ASSESSMENT OF RURAL CHILDREN’S INVOLVEMENT IN FISHERY ACTIVITIES IN OGUN WATERSIDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

The study assessed rural children’s involvement in fishery activities in Ogun waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Eighty rural children were sampled from four fishing communities across two wards in the LGA through the use of multistage sampling technique. Data were collected with structured interview schedule. The study identified fishery activities involved in by rural children, determined their level of involvement, identified their educational activities and also identified reasons for children’s involvement in fishery activities. The results indicated that majority of the rural children were male (71.25%) with mean age of 14 years, Christians (61.25%) and had large household sizes between 6 and 10 persons (77.50%).Smoking of fish (96.25%), fish catching (93.75%), firewood gathering (92.5%) and selling of fish (88.75%) were some of the fishery activities involved in by rural children. The study also revealed that high level of involvement was observed with fish processing and fish marketing activities. Despite children’s involvement in fishery activities, their educational activities were not affected. The results of Chi-square analysis also showed significant associations between rural children’s involvement in fishing activities (χ2 = 210.772, p<0.05), fish marketing activities (χ2 = 163.547, p<0.05) and their educational activities. The study concludes that if children’s level of involvement in fishery activities is low, their educational performance will not be affected. It is therefore recommended that children’s involvement in fishery activities should only be tailored towards socializing the children and not for children to be exploited through child labour.     &nbsp

Baker’s Willingness to Utilize High Quality Cassava Flour (Hqcf) for Bread Production: Experience From Ogun State, Nigeria

One of the major reasons for introducing High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) inclusion in bread is to reduce its cost of production. The study thus evaluated baker’s willingness to utilize HQCF for bread production in Ogun State. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to elicit information from 187 selected bakers. Results showed that 79.6% of the bakers were male, with a mean age of 39.5 years. The average year of bakery establishment was 10.7 years, with an average bread production period of 5 days per week, mean bread production of 361.0 loaves. Majority, 96.1% of the bakers were willing to utilize HQCF in bread production. In addition, 79.0% of the bakers would accept HQCF if it is readily available and 72.6% were willing to utilize readily mixed HQCF with wheat flour. Pearson Product Moment Correlation revealed a significant relationships (p<0.05) between willingness to utilize and quantity of bread loaves produced per day (r = 0.280); year of bakery establishment (r = 0.253); awareness of cassava inclusion policy (r = -0.273); awareness of potential value of HQCF inclusion in bread production (r = -0.340) and the bakers’ willingness to utilize HQCF. The study concluded that bakers were willing to utilize HQCF for bread production in the study area

SOCIETAL AWARENESS OF THE CHILD’S RIGHTS ACT AMONG RURAL AND URBAN DWELLERS OF OGUN STATE

Protecting the rights of children has become important to local and international agencies of government and non-governmental organizations. This led to the formulation of laws that provided for and protected the rights of the child. Such laws include the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Nigeria’s Child’s Rights Act (CRA) and the Child’s Rights Law of Ogun State. However, the provisions of these documents seem to be inefficient in curbing the violation of child’s rights due to the high prevalence of street hawking, raping, corporal punishment, etc among children in Nigeria and Ogun State in particular. Hence, this study sought the societal awareness of CRA in rural and urban areas of Ogun State. About 243 rural and urban residents were interviewed through multistage sampling techniques with the aid of questionnaires and interview schedules administered on the different groups of respondents. The result showed that 69.14% of Ogun State residents were aware of the CRA. It further revealed that awareness of CRA was higher in urban than rural areas. Awareness of CRA was primarily sourced through the radio (42.86%) and television (42.86%). Radio and awareness campaigns were the most common sources of awareness among rural (51.76%) and urban (65.06%) residents respectively. The study recommended that government agencies and non-governmental organizations should sponsor more programmes that will be specifically directed to raising residents’ awareness of CRA in rural areas of the state. 

