Farmers In Nigeria Research Articles

Knowledge, Attitude and Difficulties of Wildlife Quarantine Policy Implementation of Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service Personnel in Ogun State, Nigeria

Knowledge, Attitude and Difficulties of Wildlife Quarantine Policy Implementation of Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service Personnel in Ogun State, Nigeria

Review of Green Technologies Use by Farmers: Implications for Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria

Background: The study reviewed green technologies used by farmers. It specifically reviewed what green technology is all about in farming; green technologies used by farmers and its role on environmental sustainability and challenge to use of green technology in farming.
 Materials and Methods: The author reviewed books, journals, bulletin theses, dissertations, research reports etc.
 Results: Findings show that solar photovoltaic, wind energy, biofuel, biogas, biomass, organic farming, integrated pest management, mixed farming, etc. are the most common green technologies use by farmers in Nigeria. The findinds further showed that the adverse effect of conventional technology and modern farming practice on the natural environment were environmental degradation, global warming, climate change, reduction in biodiversity, destruction of soil health and natural habitat, economic loss to farmers, which can be addressed by green technologies use with its potentials of healing damaged natural environments and ensuring profitability as cost of production is reduced by 67% and sustainability of environment in the production process. The benefits of green technologies are quality natural environment, healthy farm produce and sustainable biodiversity while challenges to its use are cost intensive, lack of technical know-how, illiteracy of the farmers, inadequate information on the potentials and limitation of its application. Green technology is the path of rapid agricultural development and welfare improvement as it increases profitability and health of farmers and guarantees environmental sustainability. The study recommends policy measures promoting use of green technologies by farmers for environmental sustainability and profit maximization.

Advancing a Multisectoral Platform for Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture in Nigeria: Reflections on Effectiveness and Lessons Learnt.

Inadequate coordination mechanisms and capacity to coordinate are limiting factors for maximizing the ability of agriculture to improve nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. Effective coordination requires the availability of a platform for stakeholder convening, planning, operationalization of ideas, communication, and accountability. Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development established one such platform to support the institutionalization of nutrition-sensitive agriculture. Platform members include several departments within the Ministry, other ministries, and development partners. While the platform achieved key milestones and fostered collaboration, some gaps remained. This study reports an assessment to understand the perspectives of members of the coordination platform and identify ways of increasing effectiveness. Desk reviews of relevant documents and 18 key informant interviews were conducted. Documents and interview notes were coded and analysed to identify recurring themes. Themes were appraised using a nutrition coordination framework. Sufficiently understanding the nutrition role of representatives' own organization/department and the purpose of the coordination platform and its activities was important for success. The profile and seniority of representing officers also mattered. While the leadership of the Ministry was committed to advancing nutrition through agriculture, the coordination platform could improve its functionality through consistent leadership, increased seniority of member representatives, and appropriate communication. Multisectoral coordination platforms are necessary but do not alone achieve nutrition coordination. Effective leadership and investments in time, strategic orientation, and training are critical to achieving a shared purpose, individual sector fulfilment of nutrition roles, and additional coordination success factors.

Government Budget for Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture in Nigeria Increased Following Development of Related Strategy.

Financial resources that are commensurate with the magnitude of malnutrition problem are requisite for effective interventions to reduce malnutrition. Understanding the amount and nature of sectoral investments in nutrition is important for advocating and mobilizing increased government budgetary allocations and release. This study assessed trends in Nigeria's agriculture sector nutrition allocations and whether launch of nutrition-sensitive agriculture strategy and/or the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected these nutrition allocations. Agricultural budgets from 2009 to 2022 of Nigeria's federal government were analyzed. Nutrition-related budget lines were identified using a keyword search and were then classified as nutrition-specific, nutrition-sensitive, or potentially nutrition-sensitive, based on defined criteria. Potentially nutrition-sensitive items were further screened. Budget lines finally included as nutrition allocations directly targeted improvements in nutrition or intermediate outcomes in pathways between agriculture and nutrition. Budget lines were summed, and these nominal values were adjusted for inflation (using the consumer price index for each year) to obtain real values. Nutrition allocations in the agriculture budget increased considerably even after adjusting for inflation and went from 0.13% of agriculture capital budget in 2009 to 2.97% in 2022; while the real value of total government agricultural budget declined. Large budgetary increases coincided with the development/launch of costed strategies with nutrition-sensitive agriculture components. Still, there were some missed opportunities to increase nutrition allocations. Existence of nutrition-sensitive agriculture strategies has facilitated increased nutrition funding and improved the enabling environment. There is need to optimize existing nutrition allocations while advocating for additional funds.

