Women Farmer’s and Agriculture Growth: Challenge and Perspective for Africa face the economic crisis

In poor countries the agricultural sector is essential to growth, poverty reduction, and food security. In Sub- Saharan Africa, the agricultural sector employs 65 percent of the labor force and generates 32 per cent of GDP growth (Christian Friis Bach and all, 2008).More than half of rural employment in Sub- Saharan Africa consists of self-employed farmers, many of whom are women. Women generally own less land and the land they have is often of lower quality than the land owned by men. According to the International Development Research Centre, women in Africa only own 1 per cent of the land. Women have to contend with limited access to financial and technical resources. Women lack political influence. However the recent economic crisis that has affected the food crisis may have considerable consequences on African rural women who are mostly vulnerable in African society and may increase some challenges that can limited the African agriculture growth as women is the heart of this sector in Africa even if most of politic don’t consider them in the policies. This paper is to evaluate the major effect of this crisis on this vulnerable group In Africa and define some perspective that policies maker could use for Africa Agriculture sustainable growth.. The Descriptive analysis show that the economic crisis has increase in gender inequality in agriculture sector, increase women financial credit access lack, women farmer migration, women farmer income reduction, women land access facilities reduction and their health problem has also increase. It is clear that to solve the economic crisis impact on African agriculture for sustainable growth, policies maker should include more policies which should consider women farmers. Research also should focus more on women vulnerability in agriculture face the economic crisis.Women Farmer-Africa- Economic Crisis-Challenge and Perspective, International Development, Labor and Human Capital,

The Antibacterial Activity of Leaf Extracts of Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Myrtaceae)

The antibacterial activity of the leaf extracts of Eucalyptus camaldulensis was studied against Klebsiella spp, Salmonella typhi, Yersinia enterocolitica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram-negative), Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis by the agar diffusion method. The methanol extract, dichloromethane fraction and methanol residue at 10mg mL-1 displayed broad spectrum activity against all the test organisms but the petroleum ether fraction showed no activity. The antibacterial activity of the extracts was compared to the drug gentamycin. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of the methanol extract and dichloromethane fraction determined by the agar dilution method ranged between 0.04 and 10mg mL-1 with that of Bacillus subtilis being the least. Phytochemical screening of the plant revealed the presence of tannins, saponins and cardiac glycosides. The results of this study support the traditional use of Eucalyptus camaldulensis leaves as an antibacterial agent. Key words: Eucalyptus camaldulensis, antibacterial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration, methanol extract, dichloromethane fractio

Determination and modelling of water quality parameter in Abuja metropolis

This research work involves the determination and modelling of water parameter such as pH, temperature, turbidity, chloride, hardness. The result of the analysis was used as important operating variables to generate a model equation of pH, hardness, temperature, turbidity and chloride. The values obtained from the model equation were compared with those from experiment. On an average bases the values were close. These parameters can be used to monitor the extent of pollution of pond water and to monitor stress and diseases of fish. The experimental data of pH was in the range of 6.7 to 6.9 while the modelled result was also between 6.7 to 7.0. The turbidity experimental value was close to the modelled value also. The chloride value for the experimental data was in the range of 25.32 to 35.0. The total hardness value ranges between 4.5 to 65.1 mg/l while the modelled result ranges between 11.025 to 68.402 mg/l. The result was within the acceptable limit of world health organization standard on water quality parameter

CLIMATE CHANGE AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN SAHEL: CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT CONTRIBUTION TO POVERTY REDUCTION

Nowadays climate change event and poor population vulnerability become more severe and natural resources scarcity intensity increased. In order to mitigate climate change negative effects adaptive policies such as poverty reduction Strategy and National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) as effective’s responsive strategies. There are also farmers traditional adaptation methods which are consider as local mainstreaming climate change adaptation framework. This paper has explore subjective qualitative evaluation of climate change risk management framework strategic and link its with poverty reduction strategy in the Sahel .Sahel is one of the most vulnerable areas in the world with lower HDI(0.2%) and have the highest poverty rate (over 45% of the people live below the poverty line). The study was focused on 9 Sahel countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina-Faso, Nigeria, Chad, Soudan and Eritrea) and their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) by assessing criteria such as: a) the consideration of climate change scenarios and the vulnerabilities of the country; b) the analysis of poverty-climate links; and c) the climate change institutional framework of the country. However Soudan and Eritrea don’t have PRSP and Nigeria don’t have NAPA. The results show that most Sahel countries does not included Climate change 2 effect in their PRSP (except Burkina-Faso) but have a better performance with NAPA framework elaboration. Burkina-Faso is Climate risk management model country in the region but policies have failed because of farmer’s difficult conditions to get access to credit and lack of good technical supports. NAPA and PRSP objectives did not achieved because majority of poor were excluded, inefficiency in domestic accounting systems and inefficient monitoring. Furthermore, donors funding problems, natural disasters such as floods or droughts; biophysical modeling and simulation insufficient data, lack of skilled labor are others reason. To conclude, it is illustrates that mainstreaming natural hazards into PRSP and the development of NAPA are a step forward into establishment of institutional process to incorporate climate change into national policies. The World Bank and the UNFCCC should coordinate efforts to support developing countries in their efforts to incorporate adaptation to climate change in PRSP. Country need to strength the coordination, networks and information flows between ministries, at different levels of government and civil society to have more efficient integration of climate change variables into poverty reduction and development strategies. Country's should also have sustainable funding and should not rely only on donor. Policies should target more vulnerable peoples, need good policies implementation and good monitoring.Sahel, Climate Change, Poverty Reduction, Adaptation Strategy., Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Empirical Analysis of Agricultural Productivity: Growth in Benin and Mainly Factors which Influence Growth

