Dr Olayemi Sennuga, PhD (Coventry, UK), M.Sc (Reading, UK), B.Sc (Ibadan) NCE (Ijebu-Ode)

This study was carried out to assess farmers' perception on the impact of grazing livestock on some tuber crops (yam, cassava and potato) in North Central Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted to select randomly 1200 tuber crop farmers in the study area (Abuja). Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistic and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the results. The socio-economic analysis showed that most of the farmers were male and married. Most of them had a household size of 6-10 people and were between the ages 41 and 50 years meaning they were within economically active age. Also, most of them had farming experience of 11-20 years and had secondary school education. Majority of them were smallholder farmers and had a maximum of 3 hectares of farmland. Cassava was the most affected tuber crop by grazing livestock in the study area while cattle were the most destructive livestock to tuber crops in the study area. The st...

This study explored smallholder farmers' perception on the uptake of agricultural innovations in Kuje area council of Abuja, FCT. The study was carried out in three communities in Kuje namely, Chukuku, Chibiri and Dafara. The study was guided basically by four objectives which were all analysed using descriptive statistics. The communities in which the study was carried out were sampled purposively and 80 smallholder farmers were in total selected from the three communities. Well structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. However, assistance was given to a few farmers who weren't literate enough to read the contents of the questionnaire. Findings from the study were presented in frequency and percentage distribution tables. Results from the study revealed that smallholder farmers had varying perceptions about agricultural innovations ranging from good, bad to indifferent. Most of the smallholder farmers in the study area believed that agricultural innovations are good, they however insisted that agricultural innovations were sometimes difficult to understand and also there were issues with poor follow up by the introducer of innovations (mostly agricultural extension agent). Based on this, it was recommended that: agricultural innovations should meet the needs of farmers and should be at their level of understanding. Also, introducers of agricultural innovations should endeavour to improve on their follow up activities to ensure ultimate uptake of innovation by farmers.

Using library research and reflection, document, journal papers and content analysis were used to generate data. The Sub Saharan African region covered in the paper is that of seven countries. The paper describes the role of agricultural extension models in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well traces the various extension models currently being developed or implement in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely; the top down approaches; from international institutions/ national governments and participatory approaches/bottom-up that engage farmers in decision making. Currently, there are six basic extension approaches/models in diverse stages of development and implementation in developing countries. These models have been structured in a more analytical way around key themes; top down; participatory; demand-led; group versus individual targeting; private sector and free/paid extension services. The reality is that pluralism of models has been employed in various forms in most countries in Sub-Sahara Africa. The paper critically examined seven models,

This study is an investigation into underage labour in Nigeria with specific focus on street hawkers in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive study in which one hundred and fifty (150) hawkers and fifteen (15) adult traders constituted the sample. The data was obtained via the use of questionnaire and in-depth interview while the data was analyzed using student 't' test statistic. The three research hypotheses that guided the study were tested at 5% level of significance and the result revealed that there is a significant relationship between poor parental economic background and involvement of underage in street hawking, parental/guardian occupation does not significantly influence the involvement of underaage in street hawking and there is a significant relationship between street hawking and academic performance of the underage. The study concluded that government and Nigerians should therefore, practically demonstra...

Global concerns to eradicate poverty and many other indicators of the downside of development have been described as the basic reason for foreign aid intervention. This study essentially seeks to examine the Socio - Economic impact of FADAMA lll programmes in development, challenges confronting the success of foreign aid intervention and more effective approaches that can make foreign aid intervention a success in Enugu State. The study engaged both modernization and dependency theories in advancing understanding on the subject matter .To achieve this, questionnaire were administered to some of the beneficiary groups to appraise the impact of the project on their annual farm output and farm income. T-test was used to test the difference on beneficiaries’ mean farm output and income before and during Fadama III project participation. Findings from this study revealed that foreign aid has contributed to the development of the communities studied. Also that Fadama III project in Enugu ...