Awareness of Cassava Peel Utilization Forms among Cassava Processors in Rural Communities of Southwest, Nigeria

Significant quantities of generated peels are been thrown on dumping sites in southwest, Nigeria thereby constituting a source of environmental pollution. This study assessed the awareness of cassava peel utilization forms among cassava processors in rural communities of southwest, Nigeria. Interview guide was used to elicit information from 200 cassava processors through a multistage sampling technique. Data were analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. Result revealed that majority of the cassava processors were women (76.5%), married (75.0%), and members of cassava processing associations (89.5%) with 73.0% having at least primary education. The mean age and cassava processing experience were 53.01 and 22.76 years respectively. About 23.0% of the processed cassava tubers constituted peels. The study also revealed that 50% of the cassava processors discarded peels as waste, 26% sold generated peels while 24% fed the peels to their livestock. Also 93.5% of the cassava processors were not aware of any cassava peel utilization technology. Chi-square analysis revealed that significant association existed between existing practice on cassava peel utilization (χ2=17.341, p<0.05) and cassava processors’ awareness of cassava peel utilization forms. The study concluded that substantial quantity of peel been generated is discarded as waste due to lack of awareness of cassava peel utilization technologies in the study areas. The study therefore recommended that improved technologies on the utilization of cassava peel should be popularized through result demonstration among cassava processors in southwest, Nigeria

Social Impact Assessment of Cement Polution on Small Scale Farmers in Cement Producing Areas of Ogun State

The impact of chemical effluent from cement factories on agricultural activities has resulted into the degradation of cultivable land resources. The objective of the study is to assess the social impact of cement production on small-scale farmers in Ewekoro andSagamu areas of Ogun State. One hundredand twenty questionnaires were used to collect data on cement pollution for the study in Ewekoro and Sagamu Local Government Areas of Ogun State. Hypotheses were tested using chi-square. Soil erosion (96.6), bush burning (93.3), soil excavation (52.5), water contamination (80.3) and air pollution (62.5) were reported as the major environmental problems encountered in the study areas. Eightythree point three (83.3%) percent and 58.3% of the respondents agreed that cement pollution has a greatly negative impact on their income and agricultural production respectively. Also, environmental problems have impact on the standard of living of the farmers in the study areas. Socio-economic characteristics such as Age (X~-3.02, p~0.69), gender (X2=2.79, p-0.24), education (X2-l.78, p-0.77), religion (X2-3.5I, p-0.32), type of farming (X2-l.37, 0.50), marital status (X2-4.56, p-0.21), family size (X2=2.97,p=0.39), income (X2=6.89, p=0.14), source oflabour (X2-4.43, p=0.48) are not significantly related to social impact in the two study areas. Neither age, sex nor income was found to determine the impact of cement pollution on the small scale farmers. It was however recommended that all hands should be on deck to ensure that the environment is made conducive for the populace, agricultural practices and future generation

Social Impact Assessment of Cement Polution on Small Scale Farmers in Cement Producing Areas of Ogun State

The impact of chemical effluent from cement factories on agricultural activities has resulted into the degradation of cultivable land resources. The objective of the study is to assess the social impact of cement production on small-scale farmers in Ewekoro andSagamu areas of Ogun State. One hundredand twenty questionnaires were used to collect data on cement pollution for the study in Ewekoro and Sagamu Local Government Areas of Ogun State. Hypotheses were tested using chi-square. Soil erosion (96.6), bush burning (93.3), soil excavation (52.5), water contamination (80.3) and air pollution (62.5) were reported as the major environmental problems encountered in the study areas. Eightythree point three (83.3%) percent and 58.3% of the respondents agreed that cement pollution has a greatly negative impact on their income and agricultural production respectively. Also, environmental problems have impact on the standard of living of the farmers in the study areas. Socio-economic characteristics such as Age (X~-3.02, p~0.69), gender (X2=2.79, p-0.24), education (X2-l.78, p-0.77), religion (X2-3.5I, p-0.32), type of farming (X2-l.37, 0.50), marital status (X2-4.56, p-0.21), family size (X2=2.97,p=0.39), income (X2=6.89, p=0.14), source oflabour (X2-4.43, p=0.48) are not significantly related to social impact in the two study areas. Neither age, sex nor income was found to determine the impact of cement pollution on the small scale farmers. It was however recommended that all hands should be on deck to ensure that the environment is made conducive for the populace, agricultural practices and future generation

