Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is paramount to the success of farming activities today in the face of the menace of climate change. This study therefore investigated the frequency of usage of CSA and the factors influencing its level of usage in the Northern agricultural zone of Sokoto State. A well-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data used for the analysis were cross sectional data collected from 120 rural farming households in six (6) villages across two (2) local government areas. Descriptive statistics, Adaptation Strategy Use Index (ASUI) and ordered probit regression model were used for data analysis. Results indicated that the majority of the respondents were male (83.33%), married (83.33%), had Quranic education (73.33%), household size of 1-10 persons (58.33%), farming experience of 16-30 years (49.17%) and were between the ages of 46 and 60 (44.17%). Similarly, the practice of conservation agriculture was the most used CSAP in the study area, while the results of the ordered probit regression showed that years of education and membership of a social group were significant explanatory variables influencing the level of use of CSAP among the low user and high user categories at the 10% and 1% level of significance respectively, while access to credit significantly influenced only the low user category at the 10% level of significance. The study therefore concluded that CSAPs were being practiced at different levels in the study area with various factors influencing their usage, and it therefore recommended that the farming households be well enlightened by extension agents on the benefits of CSAPs.
Agriculture is an important tool for reducing the effects of household food insecurity, unemployment and poverty which are major problems in urban areas in Nigeria. Food insecurity continues to worsen in some urban areas of the country and many households resulted into urban farming as a means of coping. The study investigated the effect of urban household farming on food security status in Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. Primary data was collected for the study using structured questionnaire. Two-stage sampling technique was employed for this study. The first stage involved the random selection of two urban local government areas from Ibadan metropolis. This was followed with the selection of 110 urban farming households from these local government areas. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke and probit regression. Results showed that sex, years of schooling, marital status, household size, access to extension agent, hired labour and type of farming enterprises are determinants of food security. The study recommends the policies that make extension services accessible to urban farmers and also skills development among others.
Proper waste disposal is a key to protecting public health. Thus poorly managed and disposed waste encourages breeding of insect vectors and exposed public to increase risk of infection. This study aimed at determining the residents' perception about waste disposal in Sokoto metropolis. This was a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted in Sokoto metropolis. A two stage sampling technique was used to select the survey participants. A set of interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect field data. Ethical clearance was obtained from state research ethics committee and in addition, individual informed consent was obtained before questionnaires were administered. Average age of the respondents was 30 years with 50% aged between 25 and 44 years. Large proportion (47.4%) of the respondents had only Quranic education. Majority (94.1%) of the respondents expressed worries about the indiscriminate littering of the metropolis with waste and more than half (55%) reported that residents were responsible for the state of poor sanitation while 38% felt it was fault of government. Although, 91% of respondents said it is appropriate for residents to clean own surroundings, 41% felt residents alone should take sole responsibility for the cleaning; while 40% felt government and residents should take joint responsibility. Less than half (46%) of respondents reported that improper waste disposal have health related problems. Although, majority respondents were disturbed with the way refuse litters the state metropolis, many are unaware of its health related problems. There is need to create awareness among general public of consequences of poor refuse disposal.
This paper examined vulnerability to poverty of households among rural households in South West Nigeria using primary data from a two-wave panel survey (lean versus harvesting periods). Results showed that on the average there is a 0.56 probability of entering poverty a period ahead in the region and relatively high poverty rates were associated with much higher vulnerability while low poverty rates were associated with considerably low vulnerability. Vulnerable households are mostly large sized with high number of dependants and characterized by under aged or old, female headed, widowed household heads. They are mostly engaged in farming as their primary occupation, have no or low educational attainment and are landless. The findings underscore the centrality of social protection policy mechanisms as potent poverty reduction tools and necessary policy interventions to reduce consumption variability through reducing exposure to risk or improving the ex post coping mechanisms of the vulnerable
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