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Low adoption of modern agricultural technologies amongst farmers in Nigeria has been identified as one of the main reasons for the low agricultural productivity and increase in poverty level. The general objective of this study is to examine the welfare impact of farm households adoption of improved cassava varieties in Southwestern (SW) Nigeria using poverty as an indicator. It utilizes cross-sectional farm household level data collected in 2013 from a randomly selected sample of 312 cassava producing households (186 in Ogun State and 126 in Osun State). The data obtained were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analysis such as Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measure and Logit regression model. The results revealed that adoption of improved cassava varieties increases the annual income and the annual consumption expenditure of producing households' thus increasing welfare in the SW Nigeria. An analysis of the determinants of adoption with logistic regression model showed that access to improved cassava cuttings within the villages, use of radio, farming experience and farming as a major occupation are significant factors influencing adoption of improved cassava varieties in the study area. In order to achieve the much desired poverty reduction and generate an improvement in farming households' welfare in SW Nigeria, efforts should be intensified in ensuring that farmers have access to adequate improved cassava cuttings at the right time and place. All programs, strategies and policies that would promote farmers' education on the technology and consequently lead to improved adoption should be pursued.

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Nigeria agriculture, food security and dietary intake have not been exempted from the disruptions in countless sectors around the world due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The country first experienced the outbreak on February 27, 2020, and the experience since then has shown negative effects not only on the socioeconomic conditions but also on agriculture, food security and dietary intake. Long term in-depth analysis of the effects of this pandemic on food security and dietary intake using quantitative data is still very difficult due to paucity of data and the great level of the improbability of the trajectory of the spread of the Virus. This study is a rapid assessment of the short and long-term potential effects of the disease. It relied on a review of situation reports especially by the Nigeria Centre of Disease Control and other reports around the world on COVID-19, personal observations, and public opinion via mobile telephone survey of Lagos and Oyo States, Nigeria. Findings show that food demand and supply shocks caused by COVID-19 outbreak affect agriculture, food and dietary intake negatively through COVID-19 policies. It leads to a reduction in household income coupled with hike in food prices. Owing to the Nigeria's crude farming practice, there was a scarcity of hired labour required for production process during 2020 farming season. This implies a high likelihood of low output and further surge in food prices in the future. Food access was also compromised with the accumulation of unsold fresh produce by the smallholder farmers and the low salary earners during movement restrictions and of loss income as a result of international border closure. Food and dietary intake is affected as people are shifting diets to more affordable and low quality foods, while food stability is not guaranteed due to market insecurity, prompting an extraordinary level of indecision. The study concludes that the shock of COVID-19 is not only a demand management problem but a multidimensional crisis requiring monetary, fiscal, and health policy responses with global collaboration and cooperation.

The study was conducted to determine the impact of farmers' membership of cooperative societies on rice production. Against the backdrop that the promotion of membership of cooperative society among farmers would give them better access to agricultural inputs and consequently improve their income. Multistage sampling technique was employed to select a total of 310 rice farmers. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, budgetary technique and inferential statistics. The results revealed the mean age of the rice farmers as 48 years. Majority (92%) of the farmers produced upland rice, with a single harvest per year using mainly owned resources. Family labour was the most important source of farm labour in rice cultivation and about 60% of the members of the farm families participated in the family rice farm. The results further showed that 38.9% of rice farmers had primary education, 27.4% had secondary education, while 25.1% had no education. A total of 71% of the rice farmers were members of rice farmers' cooperative societies, while 29% were not. The average farm size cultivated was 1.72ha and 1.64ha for cooperative and non-cooperative members respectively. The result also showed that there is no significant difference in the gross margin per hectare realized by farmers that were cooperative members (N90, 222) and the non cooperative members (N92, 986). The input-use structure showed that cooperative members were more intensive users of purchased inputs like fertilizer and pesticides valued at N124,555 per ha (about 41% of variable cost) compared to the non cooperative members valued at N57,647 per ha (about 22% of the variable cost). Almost all the groups were established to serve as receptacles for subsidized agricultural services and inputs rather than real producer organizations that seek to attract commercial providers of services and ensure efficient marketing of their farm outputs. Further revelation from the study is the fact that membership of cooperative society was found to be influenced by household size, access to extension services, number of rice farms owned, access of rice farmers to herbicide and quantity of rice output. The non-significant difference in the gross margin of cooperative and non-cooperative members despite the greater intensity of use of purchased inputs (fertilizer and pesticide) by cooperative members suggests the need for monitoring of rice farmers who are cooperators in order to ensure that the substantial inputs are rightly channeled.

