Rural households are displaced from their lands without any plan in place to resettle or compensate them, for a promise of improvement in their living standards. This has not only resulted in a decline in the living standard of the rural populace, in terms of loss of land and livelihoods, the poor are also further marginalized and impoverished. This study examines the welfare implication of domestic land grabs among rural households in Delta State, Nigeria, employing primary data obtained from one hundred and seventy-three representative farming households. Descriptive analysis revealed that majority were low-income earners and engaged in farming as their major occupation. Econometric analysis revealed land size, secondary education, community leaders’ influence, compensation and the use to which the grabbed land was put into as some of the significant factors influencing domestic land grabs in the study area. Further, the size of land grabbed, no compensation for the use of land and low farm output were found to have negative effects on the welfare of the farmers. Thus, the need to intensify efforts to ensure that the rural populace is not being unreasonably dispossessed of its lands, becomes imperative. The need for commensurate compensation of rural households whose lands were grabbed and periodical checks on community leaders who positively influence domestic land acquisitions arbitrarily also becomes pertinent for improvement in the welfare of the farmers. This is especially so, if these small-scale farmers are to be significant drivers of global food security.

Although poor use of contraceptives and high desire for children is characteristic of sub-Saharan Africa, this demographic challenge is more peculiar to more disadvantaged segments of the population like rural farmers. This study was designed to examine current use of modern family planning and fertility intention among women farmers of reproductive age in Ido and Ona-ara Local Government Areas of Ibadan, Nigeria. Using cross-sectional survey design, semi-structured questionnaire were administered via structured-interview to randomly and systematically selected 408 respondents. Chi-square was used to show significance of associations between pairs of variables. Contingency co-efficient was used to examine extent of significant associations. Results indicate that majority of respondents (77%) desired additional children, the mean number of children that respondents already have is 2.94±1.35 while mean fertility intention is 1.85±1.44. The proportion of current users of modern family planning is 45.6%. The use of oral pills (30.6%) is most popular among respondents. There is no significant association between current use of modern family planning and fertility intention among married and divorced respondents, among respondents in all the age sub-groups, and among respondents with no formal education or secondary education (p > 0.05), but there is among respondents with primary and tertiary education (p < 0.05). The synergy between the use of modern family planning and fertility intention among women farmers in the study area is notable but requires significant progression. Having primary education and tertiary education is significantly associated respectively with lower and higher use of modern family planning in relation to fertility intention. Education is an important element of fertility dynamics among women farmers in the study area.

Unemployment is a major issue in Nigeria because the youth finds it difficult or impossible to secure jobs that meet their expectations. There appears to be a mismatch between graduate skills and those sought by employers. The study investigated the effect of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) youth Agripreneurs (IYA) programme on employment and income generation on cattle fattening enterprise under the N2Africa Borno youth project. A two-stage sampling procedure was used to select IYA participants and non-participants. Results revealed that the majority of respondents were males in both categories. It also indicated that youths who are in their productive age are more into cattle fattening enterprise in both categories. The study also found that, unemployment and skill acquisition are the main driving reasons for participating in IYA. It also indicated that both categories of respondents’ required external capital support for start-up of their enterprise, and that IYA programme participants on the average earn more income per month than non-participants. IYA programme participants generated more employment opportunities which implied that the programme had not only empowered participants but also made the participants’ become employers. The study recommended that there is a need to support youths with funds, access to trainings on capacity development and skill acquisition to make them self-employed and job creators.