Economic impact of disease on small-scale catfish farms in Nigeria

Disease outbreaks are a key menace in aquaculture, capable of causing huge economic losses to the farms. However, its economic impact on small-scale catfish farms has not received enough researchers' attention. Therefore, this study quantifies the economic value of disease outbreaks at different levels, investigates the economic performance of fish farms at different mortality rates, assesses the effect of disease outbreaks on profitability, and identifies the constraints faced by farmers in preventing and controlling aquaculture disease in Nigeria. Data were collected from 240 catfish farms and analysed with descriptive statistics, profitability analysis, Kruskal-Wallis test, and beta regression. The results revealed that the catfish farms encountered disease occurrences at different levels, with a mortality rate ranging from 1.86% to 19.73%, which was valued at USD 192.79 to USD 2056.38 per production cycle, respectively. The economic performance of the small-scale catfish farms reduced as the disease outbreak increased, which was indicated by the fact that the catfish farms with a low mortality rate had a higher profit than those with a high mortality rate. The regression analysis further revealed that the disease outbreak, proxy with mortality rate, mortality value, treatment cost, water cost, and transportation cost, had a negative and significant effect on catfish farms' profitability. The major severe barriers faced by catfish farmers in preventing and controlling disease on their farm were a lack of aquaculture disease management training, the non-availability of effective drugs within the reach of the farmers, the high cost of quality feeds, the high cost of drugs and treatment, and poor credit facilities. These results indicate the need for catfish farmers to be well-trained in aquaculture disease management by research institutes and extension agents to reduce the occurrence of disease outbreaks and increase their farms' economic performance.

Effect of Liquidity and Life Cycle on Biological Assets of Quoted Firms in Nigeria Agricultural Sector

This study examined the effect of liquidity and life cycle on biological assets of quoted firms in Nigeria's agricultural sector. The specific objectives were to examine the effect of liquidity, firm size, and firm age on the biological assets of quoted Agricultural firms in Nigeria. An ex-post facto research design was adopted in the study. The study made use of secondary panel data drawn from annual reports and accounts of the sampled agricultural firms for a period of Ten (10) years, 2011-2020. Panel least squares multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses. The result of the analysis showed that leverage has a statistically significant effect on the biological assets of quoted agricultural firms in Nigeria. The implication is that none of the three variables can predict the increase or decrease in biological assets of agricultural firms in Nigeria. The authors recommend that agricultural firms should look for other sources of finance to fund their business activities. Firms should maintain a good liquid condition. Continuous firm growth should be made because of the positive link it has with biological assets. Firms are encouraged to perform changes continuously in both assets and other activities that may be affected by the age of the firm.

Fostering an Enabling Environment for Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and Food Systems in Nigeria.

Although recommendations exist for making agriculture and food systems nutrition sensitive, guidance about how to successfully operationalize these recommendations within national institutions is limited. Over the 13 years from 2010 to 2023, there were several undertakings to strengthen the enabling environment for sustainable nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) and food systems in Nigeria. Some studies were also conducted over the period to foster better understanding of the national enabling environment and facilitate effective actions. This article documents successes and failures from Nigeria's experiences by reflecting on critical developments, events, policies, and programmes on Nigeria's journey toward advancing nutrition through agriculture and food systems; as well as findings from conducted studies. Successes include the existence of a Nutrition and Food Safety Division in the Ministry of Agriculture and an approval for a Nutrition Department, existence of an agriculture sector nutrition strategy, increased private sector engagement and commitment to nutrition-sensitive food systems, and increased funding for nutrition in the agriculture sector. Challenges especially remain for scaling up strategic, operational, and delivery capacity of both organizations and individuals involved in advancing NSA and food systems. Lessons learned include-institutionalizing NSA and food systems takes time; knowledge brokering is indispensable and requires several collaborating entities and stakeholders; and approaches used should be suited to available government capacity. More than a decade of efforts targeting different enabling environment factors has resulted in greater political commitment for nutrition within the agriculture sector and an improved enabling environment for NSA and food systems.

