Nigeria agriculture, food security and dietary intake have not been exempted from the disruptions in countless sectors around the world due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The country first experienced the outbreak on February 27, 2020, and the experience since then has shown negative effects not only on the socioeconomic conditions but also on agriculture, food security and dietary intake. Long term in-depth analysis of the effects of this pandemic on food security and dietary intake using quantitative data is still very difficult due to paucity of data and the great level of the improbability of the trajectory of the spread of the Virus. This study is a rapid assessment of the short and long-term potential effects of the disease. It relied on a review of situation reports especially by the Nigeria Centre of Disease Control and other reports around the world on COVID-19, personal observations, and public opinion via mobile telephone survey of Lagos and Oyo States, Nigeria. Findings show that food demand and supply shocks caused by COVID-19 outbreak affect agriculture, food and dietary intake negatively through COVID-19 policies. It leads to a reduction in household income coupled with hike in food prices. Owing to the Nigeria's crude farming practice, there was a scarcity of hired labour required for production process during 2020 farming season. This implies a high likelihood of low output and further surge in food prices in the future. Food access was also compromised with the accumulation of unsold fresh produce by the smallholder farmers and the low salary earners during movement restrictions and of loss income as a result of international border closure. Food and dietary intake is affected as people are shifting diets to more affordable and low quality foods, while food stability is not guaranteed due to market insecurity, prompting an extraordinary level of indecision. The study concludes that the shock of COVID-19 is not only a demand management problem but a multidimensional crisis requiring monetary, fiscal, and health policy responses with global collaboration and cooperation.
The study examined the use of ICTs for accessing marketing information outlets in Oyo State, Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 150 respondents for the study. Data collected were analysed using frequencies counts and percentages to describe the findings while, Chi-square and PPMC were used to test for relationship between the variables in the study hypotheses. The results of the findings showed that majority (70%) of the sampled respondents were male while (69.3%) were married with (84%) of them having a family size of less than five members. Large proportion (59.3%) of the respondents fall within the ages of 31-50 years, and majority (74.7%) of them were rural residence. The results also showed that majority (81.3%) of them required information for the sales of their agricultural products. The major sources of agricultural marketing information outlets to the respondents were fellow farmers (81.3%), radio (85.4%) and GSM (83%).The study found that (61.3%) of the respondents were in low level category of ICTs users. Inferential statistics indicates that, there were significant relationship between level of use of ICTs for agricultural marketing information and marital status (χ 2 =10.46, p>0.05) and level of educational attainment (χ 2 =16.35, P>0.05). However, age (χ 2 =5.5, p<0.05), sex (χ 2 =5.99, p<0.05) and family size (χ 2 =6.22, p<0.05) had no significant relationship with marketing information outlets. PPMC analysis revealed that radio(r=0.28, p>0.05), fellow farmers(r=0.19, p>0.05) and GSM (r=0.88, p>0.05) as a source of marketing information were highly significant. The study recommends that government and other stake holders in the information and communication technology industries should endeavour to eliminate the identified barriers to the effective use of ICTs for marketing information outlets in the study area.
The study examined enterprise mix in integrated fish farming in Ogun Satate, Nigeria. Using survey research, a pre-tested structured interview guide was used to elicit information from 216 integrated fish farmers that was purposively selected from twenty two villages in four blocks of Ogun State Agricultural development using sampling frame Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Results showed that 90.7% of IFF was male. Also, 96.8% of IFF was married. The mean ages of sampled farmers were 46 years (IFF) while the mean fish farming experience was 5 years (IFF).The mean fish production capacity of NIFF was 1,894 fish. Furthermore, 11.5% of IFF integrates fish farming with poultry, 7.2% with piggery, and 15.8% and 1.4% with crops and small ruminants respectively. The chi-square analyses showed that knowledge of fish farming had significant association with respondents sex (χ 2 = 9.44, df = 2, p < 0.05), marital status (χ 2 = 23.2, df = 4, p < 0.05), occupation (χ 2 = 25.5, df = 8, p < 0.05), Bivariate correlation analyses showed significant relationship between farmers knowledge and age (r = 0.20, p < 0.05), fish farming experience (r = 0.17, p < 0.05), level of cosmopoliteness (r = 0.16, p < 0.05), livestock population capacity (r = 0.21, p < 0.05), fish production capacity (r = 0.36, p < 0.05), area of land cultivated (r = 0.55, p < 0.05) and production constraints (r = -0.00, p < 0.05).
The study examined perceived effects of climate change on grazing land, herds' performance and examined the coping strategies of the pastoralists to climate change. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents for the study. Data were analyzed using percentages, frequencies, tables and Chi square statistical tools. The result of the study showed that 37.5% of the respondents were between the ages of 51-60 years with an average age of 49.8 years. The results revealed that 67.5% of the pastoralists strongly agreed that the pattern of rainfall in recent time affects pasture availability. Consequently 47.5% and 52.5% of them reported a decrease in milk production and increase in herd's mortality rate respectively due to the effect of climate change. A significance relationship was established between factors of climate change and milk production of the herd (calculated x 2 = 52.00, tabulated x 2 = 7.8147. p ≤ 0.05). It is therefore recommended that the pastoralists be trained in forage conservation techniques. They should also be encouraged to pool their resources to enjoy economics of scale by the extension workers. Grazing reserves should be developed by the government to fast track the disposition of the pastoralists to sedentary life.
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