This study examined the growth potentials of Nigerian economy beyond the current practice of overdependence on the oil sector using time series data on gross domestic product, oil revenue, non-oil revenue and government expenditure over the period 1987 and 2016. While the variables oil revenue, non-oil revenue government expenditure served as explanatory variables, gross domestic product was used as the dependent variable. The result (carried out using ordinary least square method) indicated that all the variables except government expenditure are positively related to the dependent variable (GDP) when combined together while the coefficient of multiple determinations of 90% showed that the model is of high good fit. Besides, government expenditure is statically insignificant at 5% level. Thus, the study, therefore concluded by recommending diversification of the Nigerian economy, that is paying more attention to other sectors of the economy as a necessary step towards reducing the ...

The importance of adopting Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs) approach to improve food production cannot be overemphasized in policy development and research agenda of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigates how socio-demographic factors influence farm-level decision process associated with the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices among smallholder farmers in Ogun State. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 196 farmers. Primary data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaires. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Likert scale rating and multivariate probit model. The results showed that majority of the farmers were male with mean age of 35 years cultivating an average farm size of 5.8 hectares. The use of improved variety was adopted by 95.41% and this was rank first among the practices adopted by the farmers. Agroforestry was rank second and adopted by 85.71% of the respondents. The extent ...

Information and communication technology (ICT) aids provide up-to-date information on the market prices of commodities, inputs and consumer trends which ultimately can improve a farmer's negotiating position and their livelihood. Major aspect of ICT is that accurate information should reach the farmers at the right time to make more sustainable use of on-farm resources. Now the question arises that how this information can be disseminated to such a diverse group of the farming community. ICT is going to play greater role in agricultural extension as well as private sector agribusiness, market information and market intelligence. Here this paper review the role of ICT not only in providing greater awareness and knowledge in agriculture technology and information but also in terms of farmer’s attitudes towards trying to adopt new technologies.

Group potency is one of the major factors influencing work group success. However, little is known about the effects of potency on group maintenance outcomes, especially in virtual teams. The present study examines the moderating role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the relationships between potency and group maintenance outcomes in a longitudinal study. The study involved 44 groups

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the most economically important food crop in many developing countries and has also become a major crop in many developed countries where its consumption has increased considerably. It has been noted that the demand for rice is not matched with the supply of rice, due to the fact that rice is mostly produced by smallholder framers and processed by the rural farmers using crude or local method. This research is based on assessment of the constraints associated with the processing of paddy rice. This will be carried out using a well structured questionnaire and data will be collected from a primary source and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Analysis from this study shows that agricultural financing constitutes the greatest challenge that affects rice processing. Therefore, this work provides basic information about the challenges of rice processing and focuses on the challenges faced by the small-scale rice processors and reasons for continuous rice importation with a view to guiding decision-making to be self-sufficient in rice production, thereby making some improvement in Nigerian economy.

The study examined rural constraints facing smallholder farmers'access to market communities of Kaduna State. The study was conducted in Giwa and Sabon-gari Local Government Areas. Three objectives guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select the farming communities for the study. Two rural communities (Bassawa and Shika) were purposely selected out of 14rural communities primarily because of their age-long access to local market in the area.The sample size of the study was 200 smallholder farmers made up of 100 farmers from each of the communities which were purposively selected. Primary data were collected using a structured interview schedule, focus group discussion and in-depth interview while the secondary data which relate to the objectives of the study were collected from the office of the Kaduna State Agricultural Development Project (ADP) and National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), ABU, Zaria.Data were analyzed using frequency and percentages. Results from the findings of the study revealed a positive significant (p<0.05) influence oninfluence on access to local market in the area and farmers' educational levels, gender and age also had a positive significant influence on the influence on access to market. Therefore, the following recommendations were made: there is need to increase farmers' capital and credit facilities and make funds accessible to the smallholders. Also,improve farmers'bargaining position, collective action and better information. It is therefore imperative for Government to ensure that policies that support the smallholder access to market are put in place.