About 7.3 million children are estimated to be out of school in Nigeria; majority of them are girls. The Federal Government school feeding programme is to provide one meal per school day to all primary school pupils in Nigeria with the objectives of improving the health of school age children, increase their enrolment, retention and completion rate in the primary school. The nutritional status of 160 pupils (80 boys and 80 girls) of a selected public primary school in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria was assessed using anthropometric parameters. Meals were collected and analyzed for nutrient composition and compared to the requirement for their age group. The mid-arm circumference (MAC) ranged between 15 and 21 mm and the body mass index, (BMI) was within the WHO reference standard for healthy children. The crude protein (CP) content of the served foods varied between 12% and 28%. The average intake of amino acids per meal ranged between 122 and 684 mg, vitamins from 0.1 to 0.8 mg while mineral intake varied from 2.7 to 85 mg. The protein digestibility corrected amino acid score varied between 50% and 114%. These results indicated that the feeding programme has greatly improved the nutrition status of these children. The continuation of the programme would go a long way to preventing malnutrition among the public school children.
This paper analyses the factors determining the demand for and supply of agricultural credit (loans) among small-scale farmers in southwestern Nigeria. Empirical data were obtained from 270 farmers who used credit. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and statistical models. Analysis revealed that farmers who used credit were younger (average: 47 years old), and that cultivated farm sizes (average: 3.8 ha) were larger than the national average. The statistical models showed that the interest rate, farm expenditure, the amount borrowed from alternative sources, farm size and savings were the main determinants of credit demand, while interest rates charged, the level of savings of respondents, the amount of loan demanded and the proportion of previous loans repaid were the major determinants of credit supply. In order to improve the agricultural sector, formal lending institutions should target younger farmers, including women, use group and social assets as collateral rather than physical assets, charge commercial interest rates, mobilize savings through their rural outposts and give medium-term rather than short-term loans.
A major agricultural sub-sector where achieving food security has become elusive in Nigeria is the fish production subsector. Demand for fish in Nigeria stands at about 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum while domestic production is just 511,700 metric tonnes. The nation spends about N150 billion (US$1billion) annually to bridge the gap between supply and demand. Consequently, several policy measures have been put in place to stimulate local fish farming. Till date, the results from the colossal investment and policy have not yielded the desired results. Hence, this study attempted to examine the factors determining the sustainability of fish farming in Nigeria with a view to stimulating private investment in the sector, meet national market demand through domestic production and export the excess to enhance the income of farmers. Regression and budgetary analyses were used to analyze data obtained from 100 fish farmers in ten local government areas of Osun State. The result showed that the average net income in the study area was N318,640.75 while the gross margin was N457,327.95. The benefit-cost ratio was 1.5 indicating that for every N100 invested, the enterprise yields additional N50. The regression analysis showed that experience of farmers in fish farming, quantity of feed used, access to credit and size of pond were significant determinants of fish farm production in Nigeria. Major challenges confronting fish farming in the study area are lack of access to credit, high cost of inputs and poor extension services.
The study compared the credit operations of Farmers Development Union (FADU)-an NGO, with the Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB)-a public sector finance agency in agricultural financing with a view to determining the emerging roles of NGOs in Nigeria's agricultural landscape. To achieve this, the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers who use credit, and the performance of the selected credit institutions on the basis of credit delivery and loan repayment were identified and analysed using descriptive, t-test statistic and regression analyses. The results of the study revealed that the operational flexibility of the NGO was its major appeal to farmers. The use of groups as social assets for collateral instead of physical assets increased the vibrancy of the NGO compared to the public finance agency and provided a level playing field for both male and female farmers in the credit market. Patrons of the NGO made a mean savings of N22,284 whereas those of the public finance agency saved only N13,472. While the NGO disbursed more credit to its clients compared to the public finance agency, it also recovered 68.5% of its loans compared with 49.3% recovery made by the public finance agency. If formal banks will be able to impact on small farmers as the NGO, they will need to provide non-collaterized loans and to groups rather than individuals. : agricultural financing, farm capitalization, credit disbursement and loan recovery. Agriculture occupies a unique position in the economy of Nigeria. This is because when the total gross domestic product (GDP) is decomposed along sectoral lines, the economy is largely agrarian in structure (CBN, 2003; UNS, 2001). Although its position as the largest earner of foreign exchange during the first decade of independence has since been lost to crude oil export which presently accounts for over 80% of the nation's total export earnings, it still remains the largest sectoral contributor to the GDP as it contributed nearly 40% of the GDP. The sector employs 60% of the national labour force and accounts for 90% of the non-oil export earnings (UNS, 2001). Over the years, in spite of its mixed fortunes, the sector has continued to provide the bulk of the food requirements of the over 140 million Nigerians, especially the 70% of the populace who live in the rural areas and who are largely bypassed by imported food products. The agricultural sector provides vast potentials to solving the problems of unemployment and poverty in the country. The nation has a total of 924,000 square kilometers (924 million hectares) of land area, 80% of which is arable (UNCED Report, 1992). Currently, only 50% of this is under cultivation. A total of 2.5 million hectares of land are capable of being brought under irrigation in the country, yet till date, only 974,900 hectares which represents 39% is under irrigation (FMWR, 1995). The small scale farmers constitute the bulk (about 60%) of the farmers in Nigeria (Toluyemi, 1990; Oluwasola, 1999). It has also been estimated tha...
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