Effect of Enterprises Management on the Performance of Poultry Farming in North Central Nigeria

In Nigeria, despite the enormous contribution of MSMEs to the development of the agricultural sector is plagued by severe funding constraints. This study investigates the effect of enterprise management on the performance of Micro, Small, and Medium Scale poultry farming in North Central Nigeria. Other specific objectives are: Examine the extent to which strategic orientation affects the growth of poultry farmers in North Central Nigeria, Investigate how resource orientation influences the profitability of poultry farming in North Central Nigeria, Evaluatethe degree to which management structure improve the performance of poultry farming in North Central Nigeria, Examine the extent to which growth orientation influence the performance of poultry farming in North Central Nigeria, Examine the extent to which entrepreneurial culture influence the performance of poultry farming in North Central Nigeria, Investigate the effect of Reward philosophy on profitability of poultry farming in Nigeria. The study utilized mixed methods research design based on a population of five hundred and six (506) registered livestock farmers across North Central comprising of Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kwara, Nasarawa and Abuja from which a multi-stage sample of two hundred and twenty-three (223) sample arrived using Taro Yamane’s size calculation formula. The data collected through a well-structured questionnaire was analyzed using both simple percentage and regression analysis at, 0.05 alpha level of significance. The study found that there is a significant and positive relationship between strategic orientation, management structure, entrepreneurial culture and business growth, profitability and business sustainability of poultry farming. It was also found that assets strategic orientation has a significant positive effect on business growth. In addition, the study found that management structure has a positive significant effect on profitability. Finally, it was established that government subsidies is a common denominator used in promoting business sustainability for young graduate poultry farmers. The study submitted that enterprise management play a significant role in promoting economic the growth of poultry farming operating in the agricultural sector. Among others, the study recommended that financial and technical support should be provided for small-scale business enterprises across sectors especially those into poultry farming. Also, the government should provide conducive macroeconomics that will raise the creation of decent jobs through the Agricultural sector.

Access to Dry Season Agricultural Content in the Broadcast Media and Dry Season Irrigation Farming among Smallholder Farmers in Nigeria

Inaccessibility to information could hinder the adoption of dry season agriculture which is very significant to ending the spate of food insecurity in Nigeria. This cross-sectional survey examined access to broadcast media agricultural content and the effect of such information on dry season agriculture practice among smallholder farmers in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Participants consisted of 381 smallholder farmers selected from rural settlements in Kuje and Kwali Area councils, through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data for the study was generated via a self-designed questionnaire. The findings of this study show that access to the broadcast media agricultural content is high (94.2%) in the FCT and the majority (83.1%) of the farmers are particularly exposed to agricultural programmes on dry season farming. However, the regularity of exposure to such programmes is considered rare/occasional by a sizable proportion (44.8%) of the selected farmers. The research further confirms the general acceptability of the broadcast programmes on dry season agriculture but the major snag is that the majority (>50%) of the farmers think that the time at which the information is broadcast is inappropriate. In terms of the practical implications of the programmes, findings also revealed that <50% of the respondents believe that exposure to broadcast media content on dry season farming has helped them to improve their knowledge of dry season farming practices. Nonetheless, most respondents (>50%) remain adamant that dry-season farming is not achievable and productive; therefore, they have not engaged in dry season irrigation agriculture. We concluded that the knowledge gained from the dry season agricultural programmes in the broadcast media is not sufficient for farmers to successfully engage in dry season irrigation farming. The study recommends a long-term and sustained media campaign on dry season farming, the use of interactive programme content, and rescheduling agricultural programmes to farmers’ preferred time could yield the desired impact on dry season irrigation farming and food security in Nigeria.

Human Seasonal Influenza Viruses in Swine Workers in Lagos, Nigeria: Consequences for Animal and Public Health.

