Welfare effects of transportation cost and food price volatility in the context of globalization in Nigeria

Abstract

Globalization has enhanced the development of the transport sector and more importantly, the distribution of agricultural produce and food globally. However, not much is known about how this has impacted the welfare of the poor in Nigeria. Therefore, the study probed the persistence and asymmetry in food and transport price volatility; creating a dummy with the period before and after the adventure of significantly improved internet facility like 3G allowed the study to observe the significant effect of this period on persistence volatility of food price returns; and exploring the welfare effects of these volatility dynamics. A bi-variate EGARCH model was deployed to estimate the heteroskedastic behavior in rural food price and transport returns (1995M1-2017M11) obtained from National Bureau of Statistics while a simple welfare framework was used to gauge the effect of the price fluctuations. Persistence volatility in food price declined after introduction of 3G innovation. The study also confirmed that the risk in transport market significantly transmitted to rural food price volatility. Volatility persistence was high (0.99% apiece) both in food and transport markets. Also, there was evidence of leverage effect in transport price volatility in Nigeria. The study revealed that due to persistent price volatility, households gave up an average/maximum of 12%/33% and 13%/44% of their food consumption and transport expenditure/returns accordingly to achieve household food stability. Using the Lucas (1987, 2003) threshold, the study concludes that the benefits of eliminating volatility in food and transport are high.

Co-Impact of Security Challenges, Energy Price Shocks, and Environmental Pollution on Nutrition and Food Security in Nigeria

“…The study revealed that significant number of the households were food insecure, thus calls for appropriate policy interventions (Anugwa and Ugwu, 2022). Other studies also revealed that food price inflation limits households food purchase (Egwuma et al, 2017), food quality, preference for different healthy foods, compromised good feeding habit (Ikuemonisan and Akinbola, 2019), and caused food insecurity. The impact of food inflation on food security and malnutrition have been documented (Headey and Ruel, 2022;Woldemichael et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2013;Arndt et al, 2012;Meerman and Aphane, 2012).…”

Nutritional, anti-nutritional, and sensory properties of cowpea hull-enriched <em>Gari</em>

“…The result obtained showed that fermentation greatly reduced the zinc content and value is slightly lower than 0.05 to 1.24 mg/100g reported by Owuno et al (2021) for gari fermented with maize residue. Findings show that 8-11 mg/day is recommended daily for adolescents and 12-19 mg/day for adults (Idris, 2011). In the body tissues zinc is needed for healthy cell division.…”

Comparative evaluation of cassava composite flours and bread

“…Cassava was known for its wide ecological adaptability and could perform relatively well, although other crops may not be able to produce reasonable yield (Otekunrin and Sawicka 2019). Because of these characteristics, cassava can be a reliable food security for farming households in the tropics (Ikuemonisan and Akinbola 2019) and a livelihood for millions of farmers and traders worldwide (FAO 2018). In Nigeria, cassava is an integral part of the household diet.…”