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In rural Nigeria, food processing is mostly engaged in by women and children. Most of these processes are done using outdated technologies that make use of traditional woodstoves. This article presents the health and environmental implications of the rural female entrepreneurs involved in food processing and proffer means of bettering the lot of these women to handle these hazards. A partially structured questionnaire and focus group discussion was used to capture data from respondents. The study revealed that about 73 % of women involved in direct production of garri and palm oil processing could be at risk of early death or disability-adjusted life years from the mentioned diseases. The article concludes that the rural female entrepreneur needs to be better positioned to handle these hazards, for her health, that of her children, as well as for the environment.

Background: Policy makers seek to understand the trade-offs needed between economic growth and climate change. This provides the context to explore low-carbon development (LCD) pathways for the West African electricity system.

Introduction: This preliminary assessment of a grey-box model, was predicated on system dynamics principles and developed using Vensim® DSS software. The purpose is to predict biogas production under anaerobic conditions for energy utilization at the design stage. Objective: To describe the process of a developed system dynamics model to predict biogas production under anaerobic conditions. Methods: This method involves two-stage kinetics of the biogas production process in anaerobic conditions using the first-order and Gompertz functions. The model is depicted in two parts: causal loop diagram and stock–flow diagram. The causal loop diagram describes the anaerobic digestion process a substrate undergoes for the production of biogas, while stock–flow diagram depicts basic building blocks of the dynamic behavior of an anaerobic digestion process. Primary data is from a laboratory-scale experiment of biogas production using vegetal wastes, while the secondary one is from the literature on studies using similar substrates. Results: Primary and secondary data are used to validate and stimulate the developed model. The kinetic model shows the substrate being reduced exponentially with increasing time; consumption of substrate and production of methane and carbon dioxide follows exponential growth and decay pattern, with carbon dioxide production starting early compared to methane, and was produced at a rate faster due to the strong and resilient characteristics of fermentative microorganisms. Discussion: Comparing data from empirical and model simulation shows some close relationship, though not too perfectly. Both results reflect signs of inhibitions occurring within the substrates in the digester under anaerobic conditions explaining the low methane yield or instability.

There is high technology facility failure in Nigeria. We posit that the cause of this is not far removed from the planning process for such facility. Most policies/laws establishing these facilities are premised on analytical thinking, i.e. looking at the part and not whole. For example, the electricity system in Nigeria is decoupled from the economy, as studies have shown that electricity is the singular most needed input to improve industrial base of the country. Therefore, we propose a paradigm shift of planning and management approaches of high technology facilities in Nigeria from analytical thinking to systems thinking. The systems thinking approach encompasses system dynamics principles as well as performance analysis and recommendation analysis. We conclude that the paradigm shift will involve creative tension that would generate learning for better planning and management of the high technology facilities in the country. Biographical notes: Timothy O. Oyebisi is a Lecturer and Professor of Technology Management, Technology Planning and Development Unit, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He has several publications on different issues in various international and national reputable journals. He has a PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering with specialisation in Control Engineering and Instrumentation and Master of Business Administration of the same University. His areas of research are industrial and information technology management and management of technological innovation. Currently, he is working on simulation and analysis of systems dynamics of high technology facilities in Nigeria. Planning for high technology facility in Nigeria: a perspective 49 Abiodun S. Momodu is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Energy Research and Development, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His area of focus is model development and system analysis for different systems in developing countries, with emphasis on high technology facilities in Nigeria.His previous work includes studies on energy and environmental interactions, with emphasis on biomass usage, as it affects greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. He has contributed papers to reputable journals and books both locally and internationally. He is about to conclude his PhD Dissertation at the Technology Planning and Development Unit, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

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It is imperative to develop an efficient strategic approach to Background managing the push-pull factor in economic development, particularly as relates to climate change and energy interactions in the West African Region. This article demonstrates the use of System Dynamics Modelling (SDM) for that purpose; to manage the development of energy growth with reduced impact in regards to climate change. The complexities of energy planning in relation to climate change necessitates the need for the tool to examine low carbon economy mixed with traditional approaches of planning.: Vensim DSS version 6.2 was used to develop the model. WAPP Methods member country level data elicited from WAPP and ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) serves as the set of basic data used to develop and run the main model. These were complemented with other data elicited from various journal articles and internet sources. These include population and its average growth rate, GDP, per capita income, average per capita electricity demand, electricity generated, average electricity tariff, generation technology type, amongst others.: SDM demonstrates the capability to understand the theoretical Results frame for trade-offs between economic development and climate change, by handling the nonlinear relationship between generation adequacy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction for better targeted strategic regional intervention on climate change.: The primary goal of this paper was to demonstrate the use of Conclusion SDM to aid in resource planning in an inexpensive way to examine low carbon pathway. With the SDM, the goal of low carbon pathway in the energy system was achieved without the cost of controlled trials.