The influenza A virus has been scarcely investigated in pigs in Africa, with rare detection prior to 2009. The spread of A(H1N1)pdm09 changed the epidemiology due to frequent human-to-swine transmission and the emergence of various new reassortants. This study therefore aimed at estimating the level of circulation and characterizing influenza A viruses at the interface between swine workers, who are crucial players in the inter-species transmission of influenza A viruses, and their animals in several farms in Nigeria, a hub for pig production in Africa. This cross-sectional study showed that 24.6% (58/236) of the pig serum samples collected in 2013-2014 had anti-influenza A antibodies in the absence of vaccination programs, but none of the pig swabs (n = 1193) were positive according to RT-qPCR. Viral RNA was detected in 0.9% (2/229) of swine workers sampled at their place of work, and the strains were characterized as A(H1N1)pdm09 and seasonal A(H3N2). Our results highlight that more awareness of swine workers regarding the consequences of reverse zoonosis for animal and public health is warranted. Annual vaccination and the wearing of masks when experiencing influenza-like symptoms would help decrease influenza inter-species transmission, while surveillance should be adequately supported for early detection.

Histological and hematological changes to Clarias gariepinus juveniles exposed to acute doses of Emamectin benzoate in a static bioassay.

Emamectin benzoate (EMB) is a potent neurotoxic pesticide, extensively used in agriculture and aquaculture in Nigeria. The knowledge of its toxicological impact to C. gariepinus in Nigeria is scarce. Thus, the investigation was designed to uncover its 96 h LC50, safe level to aquatic media, histological impact on fish liver, gill and hematological changes in the blood parameters. 96 h LC50 was 0.34 mg L-1. Safe level of EMB was 0.034 mg L-1. Dose dependent liver degenerations were characterized by; Congestion of the central vein by inflammatory cells, pyknotic nuclei of hepatocytes, coagulation necrosis, focal necrosis, dilations of sinusoidal spaces and infiltration of periportal regions by inflammatory cells. Dose dependent changes in gill were characterized by; mucus secretion, shrinkage of secondary lamellae, hyperplasia, occlusion of secondary lamellae, degeneration of gill cartilage, necrosis of respiratory epithelia and erosion of secondary lamellae. Red blood cell indices decreased minimally at the end of the 96 h exposure. White blood cell count (WBCC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) elevated in three treatments. Neutrophils decreased significantly (p ≤ 0.05), basophils, eosinophils and monocytes showed mixed tendencies. The findings of this investigation imply that C. garipinus exposed to EMB may cause dose and time-dependent changes in the liver and gill histology as well as alterations in the fish's hematological profile, all of which were harmful to the fish's health. To avoid negative effects on fish in nearby aquatic settings, it is advised that the use of EMB be monitored and limited.

IMPACT OF FISH FARMING AND SUSTAINABLE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF BIRNIN KEBBI LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The study demonstrated in the general perspective on, Impact of fish farming and sustainable socio-economic development of Birnin Kebbi local government, therefore, the study specifically, examined what, why and how fish farming sustained socio-economic development of Birnin Kebbi. Fish farming is one of the unique and potential business and entrepreneurship development that improved the quality of national and economic development. The study highlighted the factors that could resulted in the failure of fish farming in Nigeria, specifically, in Birnin Kebbi, these factors were identified based on the empirical data received from the respondents. The Study, therefore, engaged in the conceptual aspect of the research 80% of the study were conceptual in nature study were carried out in four selected fish pounds in Birnin Kebbi. However, the study introduced conceptual review methodology that was secondary information, that could directly link to have secondhand information such information’s derived from economic development of fish farming in Nigeria, diversification of Nigeria economy from petroleum to agriculture and many more secondhand data. The study identified the basic shortcomings, that could result in the failure of the business such as lack of capital, inability for government to engaged youths in the production process of fish farming and many more. The study, however, establishes the governmental intervention and promotions of fish farming in Nigeria, particularly, in Kebbi state. Finally, the study made vital findings based on the empirical and conceptual mythological study conducted.