The aim of the study was to evaluate cocoa beans quality produced in Cameroon, Ecuador, Nigeria and Ghana from safety position determining heavy and trace metals concentration and evaluating the oxidative stability of confectionery products prototypes (trials) with analysing cocoa beans. For evaluation of oxidative stability of confectionery products, the main ingredients - butter and cocoa beans kernels were tested making trials as milk chocolate prototype. The composition of confectionery ingredients affects quality of products; therefore it is very important to evaluate quality of raw materials in confectionery industry, as they are purchased practically in all regions of the world. Mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium concentration was determined in whole cocoa beans as their presence in foods have toxic effect on human beings and their concentration are strictly limited as maximum residue limits for processing. Cocoa shells can be used as additive to confectionery products recipes therefore the object of the study was cocoa beans and cocoa shells. Analyzing cocoa beans quality indices there was established that lead, cadmium, aluminium and zinc concentrations vary in cocoa beans significantly. Differences in lead concentration in cocoa beans from Ghana, Cameroon and Ecuador were significant (p < 0.05) compared with concentration of lead in cocoa beans from Nigeria (p > 0.05). Cadmium concentration in cocoa beans from Cameroon was significantly different comparing with cocoa beans from Nigeria, Ecuador and Ghana (p > 0.05). Differences in aluminium concentration in cocoa beans kernels were significant (p < 0.05) in all analyzed samples. Concentration of zinc was higher in shells of cocoa beans, especially in shells of cocoa beans from Ecuador (p < 0.05). The presence of cocoa products in milk chocolate prototypes inhibited the speed of lipid peroxidation. The different trace and heavy metals concentrations in cocoa beans should be taken into account choosing ingredients and components for confectionary products production particularly those with high content of cocoa (chocolates, sweets, cocoa fillings, cocoa creams and others) with the aim to prevent oxidation process during shelf-life of products.

Climate risks constitute an enormous challenge to poultry production and have affected the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. Thus, farmers have adopted various strategies that can help them cope with the adverse effects of climate change. The aim of this study is to examine the factors influencing small scale poultry farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change. Data used for this study were obtained from 121 representative farmers selected through a two-stage random sampling procedure. Descriptive Statistics, Likert Scale and the Multinomial Logit Model were the tools used for analysis. Results showed that the mean age and household size of the respondents were 45 years and 5 persons respectively, while the average number of birds per farmer stood at 583 birds. Majority of the respondents had a moderate perception of the impacts of climate change on poultry farming and chose management adaptation strategies in their fight against climate change. Econometric analysis showed that the age, gender and educational status of farmers, number of birds, household size, poultry experience, access to cooperative societies, poultry housing system, access to credit, access to extension services and farm size were the factors influencing farmers’ choice of climate change adaptation strategies in the study area. Therefore, policy should focus on awareness creation on management adaptation strategies through enhancing education and extension services as well as access of poultry farmers to credit facilities to indirectly insure farmers against climate change impacts.

Although poor use of contraceptives and high desire for children is characteristic of sub-Saharan Africa, this demographic challenge is more peculiar to more disadvantaged segments of the population like rural farmers. This study was designed to examine current use of modern family planning and fertility intention among women farmers of reproductive age in Ido and Ona-ara Local Government Areas of Ibadan, Nigeria. Using cross-sectional survey design, semi-structured questionnaire were administered via structured-interview to randomly and systematically selected 408 respondents. Chi-square was used to show significance of associations between pairs of variables. Contingency co-efficient was used to examine extent of significant associations. Results indicate that majority of respondents (77%) desired additional children, the mean number of children that respondents already have is 2.94±1.35 while mean fertility intention is 1.85±1.44. The proportion of current users of modern family planning is 45.6%. The use of oral pills (30.6%) is most popular among respondents. There is no significant association between current use of modern family planning and fertility intention among married and divorced respondents, among respondents in all the age sub-groups, and among respondents with no formal education or secondary education (p is greater than 0.05), but there is among respondents with primary and tertiary education (p is less than 0.05). The synergy between the use of modern family planning and fertility intention among women farmers in the study area is notable but requires significant progression. Having primary education and tertiary education is significantly associated respectively with lower and higher use of modern family planning in relation to fertility intention. Education is an important element of fertility dynamics among women farmers in the study area.

