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Various health challenges and fatalities in rural communities of most developing countries of the world have been traceable to the unabated use of biomass energy sources. We therefore assessed the awareness of the health implications of the use of biomass energy sources among women in rural households of Jigawa State. Multistage sampling procedure was used to collect data from 120 respondents using structured questionnaires. Data were collected on respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, types of biomass used, information sources on the health implications from use of biomass energy sources, awareness of the health implications and constraints to the use of alternatives to biomass. Data were summarised using frequencies, percentages, means, Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Majority of the respondents (78.3 %) were below 40 years of age with a mean age of 30 ± 2.02 years. Majority were married (90.8 %), Muslims (100 %), involved in agro-processing (65.8 %), had no formal education (73.3 %), and earned not more than ₦10, 000 (90.8 %) with mean household size of 9 members. Wood (100 %) and charcoal (100 %) were the dominant biomass energy sources used. Respondents’ main source of information on the health implications of the use of biomass were radio (64.2 %) and extension agents (54.2 %). Awareness level of the health implications from the use of biomass energy sources was fairly high (51.7 %). High cost of the alternatives, scarcity of refilling points and alternatives and lack of capital were the main hindrances to the use of the alternatives to biomass energy sources. The result on the inferential statistics revealed that a significant association existed between education (χ2 = 6.08; P < 0.05) and awareness of health implications from the use of biomass. Efforts should be made to sensitize women on the health implications resulting from the use of biomass. Alternatives should be made available and affordable to encourage a switch from biomass energy sources thereby reducing the fatalities that may result from its continual use.

Importance of accuracy and conciseness of type and content of information being disseminated to the populace in respect of a development intervention to avoid misleading the populace cannot be overemphasised. Given the strategic importance of Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in policy drive of Nigerian government and useful lesson it has for repositioning Nigerian Agriculture in a bid to salvage Nigeria's economy dependence on oil, this study content analysed 193 ATA news in selected newspapers in Nigeria. Variables measured included news frames, frequency, space allotted and placement of ATA news. Data were analysed using both descriptive (frequency, percentage) and inferential (correlation and analysis of variance) statistics at α0.05. ATA news in Nigerian newspapers included press outcome, muster, courtesy call, commencement programmes, reports, analysis and gathering. There was a high coverage of ATA news in the first year (2012), with the Guardian allotting highest space (13203.5cm2) and the least by Nigerian Tribune (7987cm2). Majority of Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) news (98.5%) were placed in other pages of the newspapers. There was no significant difference between spaces allotted to ATA in the selected newspapers (F = 0.660). Time is apt for development advocates to promote placement of news on development issues in strategic positions in national dailies.

Various health challenges and fatalities in rural communities of most developing countries of the world have been traceable to the unabated use of biomass energy sources. We therefore assessed the awareness of the health implications of the use of biomass energy sources among women in rural households of Jigawa State. Multistage sampling procedure was used to collect data from 120 respondents using structured questionnaires. Data were collected on respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, types of biomass used, information sources on the health implications from use of biomass energy sources, awareness of the health implications and constraints to the use of alternatives to biomass. Data were summarised using frequencies, percentages, means, Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Majority of the respondents (78.3 %) were below 40 years of age with a mean age of 30 ± 2.02 years. Majority were married (90.8 %), Muslims (100 %), involved in agro-processing (65.8 %), had no formal education (73.3 %), and earned not more than ₦10, 000 (90.8 %) with mean household size of 9 members. Wood (100 %) and charcoal (100 %) were the dominant biomass energy sources used. Respondents’ main source of information on the health implications of the use of biomass were radio (64.2 %) and extension agents (54.2 %). Awareness level of the health implications from the use of biomass energy sources was fairly high (51.7 %). High cost of the alternatives, scarcity of refilling points and alternatives and lack of capital were the main hindrances to the use of the alternatives to biomass energy sources. The result on the inferential statistics revealed that a significant association existed between education (χ2 = 6.08; P < 0.05) and awareness of health implications from the use of biomass. Efforts should be made to sensitize women on the health implications resulting from the use of biomass. Alternatives should be made available and affordable to encourage a switch from biomass energy sources thereby reducing the fatalities that may result from its continual use.

Use of biomass energy is on the increase in rural areas of Nigeria, and its use poses serious environmental challenges. The study assessed the awareness of the environmental implications associated with the unsustainable use of biomass energy sources among rural households in Jigawa State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents for the study using structured questionnaire. Collected data were analysed using descriptive (frequency counts, percentage, mean, and rank) and inferential statistics (chi-squared test). The result revealed that the majority of the respondents were male (94.2%), married (90.8%), and between 31 to 40 years, with a mean age of 39.8 years. Results further revealed that the majority of the respondents were farmers (56.7%), had Qur’anic education (71.7%), and earned a monthly income of N10,000–N20,999 (52.5%), with a mean monthly income of ₦13,816.67. Use of fuel wood (100%) and charcoal (100%) were the dominant biomass energy sources used. Results at the level of awareness revealed that the majority of the respondents (80.8%) had low awareness of the environmental implications associated with the unsustainable use of biomass energy sources. The respondents’ main source of information on the environmental implications associated with the unsustainable use of biomass energy sources were radio (64.17%) and extension agents (54.2%). The high cost of other alternatives, scarcity of refilling stations, scarcity of the alternatives, and lack of funds to purchase other alternatives are some of the major constraint bedevilling the use of non-solid energy sources. Level of education (χ2 = 6.584; p < 0.1) and average monthly income (χ2 = 8.277; p < 0.1) were significantly related to awareness of the environmental implication of the unsustainable use of biomass energy. It is therefore recommended that people should be enlightened on the environmental implications associated with the unsustainable use of biomass energy sources. Furthermore, policies favouring a switch of energy source should be considered.