Nutritional Qualities of Three Medicinal Plant Parts (Xylopia aethiopica, Blighia sapida and Parinari polyandra) commonly used by Pregnant Women in the Western Part of Nigeria

The nutritional potentials of three medicinal plant parts used by pregnant women in the western part of Nigeria Parinari polyandra, Blighia sapida and Xylopia aethiopica were evaluated through their proximate compositions as well as percentage mineral elements composition. Blighia sapida was high in crude fibre (44.09±2.20%) compared with Parinari polyandra and Xylopia aethiopica that were 4.21±1.10% and 12.14±0.70% respectively. Moisture contents of Xylopia aethiopica and Blighia sapida were 16.04±1.25% and 10.17±2.60% respectively while that of Parinari polyandra was 30.65±5.02%. The total ash contents of Parinari polyandra, Blighia sapida and Xylopia aethiopica were 2.53±1.20%, 3.66±1.20% and 4.37±0.85% respectively. The total fat of Xylopia aethiopica, Blighia sapida and Parinari polyandra were 9.55±2.10%, 1.25±0.20% and 0.53±0.15% respectively while the total protein of Blighia sapida, Xylopia aethiopica and Parinari polyandra were 2.1±0.25%, 2.1±0.20% and 7.09±0.20% respectively. The total carbohydrate of Xylopia aethiopica was 55.80±4.26%, that of Parinari polyandra was 54.27±3.20% and that of Blighia sapida was 39.45±2.20%. Xylopia aethiopica can be a good source of magnesium (2.236±0.095), phosphorus (0.620±0.04) and potassium (0.510±0.04) as the amount of these mineral elements were higher than that of the other plant parts with the exception of Parinari polyandra having 0.690±0.11% phosphorus. Blighia sapida is also a good source of phosphorus (0.400±0.20), magnesium (0.430±0.20) and calcium (0.348±0.15). Other mineral elements detected in reasonable amounts were calcium, zinc and sodium. Further tests revealed that heavy metals such as lead, chromium and cadmium were not detected. The results of this research indicated that the three plants parts have nutritional qualities that could provide the users with additional nutrients

DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA’S INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS: POLICY, PRACTICE AND COVID-19 IMPLICATIONS

The rise of informal settlements in the global south during the latter part of the twentieth century led to the role of disaster management being recognized as a crucial aspect of urban planning. As a result of this, the United Nations called for all the world’s governments to develop and integrate proactive and preventative disaster management policies into their respective countries’ development plans while integrating informal settlements in their urban planning initiatives in a bid to create inclusive cities. South Africa, being one of the countries that are heavily impacted by informal settlements, was swift to embrace these international recommendations, especially from a policy making perspective. The implementation of these policies has however been overshadowed by lacklustre governmentperformance with respect to reducing the disaster risks associated with informal settlements or the inclusion of these areas in urban development. (hazards and lack of services aggravating disaster vulnerability) This article, therefore, explores the policy-practice realities that have given birth to the challenges faced by South Africa’s post-apartheid disaster management initiatives, especially with regard to the disaster vulnerability of informal settlement dwellers. By assessing how international best practice recommendations have influenced the country’s disaster management policy, the article proceeds to analyse the implementation inadequacies that have induced the existing policy-practice disjuncture, and the resultant safety and socio-economic concerns that arise for the country’s informal settlement dwellers. Also, with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic triggering a state of national disaster in the country, the article analyses the aggravated vulnerability of contacting and spreading of the virus amongst informal settlement residents, along with the socio-economic implications that the national lockdown restrictions have had on these areas. The findings of this article suggest that, although South Africa’s disaster management policy and legislation has comprehensively developed the necessary guidelines for all the spheres of government to play their respective roles in the country’s disaster reduction and recovery initiatives, Information from the government’s databases suggests that the implementation of risk preventative disaster management approaches has been extremely sporadic in informal settlements, despite these areas accounting for 75 per cent of where the country’s disasters eventstake place. Findings also suggest that South Africa’s informal settlement dwellers have been the hardest hit by the Covid-19 disaster, intensifying the levels of exclusion in these areas

Effect of Hedging-Integrated Rule Curves on the Performance of the Pong Reservoir (India) During Scenario-Neutral Climate Change Perturbations

This study has evaluated the effects of improved, hedging-integrated reservoir rule curves on the current and climate-change-perturbed future performances of the Pong reservoir, India. The Pong reservoir was formed by impounding the snow- and glacial-dominated Beas River in Himachal Pradesh. Simulated historic and climate-change runoff series by the HYSIM rainfall-runoff model formed the basis of the analysis. The climate perturbations used delta changes in temperature (from 0° to +2 °C) and rainfall (from −10 to +10 % of annual rainfall). Reservoir simulations were then carried out, forced with the simulated runoff scenarios, guided by rule curves derived by a coupled sequent peak algorithm and genetic algorithms optimiser. Reservoir performance was summarised in terms of reliability, resilience, vulnerability and sustainability. The results show that the historic vulnerability reduced from 61 % (no hedging) to 20 % (with hedging), i.e., better than the 25 % vulnerability often assumed tolerable for most water consumers. Climate change perturbations in the rainfall produced the expected outcomes for the runoff, with higher rainfall resulting in more runoff inflow and vice-versa. Reduced runoff caused the vulnerability to worsen to 66 % without hedging; this was improved to 26 % with hedging. The fact that improved operational practices involving hedging can effectively eliminate the impacts of water shortage caused by climate change is a significant outcome of this study