Poultry production decision setting is full of risk and imperfect information. Attitude towards risk is a measure of farmers’ willingness to take risks which is an important determinant in their production decisions. Strong social capital emanating from social networks can lead to efficient risk management strategies, thereby minimizing risks faced by the farmers. Therefore, the effects of social capital on the risk attitude of small-scale commercial poultry farmers in Oyo state were assessed. Data were collected from two hundred small-scale farmers and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, factorial analysis, multinomial logit and a two-stage least square. Results showed that 52.5%, 37.5% and 10% of the poultry farmers were risk averse, risk neutral and risk preferring, respectively. About 31.4% and 68.6% of the female and male farmers respectively were risk averse. Close to a fifth, a quarter and two-thirds of the risk averse, risk neutral and risk takers respectively contributed 21-30% of the decisions in the associations. Fourteen percent of the farmers belonged to homogeneous groups. The choice of being risk averse was affected by marital status, educational level, family size, percentage spent on poultry income and aggregate social capital. There was no reverse causality between risk attitude and social capital.

Climate risks constitute an enormous challenge to poultry production and have affected the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. Thus, farmers have adopted various strategies that can help them cope with the adverse effects of climate change. The aim of this study is to examine the factors influencing small scale poultry farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change. Data used for this study were obtained from 121 representative farmers selected through a two-stage random sampling procedure. Descriptive Statistics, Likert Scale and the Multinomial Logit Model were the tools used for analysis. Results showed that the mean age and household size of the respondents were 45 years and 5 persons respectively, while the average number of birds per farmer stood at 583 birds. Majority of the respondents had a moderate perception of the impacts of climate change on poultry farming and chose management adaptation strategies in their fight against climate change. Econometric analysis showed that the age, gender and educational status of farmers, number of birds, household size, poultry experience, access to cooperative societies, poultry housing system, access to credit, access to extension services and farm size were the factors influencing farmers’ choice of climate change adaptation strategies in the study area. Therefore, policy should focus on awareness creation on management adaptation strategies through enhancing education and extension services as well as access of poultry farmers to credit facilities to indirectly insure farmers against climate change impacts.

Human capital development is increasingly gaining policy relevance especially with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study examined the correlates of human capital expenditure in rural Nigeria. General Household Survey dataset collected by the National Bureau of Statistics was used for this study. Descriptive statistical tools, principal components analysis and the Heckman selection model were used to analyse relevant data. The study found majority of the households were maleheaded, with an average size of 7 people. In terms of access to education, 62.1% of the surveyed households had access to education and spent an average of NGN 12,570.56 on education. The age of household head, access to loans, marital status and household size were the correlates of human capital expenditure in rural Nigeria. Also, school fees and registration accounted for 41.2% of households’ expenditure on education. The study found paucity of funds, low priority placed on education and low interest were the main constraints to human capital expenditure. The study recommended the design and implementation of pro-poor educational interventions especially for children from rural households. Also, there is the need for government, multilateral organisations and financial institutions to position rural households for financial inclusion.

Unemployment is a major issue in Nigeria because the youth finds it difficult or impossible to secure jobs that meet their expectations. There appears to be a mismatch between graduate skills and those sought by employers. The study investigated the effect of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) youth Agripreneurs (IYA) programme on employment and income generation on cattle fattening enterprise under the N2Africa Borno youth project. A two-stage sampling procedure was used to select IYA participants and non-participants. Results revealed that the majority of respondents were males in both categories. It also indicated that youths who are in their productive age are more into cattle fattening enterprise in both categories. The study also found that, unemployment and skill acquisition are the main driving reasons for participating in IYA. It also indicated that both categories of respondents’ required external capital support for start-up of their enterprise, and that IYA programme participants on the average earn more income per month than nonparticipants. IYA programme participants generated more employment opportunities which implied that the programme had not only empowered participants but also made the participants’ become employers. The study recommended that there is a need to support youths with funds, access to trainings on capacity development and skill acquisition to make them self-employed and job creators.