This study examined changes in agricultural productivity at Benin in the context of diverse institutional arrangements using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA).A time series data which consists of information on agricultural production and means of production were obtained from World Research Institute database, INSAE and rainfall data from AMMA database. The information was for a 43-year period (1961-2003); DEA method was used to measure Malquist index of total factor productivity to evaluate technical change efficiency and technological efficiency change across the country’s 12 provinces. A decomposition of TFP measures revealed whether the performance of factors productivity is due to technological change or technical efficiency change over the reference period. The study further examined the effect of land quality, agriculture labor, and selected governance indicators such as government effectiveness and openness on productivity growth. All the variables included in the model are significant effect on the TPF and the country agriculture growth. They equally performed well in terms of expected relationship with TFP except land quality index which unexpectedly had an inverse relationship with TFP.Data Envelopment Analysis, Efficiency, Productivity, Benin, Agribusiness, N57, C01, C23,

Consonant Sequence Reduction in Child Phonology

This article describes consonant sequence reduction in the speech of four children acquiring Yoruba and English concurrently. It is argued that the two children acquiring English primarily and Yoruba secondarily simply delete the most sonorous members of consonant sequences in a manner consistent with the sonority hierarchy, but the children acquiring Yoruba primarily and English secondarily reduce consonant sequences through coalescence. This is apparent in sequences containing sonorants plus voiceless obstruents as inputs, but which consistently have only the voiced counterpart of the input obstruent in the output. We argue that the voicing of the underlyingly voiceless obstruents in this case is from the input sonorant. It is also reported that where the child’s primary language is Yoruba, mastery of consonant sequences is slower than where it is English. It is argued that this is because these sequences are limited to only homorganic nasal plus a following consonant in Yoruba, whereas clusters are more frequently encountered in English

Women's access to water for sustainable development in Nigeria: Drawing lessons from South Africa's water-renewable techniques

Water is an indispensable natural resource, which, apart from its importance in the industrial sector, is mostly used by women at the domestic level everywhere, particularly in Africa. While industrialisation has made quality potable water accessible to women in cities and urban areas, this is unfortunately not the case in rural areas and thus poses a major challenge to the realisation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria. In cities and urban areas, people have managed to establish reliable water sources through boreholes, for example, while rural dwellers are still dependent on government intervention, philanthropies and non-governmental organisations to be able to have access to water of adequate quality. Considering the geographic location of South Africa, its peculiar water problem could be expected to be worse than in Nigeria. On the contrary, the South African government’s involvement in water-renewable techniques and other strategies in making quality water available to all its citizens differs from the situation in Nigeria. This article illustrates that the right to water as a natural resource, to which citizens are entitled as a component of the right to development, is anchored in law. To ensure the realisation of this right, we draw inspiration from academic and industrial approaches and water-renewable techniques for development, improvement, and implementation in South Africa to suggest ways for Nigeria to improve on its water strategy

HIV/AIDS among Adolescents with Hearing Impairment in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Strategies for Prevention in Achieving Millennium Development Goals

HIV/AIDS epidemic is the most serious threat to health globally, with developing countries accounting for 95% of new cases. The impact of HIV/AIDS on health, especially the rate at which the disease might be spreading among adolescents with hearing impairment in Nigeria, is globally a serious concern, particularly in relation to Millennium  Development Goals. This paper, therefore, highlighted some issues that make the prevention of HIV/AIDS to be elusive; such as prejudice against individuals with hearing impairment, lack of adequate data, exclusion from programmes that talk about sexuality, cultural beliefs, poor knowledge and attitude of adolescents with hearing impairment to some risk factors. It also discussed some challenges of having HIV/AIDS-free adolescents with hearing impairment, which include low literacy level, cycle of poverty among people with hearing impairment, cultural issues and beliefs, and lack of adequate health care facilities. To stem the tide of the spread of HIV/AIDS among adolescents with hearing impairment in Nigeria, this paper  suggested some strategies, such as participatory approaches, deaf-friendlyHIV/AIDS testing, counselling, care and treatment services, and full inclusion into programmes involving health and life-threatening issues. With these, it is believed that the challenges of HIV/AIDS among  adolescents with hearing impairment will be mitigated.Key words: HIV/AIDS, Adolescents, Hearing impairment, Millennium development goal

HOW USEFUL IS CONTINGENT VALUATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT TO WATER SERVICES? EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH EAST, NIGERIA

Contingent Valuation Methods (CVM) Willingness To Pay (WTP) Tobit (censored) model Quasi-deregulation

Learning to Innovate in Nigeria's cable and wire manufacturing sub-sector: inferences from a firm-level case study

Firm performance is known to be connected to firm-level innovation capability. Innovation capability, in turn, is an output of technological learning. This paper evaluates technological learning among firms in the Cable and Wire manufacturing sub-sector in Nigeria, using a purposively selected case firm. We developed a model of the relationship between the innovative activities of the firm - as evidence of its capability – and its knowledge acquisition methodology. These are discussed within the context of the firm’s stock of human capital. We found low technological innovation capability and high capability for organisational and marketing innovation. Preparedness for technological learning is relatively poor with staff training intensity of 5% and innovation intensity of 0.0075%. We therefore propose stronger interconnectedness of the National Innovation System and creation of industry specific structures that could enhance learning.Technological learning; sub-sector; Cable and Wire manufacturing industry