This study analyzed the compound growth rate (CGR) and the contributions of yield and area to cassava production output in Nigeria. During the period, TE1970 – TE2018, production followed an upward trajectory from 9.3 million tonnes (1970) to 59.5 million tonnes (2018) while yield oscillated between 7.9tonnes/ha (TE2014) and 11.9tonnes/ha (TE2010). At this period, the CGR per year for yield declined (-0.2%), harvested area increased (10.9%) and production increased (10.6%). The decomposition analysis for the period revealed that, increase in output was largely due to expansion of harvested area (152%) while the interaction between area and yield effect declined production output by 45.8%. Regrettably, during the period, cassava yield also declined production output by 5.8%. The study also found that harvested area has the highest instability index (11.8). In order to further increase and sustain cassava production in Nigeria, intense planting of high yield cassava stems instead of solely expanding cropped area is recommended.

Purpose. There are sufficient evidences in the literature that welfare of food producers and consumers is easily compromised due to unfavorable food price volatility dynamics. Therefore, this study investigates the volatility dynamics in food price index returns (FPIRE-TURNS), imported food price index returns (CIFCPIRETURNS), price of dollars at bureau de change (BDCRETURNS) and inter-bank rate (EXRETURNS).

This study assessed the impact of smallholders’ collaborative groupings on farm household income and their decision to adapt management strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change within their farming areas. A sample of 225 households’ farms from the participating 15 LGAs in Ondo State were randomly selected. However, only 200 questionnaires were properly filled and returned. The study deployed both descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test and regression models) to achieve its objectives. The study found that only 20% of the households have strategies to ensure a smooth succession of the management in the family farm. The results of the probit regression analysis showed that the membership of collaborative groupings significantly and positively influenced the per capita household farm income and households’ decision to adapt management strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change. In addition, findings from the study also empirically validated that farmers who adapted to the climate earned a higher farm income than non-adapters. On the strength of these findings, the study recommends that more farmers should be encouraged to form collaborative groupings where they can also share in the numerous benefits of being in such a network, including the access to more information on adaptation to climate change.

Globalization has enhanced the development of the transport sector and more importantly, the distribution of agricultural produce and food globally. However, not much is known about how this has impacted the welfare of the poor in Nigeria. Therefore, the study probed the persistence and asymmetry in food and transport price volatility; creating a dummy with the period before and after the adventure of significantly improved internet facility like 3G allowed the study to observe the significant effect of this period on persistence volatility of food price returns; and exploring the welfare effects of these volatility dynamics. A bi-variate EGARCH model was deployed to estimate the heteroskedastic behavior in rural food price and transport returns (1995M1-2017M11) obtained from National Bureau of Statistics while a simple welfare framework was used to gauge the effect of the price fluctuations. Persistence volatility in food price declined after introduction of 3G innovation. The study also confirmed that the risk in transport market significantly transmitted to rural food price volatility. Volatility persistence was high (0.99% apiece) both in food and transport markets. Also, there was evidence of leverage effect in transport price volatility in Nigeria. The study revealed that due to persistent price volatility, households gave up an average/maximum of 12%/33% and 13%/44% of their food consumption and transport expenditure/returns accordingly to achieve household food stability. Using the Lucas (1987, 2003) threshold, the study concludes that the benefits of eliminating volatility in food and transport are high.

Despite various initiatives and investments in youth entrepreneurship and start-ups, youth participation in agribusiness has not significantly increased. Therefore, this study analyzed the perceived effects of entrepreneurial traits on youth’s willingness to exploit agribusiness opportunities in Nigeria. A total of 3600 respondents were randomly selected across Nigeria using an online well-structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using a binomial logistic regression among other tools. The study found that, although only 17% of the respondents were exploiting agribusiness opportunities as of 2020, about 77% of the respondents were willing to exploit agribusiness opportunities in the next 2 years. The study found that entrepreneurial traits had no significant influence on youth’s willingness to exploit agribusiness opportunities until each of the traits was moderated by an individual’s entrepreneurial intention. The implications of the findings are discussed in the study.