Cassava is a very important crop in Nigeria by reason of its comparative production advantage over other staples.This study estimated the relative profitability of cassava producers and determined the effects of farm inputs on the level of profit of various scales of cassava producers in Ogun and Oyo States, Nigeria. Cross-sectional data were collected from 265 cassavabased farmers using a multistage sampling technique and were analysed using normalized profit function and budgetary analysis. Results showed that cassava/cowpea enterprise had the highest net margins of N127,249.63/ha and N122,325.73/ha in Ogun and Oyo States respectively. While the use of herbicides had a positive and significant effect on the profitability of small-scale cassava farmers in both states, cassava-cuttings had a positive and significant effect on medium-scale cassava farming in both states. Similarly, labour and farm size had a positive and significant effect on large-scale cassava farming in both states. The study recommends that small and medium-scale farmers should increase the application of herbicide, large-scale cassava operators in Oyo State should increase the use of labour, while those in Ogun State should also increase the cultivated acreage of land.

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Purpose The paper is a preliminary assessment of coronavirus disease’s (COVID-19) effects on African trade, policy responses and opportunities within the limitations imposed by data and the information currently available and in the lights of other international organizations’ growth forecasts. The study was undertaken to get deeper understanding of the threats and opportunities of COVID-19 on African trade because of the existing interconnected trade networks making African countries to be more vulnerable and increasing number of restrictions and distortions among major traders. This study aims to present strong information required in underpinning sound national, regional and inter-regional policy responses to keep trade flowing. Design/methodology/approach To assess COVID-19’s effects on African trade, policy responses and opportunities, this study relied on data and information currently available from organizations such as World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank (WB), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Monetary Fund, European Union, International Trade Statistics and various African countries’ trade and national statistics publications. The analysis contains two main scenarios. The first, an observed effects scenario (first quarter of year 2020), looks at the observed effect of COVID-19 outbreak on trade in Africa. The second, a potential effects scenario, analyses the potential trade effects if the COVID-19 outbreak lingers and spreads more intensively than is assumed in the baseline scenario. Findings The COVID-19 outbreak affects several aspects of international trade even though the full effects of the outbreak are not yet visible in most trade data. Some leading indicators had shown that keeping trade flow can support the fight against COVID-19 as well as having damaging effect on Africa’s trade. COVID-19 had led to a deep fall in transaction, both at the international level and within-regions. Tariffs and other restrictions to imports harm the flow of critical products to African countries. Uncooperative trade policies lead to higher prices of goods in fragile and vulnerable African countries. Research limitations/implications Long term in-depth analysis of the effects of COVID-19 on trade using quantitative data is still very difficult because of paucity of data and the great level of the improbability of the trajectory of the spread of the virus. Informed assessment of the full trade impact of the pandemic on African countries is therefore still difficult. Notwithstanding, this study assesses the immediate effects and conveys the likely extent of impending African trade pains and the potential needs for assistance. Practical implications Trade in both goods and services plays a key role in overcoming the pandemic and limit its effects by providing access to essential medical goods to treat those affected, ensuring access to food, providing farmers with needed inputs, support jobs and sustain economic activity during global recession. However, temporary COVID-19 trade measures such as borders closure, export prohibition and import ban are a threat to globalization and free trade agreements engaged by some African countries. Social implications The continuous rise in COVID-19 cases is expected to trigger economic recession in Africa despite a rapid expansion and creation of new social protection programmes. The unavoidable decline in trade caused by COVID-19 is already having painful consequences on the economy, social anxiety among families, households, businesses and trade across countries in the continent. COVID-19 trade restrictions aimed at reducing the transmission of the virus have led to loss of income and jobs as well as closure of small and vulnerable businesses. Policymakers should enforce social policies that unite countries within the continents in bad times to reduce social anxiety and hardship. Originality/value Although the effects of COVID-19 outbreak on global and regional trade have received enormous attention recently, facts in the form of data have been thin particularly on African trade. This paper, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is one of the first set of studies that provides preliminary assessment of COVID-19’s effects on trade in Africa using scenarios-building approach based on the available data and information on regional trade, complemented by those from the WTO, WB and departments of trade and statistics from various African countries such as the Nigeria Nation Bureau of Statistic and Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics.