extension services and improved seeds, can mitigate the endowment deficit. This paper highlights the need to develop a better understanding of the factors influencing the structural disadvantages faced by female farmers inMali that could feed into the development ofmore effective policies to address the gender gap in agricultural productivity, improving productivity and gender equity and reducing poverty

Estimating and Decomposing Groundnut Gender Yield Gap: Evidence from Rural Farming Households in Northern Nigeria

Poverty among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with low agricultural productivity emanating from gender yield gaps among other factors. Using data collected from smallholder groundnut producers in Nigeria, we analyzed the gender yield gap by applying the exogenous switching regression (ESR) model and Oaxaca–Blinder (OB) decomposition framework. Results from the two complementary approaches showed a significant gender yield gap in favor of male headed households (MHHs). The main and significant source of the gap was differences in resources/endowments. We found that involving female headed households (FHHs) in prerequisite yield augmenting activities like technology validation trials, testing, and demonstrations is critical in closing the existing yield gap

Gendered aspirations and occupations among rural youth, in agriculture and beyond: A cross-regional perspective

Based on 25 case studies from the global comparative study ‘GENNOVATE: Enabling gender equality in agricultural and environmental innovation’, this paper explores rural young women’s and men’s occupational aspirations and trajectories in India, Mali, Malawi, Morocco, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Philippines. We draw upon qualitative data from 50 sex-segregated focus groups with the youth to show that across the study’s regional contexts, young rural women and men predominantly aspire for formal blue and white-collar jobs. Yet, they experience an aspirationachievement gap, as the promise of their education for securing the formal employment they seek is unfulfilled, and they continue to farm in their family’s production. Whereas some young men aspired to engage in knowledge-intensive or ‘modern’ agriculture, young women did not express any such interest. Framing our analysis within a relational approach, we contend that various gender norms that discriminate against women in agriculture dissuade young women from aspiring for agriculture-related occupation. We discuss the gendered opportunity spaces of the study sites, the meanings these hold for allowing young women and men to achieve their aspirations and catalyze agricultural innovation, and implications for agricultural policies and research for development. Our findings show that youth and gender issues are inextricably intertwined and cannot be understood in isolation one from the other

C. elegans Eats Its Own Intestine to Make Yolk Leading to Multiple Senescent Pathologies

Aging (senescence) is characterized by the development of numerous pathologies, some of which limit lifespan. Key to understanding aging is discovery of the mechanisms (etiologies) that cause senescent pathology. In C. elegans a major senescent pathology of unknown etiology is atrophy of its principal metabolic organ, the intestine. Here we identify a cause of not only this pathology, but also of yolky lipid accumulation and redistribution (a form of senescent obesity): autophagymediated conversion of intestinal biomass into yolk. Inhibiting intestinal autophagy or vitellogenesis rescues both visceral pathologies and can also extend lifespan. This defines a disease syndrome leading to multimorbidity and contributing to late-life mortality. Activation of gut-toyolk biomass conversion by insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) promotes reproduction and senescence. This illustrates how major, IIS-promoted senescent pathologies in C. elegans can originate not from damage accumulation, but from direct effects of futile, continued action of a wild-type biological program (vitellogenesis)

Adaption of Seasonal H1N1 Influenza Virus in Mice

The experimental infection of a mouse lung with influenza A virus has proven to be an invaluable model for studying the mechanisms of viral adaptation and virulence. The mouse adaption of human influenza A virus can result in mutations in the HA and other proteins, which is associated with increased virulence in mouse lungs. In this study, a mouse-adapted seasonal H1N1 virus was obtained through serial lung-to-lung passages and had significantly increased virulence and pathogenicity in mice. Genetic analysis indicated that the increased virulence of the mouse-adapted virus was attributed to incremental acquisition of three mutations in the HA protein (T89I, N125T, and D221G). However, the mouse adaption of influenza A virus did not change the specificity and affinity of receptor binding and the pH-dependent membrane fusion of HA, as well as the in vitro replication in MDCK cells. Notably, infection with the mouse adapted virus induced severe lymphopenia and modulated cytokine and chemokine responses in mice. Apparently, mouse adaption of human influenza A virus may change the ability to replicate in mouse lungs, which induces strong immune responses and inflammation in mice. Therefore, our findings may provide new insights into understanding the mechanisms underlying the mouse adaption and pathogenicity of highly virulent influenza viruses

Genomic Polymorphism of the Pandemic A (H1N1) Influenza Viruses Correlates with Viral Replication, Virulence, and Pathogenicity In Vitro and In Vivo

The novel pandemic A (H1N1) virus was first identified in Mexico in April 2009 and quickly spread worldwide. Like all influenzas, the H1N1 strain-specific properties of replication, virulence, and pathogenicity are a result of the particular genomic sequence and concerted expression of multiple genes. Thus, specific mutations may support increased virulence and may be useful as biomarkers of potential threat to human health. We performed comparative genomic analysis of ten strains of the 2009 pandemic A (H1N1) influenza viruses to determine whether genotypes associated with clinical phenotypes, which ranged from mild to severe illness and up to lethal. Virus replication capacity was tested for each strain in vitro using cultured epithelial cells, while virulence and pathogenicity were investigated in vivo using the BALB/c mouse model. The results indicated that A/Sichuan/1/2009 strain had significantly higher replication ability and virulence than the other strains, and five unique non-synonymous mutations were identified in important gene-encoding sequences. These mutations led to amino acid substitutions in HA (L32I), PA (A343T), PB1 (K353R and T566A), and PB2 (T471M), and may be critical molecular determinants for replication, virulence, and pathogenicity. Our results suggested that the replication capacity in vitro and virulence in vivo of the 2009 pandemic A (H1N1) viruses were not associated with the clinical phenotypes. This study offers new insights into the transmission and evolution of the 2009 pandemic A (H1N1) virus