Adoption of improved soybean production technologies in Benue State, Nigeria

Lack of appropriate technologies uptake among small scale farmers have always led to low productivity. This study examined the adoption of improved soybean production technologies by farmers in Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Data for the study were collected through the use of structured questionnaires from purposive randomly selected sample of 73 soybeans farmers. Descriptive statistics and Tobit regression model were used to analyze the data. The mean age of soybeans farmers was 41 years with an average farm experience of 17 years; access to credit and extension contact were relatively low. Tobit analysis results shows that household size, education, experience, membership of association, extension contact and output significantly affected farmers’ decision to adopt improved soybean production technologies. The major constraints identified were costly technologies and lack of extension services. It was therefore recommended that farmers should make their cooperative societies more viable, strong and proactive so that their resources could be harnessed and adequately utilized for higher productivity.Keywords: Adoption, productivity, technologies and Tobit mode

Iron Deficiency Status and Anaemia among Athletes in Osogbo, Nigeria

Background: Athletes are highly at risk of minimal iron consumption due to the nature of their diet which is mainly based on calorie consideration without regard for an iron-embedded diet. This study determined the iron deficiency status and anaemia in athletes across all sports in Osogbo, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Seventy (70) subjects comprising 55 and 33 age-sex matched athletes and healthy non–athlete controls respectively, were recruited into this study from Osogbo City Stadium Nigeria. Parameters assessed include packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb) and the red cell indices; serum iron; total iron-binding capacity; and ferritin. Results: There was a general and gender-specific significant reduction in the mean ±SD level of all haematological parameters (p<0.05) of the athletes compared with the controls with the TIBC, serum iron and ferritin reduced though statistically insignificant. Moderate anaemia was generally observed (64%) in the entire populace while those with severe anaemia, mainly the females (5%). Iron deficiency was present majorly in the female group with one male displaying iron depletion features. Conclusion: Iron deficiency, depleted iron store and anaemia are well observed in the athletes with the females presenting more anaemic conditions than the male counterparts all of which result from their dietary constituents, non-supplementation of haemoglobin, mechanical induced intravascular haemolysis, uncompensated blood loss due to menstrual flow in females and exercise-induced inflammatory cytokine

Social Entreprenuership’s Economic Empowerment Strategy

This paper examines social entrepreneurship as a powerful mantra for economic empowerment with emphasis on the youths of Nigeria. Social entrepreneurship signals the imperative to drive social change, and it is that potential payoff, with its lasting, transformational benefit to society, that sets the field and its practitioners apart. Social entrepreneurs are setting trends and sparking movements that are spreading across the world. These could have far-reaching effects in different locations and future scenarios. What is most important about social entrepreneurs, wherever they operate, is that they challenge   existing rules and institutions and create innovative vehicles to achieve their social goals. These may end up directly provoking markets through competition or providing alternatives, or they may indirectly put pressure on industries by creating awareness and stimulating behavioral and attitude change. The paper discuses, social entrepreneurship schools of practice    the ecosystem of social entrepreneurship , principles of social entrepreneurship, models of social entrepreneurship and the  assumptions of social entrepreneurship among others. Youth social entrepreneurship should grow out of young people’s own interests, motivations and ideas. It entails young people being actively involved by initiating their own activities rather than just being told what to do. Yet it also requires resources and supportive and experienced adults who can mentor/guide young people without being controlling. The key now is to focus on how social enterprise can sustain growth and generate more impact. The role of public policy is to stimulate and orchestrate this process of collective innovation. Politicians, policy-makers and civic leaders can make a unique contribution by changing the way society frames its challenges and mobilizes public, private and voluntary resources to meet them. Demand for social enterprise solutions will not lessen because  they attack fundamental issues of how to create public goods and solutions to social problems in an open market economy. Keywords: Social entrepreneurship; Youth empowerment; Volunteerism and Economic Development

Factors that affect the uptake of community-based health insurance in low-income and middle-income countries : a systematic protocol

Many people residing in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are regularly exposed to catastrophic healthcare expenditure. It is therefore pertinent that LMICs should finance their health systems in ways that ensure that their citizens can use needed healthcare services and are protected from potential impoverishment arising from having to pay for services. Ways of financing health systems include government funding, health insurance schemes and out-of-pocket payment. A health insurance scheme refers to pooling of prepaid funds in a way that allows for risks to be shared. The health insurance scheme particularly suitable for the rural poor and the informal sector in LMICs is community-based health insurance (CBHI), that is, insurance schemes operated by organisations other than governments or private for-profit companies. We plan to search for and summarise currently available evidence on factors associated with the uptake of CBHI, as we are not aware of previous systematic reviews that have looked at this important topic