AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS
Food security is a concept that has evolved during the 1990s far beyond a traditional focus on the supply of food at the national level. This concept has been given general definitions in time past but in recent times, there has been a divergence of ideas on what food security really means. food security is defined as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life. The committee on world food security defined it as physical and economic access to adequate food by all household members without undue risk of losing the access.
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The Food Security assessment in 2005 proves that about 750 million people were food unsecured in almost 70 low-income countries. Furthermore, Asia and other Commonwealth States experienced a 30% decline in the number of those that are hungry. In Latin American and Caribbean countries has varied a little over time, but there has been a noticeable trend across the area as a wholly. In spite of the strong growth in food production, Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where hunger has increase in the last ten years. The challenge today is that high food prices has led to the increase in food insecurity and widespread food crisis in many developing countries in which Nigeria is not excluded. However, poor people in developing countries spend about 50-80% of their monthly income on food meet consumers need. Any increase in food prices will reduce food consumption and increase hunger. In Nigeria however, the prices of rice, corn and wheat recorded a high roof-tops recently (FAO, 2013).
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In Nigeria, agriculture has remained the largest sector of the economy. It generates employment for about 70% of the population and contributes about 40% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with crop accounting for 80%, livestock 13%, forestry 3% and fishery 4%. Agriculture accounts for over 70% of the non-oil export and provides over 80% of the food needs of the country (Adegboye,2004). Nigeria has a total land area of 98.3milion hectares, but at present, only about 34 million hectares or 48% are under cultivation. Agriculture in Nigeria is practiced at subsistent level and is characterized by numerous farmers operating several scattered small and fragmented plots of land using traditional methods such as land rotation, bush burning with the use of crude implements like hoes and cutlasses.
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Pig is one of the domestic animals found in Nigeria and most parts of West Africa. Pigs are reared for the production of meat called pork and fat called lard. The pig produces litters twice a year. One litter or one birth give between eight (8) and sixteen (16) piglets. They also eat anything that is edible when given. Although, the rearing of pig and its consumption is not popular in Moslems areas in Nigeria because of the religion. Some people look at pigs as dirty animal usually found in muddy water, the meat is also believed to be responsible for the carrying of tapeworm, to human beings. This is probably responsible for some people prefer meat from other animal to pig meat. The breeds of pigs now reared in Nigeria include those that are native to Nigeria and the one brought from other countries such as Britain and United States of America.
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The study determined the economics of oil palm seedlings production in Edo South Senatorial district, Edo State. The specific objective was to examine the socio-economic characteristics of the oil palm seedlings producers, identify the methods adopted in raising oil palm seedlings in the study area, to estimate this cost and returns in oil palms production and access it’s profitability and viability, identify the factors affecting the level of income generated by producers and the likely problems of oil palm seedlings production. The study covered ninety (90) randomly selected oil palm producers from nine villages in the study area. The results showed that the production of oil palm seedling had a high returns.
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In Nigeria, vegetable crops are produced in different agro-ecological zones through commercial as well as small scale farmers both as a source of income as well as food. However, the type is limited to few crops and production is concentrated to some pocket areas. In spite of this, the production of vegetables varies from cultivating a few plants in the backyards for home consumption up to a large-scale production for domestic and export markets (Dawitet. al., 2004). Recently, despite the ups and downs observed, the demand for vegetables especially for export is increasing (Tsegay, 2010). In fact, vegetables can generate high income for the farmers because of high market value and profitability. They also have high nutritive value compared to cereals (EARO, 2000)
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In recent decades, the potential contribution of agriculture to economic growth has been a subject of much controversy among development economists. While some contend that agricultural development is a pre-condition for industrialization, others strongly disagree and argue for a different path.
Taking advantage of Ordinary Least Square Method (OLD), the research carried out by means of secondary data and using independent variables: Agricultural Development, Capital Accumulation, Inflation Rate and Interest Rate re-examines the question of whether agriculture could serve as an engine of growth for the Nigerian economy
Results from the empirical analysis shows that the productivity in agricultural sector has not appreciably impacted positively on the economic growth in Nigeria.
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Grasshoppers and locusts include insects in different families belonging to the super family Acridoidea and the order Orthoptera Grasshoppers and locusts are distinguishable from other orthopterans primarily on the basis of their external morphology. The most obvious and distinctive features of grasshoppers and locusts are their enlarged hind legs and their relatively short and thick antennae. There are more than 350 grasshopper and locust species recorded from the Sahel (Mestre, 1988), of which about 30 are considered to be of regular or irregular pest status (Popov, 1988).
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