The study investigated the effects of household waste generation, disposal and management on farmers' health in Owerri metropolis. It specifically ascertained the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, identified the types and sources of waste in the study area, examined the waste disposal and management methods in the study area examined the effects of inappropriate waste disposal and ascertained the appropriate waste disposal methods used in the study area. A multi stage sampling technique was used to select one hundred and eight farmers from the three Local Government Area in Owerri metropolis. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive statistics tool such as mean, frequency, percentage, and mean scores. Results show that waste is majorly generated from markets and residential homes. Waste disposal methods were mainly burning, landfills and open dumping. Its effects includes destroys the beauty of the environment, blocks gutters and drainage system, pollutes the environment among others. Subsequently, appropriate waste disposal methods in the study area includes burning of waste (29.17%), placing of bins at appropriate places (16.07%). The study recommends amongst others that waste management environmental agency should make waste dumps or receptacles accessible to residents, public campaigns should be embarked upon to educate the citizens on ills of dirty environment.
Agriculture plays a dominant role in promoting Africa's structural transformations with evolving policy measures such as the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and the Maputo Declaration signed by the African heads of State at the Second Ordinary Assembly of the African Union in 2003. These policy measures are geared towards raising Africa's Gross Domestic Product, (GDP) and inducing export promotion while cutting down on import goods. Raising the performance of the Africa's agriculture is, therefore, crucial to achieving sustained structural transformation in all sectors of African economy. The emergence of Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) has also helped in alleviating most of the problems facing African farmers at a time and re-positioning African agriculture to embrace advanced structural changes for all inclusive transformation growth. The review therefore recommends African governments to fully maximize the benefits of these developmental policy measures to foster economic growth, development and impactful transformation across all sectors of the African economy.
Purpose: This study aims to ascertain the profitability determinants of palm oil marketing in Umuahia Agricultural Zone of Abia State, Nigeria. Methods: Data on socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, cost, and returns of palm oil marketing in the area were collected using a multi-stage sampling technique from 60 palm oil marketers in Abia State. A descriptive statistical technique, marketing margin, profitability models, and the ordinary least squares multiple regression techniques were used to analyze the data obtained. Results: The empirical analysis showed that palm oil marketers mean age to be 47 years with a household size of 5 persons. 77% of the palm oil marketers were males while only 23% were females. The mean marketing experience of the palm oil marketers was estimated to be 16 years. The gross and net marketing margins were estimated at N55, 288.91, and N54, 076.91 respectively. The marketing margin was found to be ₦81,221.22 and profitability was estimated at 0.33. Age, household size, education, and marketing experience were statistically significant at 5% and influenced the profitability of palm oil marketing in the area. Implications: Considering the net profit obtained from palm oil marketing in the area, there is a need to intensify its management and marketing strategies to further harness more profitable outcomes in the future. Also enabling environment should be created to make production and marketing of the product less stressful, especially for women entrepreneurs.
The study analysed the efficiency of microfinance banks’ lending to agriculture in Imo state, Nigeria. It analysed the cost of loan recovery in relation to the total loan recovered. Purposive sampling technique was used in the study. A list of microfinance banks was collected from the Owerri office of central bank of Nigeria which had 43 microfinance banks in the state. This formed the sampling frame from which 26 microfinance banks were purposively selected. The purposive selection was based on the microfinance banks that had the highest number of agricultural loan beneficiaries. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and efficiency of loan recovery model. The result revealed that the efficiency index of the microfinance banks ranged from 0 to 0.5 and a loan and a mean of 0.06. The result further showed that 96.1% of the banks were within the index of 0 and 0.2. This implies that for every one thousand naira recovered from beneficiaries of microfinance banks, they spent sixty naira from their interest in recovering the loan. The results further revealed that 61.54% of the banks use additional guarantors to recover their loans while unconventional methods of recovery such as the use of the police accounted for 38.46% of the recovery technique. It was therefore recommended and concluded that since these microfinance banks are efficient in their loan recovery, they should make micro loans available to potential borrowers who want to invest in agriculture.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.