Use of Indigenous Knowledge in Rice Production in Ewekoro Local Government Area, Ogun State

This study investigated the use of indigenous knowledge in rice production in EwekoroLocal Government Area Ogun State. Three out of the ten political wards in Ewekoro Local Government Area namely: Mosan, Waisimi, Abalabi wards were randomly selected. Four villages werepurposivelyselectedfromeach ofthe wards to give a totalof twelve villages. Ten respondents each were selected through snowballingmethod from each of the villagesmaking a totalof 120 respondents. The data were collected through the use ofinterview - schedule. Thelevelofproduction of the farmersin the study area as well as the factors affecting the use of indigenous knowledge in rice production in the study area was determined. Data were analyzed with the use of Chi- square. Majority (70.83%) the farmers involved in rice production are aged 51-70 years of age while males form the majority (74.17%) rice producing farmers. Result further reveals that most (43.33%) themhave no formaleducationand35.00percenthave 31-40years of rice farming experience. Most (50.83%) of the respondents are producing below 4 tons of rice. Also, 96.67 percent the of respondents have never made use of ceremonies in cropping season while majority (55.83%) makes use of traditional medicine to test soil fertility Significant relationship exists between age(X=27.96) education (X2=19.07), religion (X2=45.79) and the reliance on the use indigenous knowledge at (P=<0.05) Furthermore, insignificantrelationship was also found to existbetween frequency visit of extension agents and the use ofindigenous knowledge in rice production (X2=47.12, p<0.0001). Age, education andreligion determine the reliance on the use ofindigenous knowledge. Moreover, frequency of visit extension agents does not determine use of indigenous knowledge (IK). It is therefore suggested that farmers' level of education should be improved while efforts should be made to blend the traditional and conventional (improved) technologies in rice production with a view increasing farmers'levelofproduction

Use of Indigenous Knowledge in Rice Production in Ewekoro Local Government Area, Ogun State

This study investigated the use of indigenous knowledge in rice production in EwekoroLocal Government Area Ogun State. Three out of the ten political wards in Ewekoro Local Government Area namely: Mosan, Waisimi, Abalabi wards were randomly selected. Four villages werepurposivelyselectedfromeach ofthe wards to give a totalof twelve villages. Ten respondents each were selected through snowballingmethod from each of the villagesmaking a totalof 120 respondents. The data were collected through the use ofinterview - schedule. Thelevelofproduction of the farmersin the study area as well as the factors affecting the use of indigenous knowledge in rice production in the study area was determined. Data were analyzed with the use of Chi- square. Majority (70.83%) the farmers involved in rice production are aged 51-70 years of age while males form the majority (74.17%) rice producing farmers. Result further reveals that most (43.33%) themhave no formaleducationand35.00percenthave 31-40years of rice farming experience. Most (50.83%) of the respondents are producing below 4 tons of rice. Also, 96.67 percent the of respondents have never made use of ceremonies in cropping season while majority (55.83%) makes use of traditional medicine to test soil fertility Significant relationship exists between age(X=27.96) education (X2=19.07), religion (X2=45.79) and the reliance on the use indigenous knowledge at (P=<0.05) Furthermore, insignificantrelationship was also found to existbetween frequency visit of extension agents and the use ofindigenous knowledge in rice production (X2=47.12, p<0.0001). Age, education andreligion determine the reliance on the use ofindigenous knowledge. Moreover, frequency of visit extension agents does not determine use of indigenous knowledge (IK). It is therefore suggested that farmers' level of education should be improved while efforts should be made to blend the traditional and conventional (improved) technologies in rice production with a view increasing farmers'levelofproduction