Sulaiman Adesina Yusuf

Social Capital and Household Welfare in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract This study examined the effects of social capital on household welfare in Kwara State, Nigeria. The data for the study were collected from 315 households in six local government areas (LGAs) of the state using probability proportionate to size of the registered institutions in the LGAs. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, social capital indices and regression technique. Average age of household heads stood at 44.3 years with about 8 years of formal education. Household size was 7 members with monthly per capita income of N4, 184.40. About 49.9% of the per capita expenditure of N3, 059.52 was spent on food. Household own production constituted 31.4% of the total food expenditure. Membership of households in local level institutions averaged 6 with urban households belonging to one less institutions. Households attended two out of every three meetings and had moderate level of active participation in decision making of 57.5%. The index of heterogeneity at 29.1 indicated low level of diversity of the associations. Monthly cash contribution was highest for members in religious associations amounting to N1,574.53 followed by cooperative associations at N1, 015.03. A one unit increase in social capital would increase household per capita expenditure by 0.15%. Disaggregation of social capital into its components showed that its effect on welfare was traceable to membership and active participation in decision making of households in associations. Social capital was truly exogenous to household’s welfare with no reverse causality. The study concluded that social capital positively affected household welfare.

Assessment of Poverty among Urban Farmers in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract This study examined poverty status of urban farm households. The study was carried out in Ibadan metropolis. The data used for the study were obtained from well-structured questionnaires. 200 farming households were sampled from two local government areas within Ibadan metropolis. Data generated were analysed using descriptive statistics, poverty indices and logistics regression analysis. Results from the study showed that those engaged in crop farming have the highest poverty level (50%), while mixed farming households have poverty level of 37% and livestock, 17%. The estimated logistic regression equation showed that crop farming activity engaged in and household size increase the odd ratio of being poor while age of urban farmers, educational status, years of experience in farming and livestock farming decrease the odd ratio of being poor. Hence, mixed farming and livestock farming are antidote to reducing poverty among urban farmers.

The Threats of Climate Change: Implication for Food Crisis in Sub-Sahara Africa

Food insecurity remains endemic in most of the Africa countries, with climate factors such as rainfall variability as a major cause. The significance of this variability is clear when we consider that in sub-Saharan Africa, agricultural production accounts for up to 90 % of food needs. Socio-economic conditions and the adverse impact of unpredictable weather on the agricultural production of communities in sub-Sahara Africa have long been recognized as an important cause of malnutrition in the region. The paper reviews the current state of knowledge related to the threats of climate to food crisis in sub Sahara Africa. Long-term climate change is linked to global warming. This increase is partly due to the influence of human activities on nature such as exhaust gas emissions from vehicles, coal burning for energy, and deforestation. Tackling these challenges of climate change will require the use of sophisticated surveillance and response systems. Therefore, mitigation policy that assures food security at all time is recommended to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 1 to reducing by half people suffering from hunger by 2015.

An Error Correction Modeling (ECM) of the Determinants of Deforestation in Nigeria

Abstract Persistent deforestation is one of the major constraints to sustainable economic development in Nigeria. This study used the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) to determine the economic factors influencing deforestation. The data were national aggregates collected from several secondary sources for 1961-2000. Data analysis showed that there were at least 7 cointegrating vectors in the estimated model. Also, the dynamic unrestricted short-run parameters of cereal cropland growth rates (0.564), tuber cropland growth rates (-1.961), permanent cropland growth rate (22.136), tuber yield (0.126), livestock population (-2.156), human population (-9.214), other land areas (0.281), agricultural Gross Domestic Product (0.156), and roundwood production (0.684) had significant impact on deforestation (p < 0.05). The study recommends that efforts to address further deforestation should include enforcement of laws guiding the cutting of forest trees and research development to ensure development of crop hybrids that are resistant to environmental Stress, among others.

Income Polarisation Among Undergraduate Students of University of Ibadan

Despite increasing interest in income polarisation among researchers in Nigeria, there is dearth of literature on its existence among undergraduate students especially with the primary data. A polarised income distribution among students has the potential of breeding social unrest, protest or demonstration. This study examined the existence of income polarization and inequality among undergraduate students. University of Ibadan was used as case study since all categories of social classes can be found among the students and the “no-cooking” policy of the University has direct effects on students’ monthly income and expenditure distribution. A two-stage sampling technique was employed. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics; Duclos-Esteban-Ray (DER) (2008) polarisation index and Generalised Entropy (GE) inequality index were used to estimate income polarisation and inequality respectively. Income polarisation and inequality decreased among students between the two observed years. Income polarisation (α 0.5 ) decreased from 0.2287 to 0.2058 while income inequality decreased from 0.2402 to 0.1586. Highest polarisation estimate of 0.2117 was obtained between male and female. In 2011/2012, female (0.2032) was polarised than male (0.1987) while male (0.1893) was slightly polarised than female (0.1836) in 2012/2013 session. Within dimension however, the highest and least identification estimates (0.9069 and 0.7462) were from non-scholarship/bursary and female students respectively. In order to prevent a situation where students will ride on their increasing homogeneity brought about by no-cooking policy to protest against poor and unfriendly environment, good quality services in terms of food and other items that students paid for on campus are therefore advocated.

Effects of Social Capital on Well-Being of Rural Households in Southwest Nigeria

The study examined the effects of social capital on well-being of rural households in Southwest Nigeria. The primary data employed in the study were obtained from 439 respondents selected through a multistage sampling technique. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, fuzzy set and ordered probit model. The results showed that well-being is low in the study area with an aggregate functioning index of 0.4375. The result of the ordered probit revealed that meeting attendance and cash contribution are negatively related to well-being while density of membership index, heterogeneity index and social capital aggregate are all positively correlated with achieved wellbeing. The study therefore recommends that investment in social capital by government and donors should be an important consideration in promoting the living conditions of rural households.