This study examines the origin of kola-nuts trade and the indispensability of kola-nut trade in West Africa. Desk research was carried out using past published literature. The study established the fact that kola nut production was indigenous to the West Africa Forest and pinpointed the actual origin of kola-nut especially Cola nitida to be along the western coast of Africa from Sierra Leone to the republic of Benin. On the other hand, the areas of Ijare and Idanre in Ondo State of Nigeria are currently believed to be the places where Cola acumunata originated. The dominant variety of kola-nut grown in Western and Eastern parts of Nigeria was cola acumunata and Cola verticillata. However, in terms of production, before the 19th century the production of cola nitida was limited to the forests west of the Volta River in Ghana. Both linguistic and ethnographic data were used to trace the origin of kola-nut and developed a chronology with regard to the origins and trade routes for kola-nuts. The research work however established the importance of kola-nut production and trade to the economies of West Africa countries where they are produced and traded. It was however recommended that considering the indispensability of kola-nut trade to West Africa particularly Nigeria, the government should take proactive steps to increase the scope of production and trade of this crop in order to improve the livelihoods of kola-nuts farmers and traders as well as increase it contributions to the national economy.
The study investigated COVID-19 pandemic awareness and coping strategies of cocoa farmers in Ondo State of Southwestern Nigeria. Random sampling technique was used to select cocoa farmers in the study area. A total of fifty cocoa farmers (respondents) were purposively selected from Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo local government area of the state. Information was collected from the selected farmers with the aid of well-structured questionnaires and the data retrieved from forty-six cocoa farmers collected were analysed with descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis. The result of the analysis showed that 76.1% of the farmers are above the age of 41 years, 78.3% are males while 76.1% are married. Similarly, 78.3% of the cocoa farmers have 4-6 children in the household, 26.1% had secondary education, 43.5% have 16 to 20 years farming experience while 73.9% lived in condominiums or housing units where residents are herded together thereby predisposing them to the risk of the contagion. Most of the respondents (95.7%) had low income or sales during covid-19 pandemic, 78.3% ate food three times before covid-19 while 15.2% ate three times during the pandemic. 89.1% did not have enough food at home during the lockdown and 95.6% did not have enough money to buy food during the pandemic. Majority of the respondents (96%) were aware of the occurrence of COVID-19, 69.6% of the respondents coped by relying on less expensive food during the lockdown, 56.5% reduced their food consumption due to income loss, 63% reduced the number of meals eaten daily while 67.4% reduced the portion or size of meal daily during COVID-19. The chi-square test also showed that a significant relationship exists between farmers’ awareness and coping strategies to covid-19 as well as the quality and type of food they consumed.
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