Estimating the distributional impact of innovation platforms on income of smallholder maize farmers in Nigeria

This research studies the distributional effects of IP adoption on the farm income of smallholder maize farmers in Nigeria in an effort to move beyond the standard mean impact assessment of agricultural interventions. In order to account for selection bias that may result from both observed and unobserved factors, the study used a conditional instrumental variable quantile treatment effects (IV-QTE) strategy. The use of IPs greatly affects the revenue distributions of maize producers, as empirical evidence from the outcomes shows. Particularly, the impacts of adoption are stronger at the lower tails and just above the mean of the income distributions, indicating that impoverished farming households benefit more from the strategic functions of IP adoption in boosting income. These findings highlight how important it is to effectively target and disseminate improved agricultural technologies in order to increase the revenue of smallholder maize farmers in Nigeria from maize production. Agricultural research information and access to extension services are two policy tools that can help improve the successful adoption and diffusion of any agricultural intervention without favoring any particular groups.

Sustainable Development Goals 1 & 2 Compliant: Evaluating Nigeria’s Agricultural Policies 2010 - 2019

The study focuses on Nigeria's agriculture policies and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2. It examined historical and present agricultural policies, food security, and their compliance or relevance to the United Nations set goals or policy framework of Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2. According to the document, despite the Nigerian government's laws and programs, there is still a severe threat of food insecurity to the Nigerian cooperative's existence. In this context, it was investigated to what extent the Nigerian economy is in sync or accord with the idea of the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2 and agricultural and food security plans. It questioned and investigated the capacity of the Nigerian economy's structural features to impede or assist the realization of food security under Sustainable Development Goal 1&2. As a result, the study detailed and analyzed the agricultural aims, concepts, and programs of the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2. It also looked at the structure of the Nigerian economy concerning its output structure, domestic economic capacity, and social structure capacity in the context of SDGs 1 and 2 agriculture and food security objectives. Furthermore, it x-rayed the requirements for compliance. Finally, it concluded and made some policy recommendations.

MODIFICATION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AN IMPORTED THREE-ROW ANIMAL-DRAWN MAIZE PLANTER FOR PLANTING SOYBEANS

Increase in demand of functional and affordable planters and the inability of the peasant farmers in Nigeria to purchase imported planters stressed the need for development of a locally produced planters that could address the challenges encountered in grain planting. A three row imported animal-drawn maize planter was modified having identified its deficiencies. The modified planter consists of hopper, seed metering device, delivery tube, furrow opener, covering device, pressing wheel, frame, handle and traction wheel. It was evaluated in the laboratory and field using maize and Soybean as test crops. Parameters determined are planting speed, seedling emergence, plant to plant spacing, effective field capacity, germination count, planting efficiency, seed delivery rate, number of seeds per hole and percent seed damage. A combination of three planting speeds (2, 1.1 and 0.8m/s) and three seed weights (2.9, 2.2 and 1.1kg) were used for the performance evaluation. Results obtained were analyzed in a Completely Randomized Block Design. It showed that seed delivery rate was 24.8kg/ha and effective field capacity was 0.12ha/ha while the highest germination count of 83% was obtained at 0.8m/s planting speed and 2.9kg seed weight. The best of planting efficiency of 86.4% was obtained at 1.1m/s planting speed and 2.9kg seed weight. Plant to plant distance of 26.4cm was obtained at 2m/s planting speed and 2.2kg seed weight. One seed per hill was obtained at the all combinations. The modified planter has proved to be suitable for eliminating the limitations associated with the imported planter.

Development of Locally Fabricated Honey Extracting Machine

An indigenous honey extracting machine was designed, fabricated and evaluated at the workshop of the department of Agricultural Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji, Nigeria using locally available materials. It has the extraction unit, the presser, the honey collector and the frame. The harvested honeycomb is placed inside the cylindrical extraction unit with perforated holes. The press plate is then positioned on the honeycomb while the hydraulic press of 3 ton was placed on it and supported by the frame. The hydraulic press which is manually operated forces the oil out of the extraction chamber through the perforated holes into the honey collector positioned at the lowest part of the extraction chamber. The honey extracting machine has an average throughput of 2.59 kg/min and efficiency of about 91%. The cost of producing the honey extracting machine is NGN 31, 700: 00, thirty-one thousand, and seven hundred naira only or $70 at NGN 452.8 to a dollar. This cost is affordable to beekeepers and would-be honey entrepreneurs. The honey extracting machine is easy to operate and maintained without any complex technical know-how. This simple technology solves the challenge of honey extraction among our peasant farmers in Nigeria.

Exploring the potential of mapped soil properties, rhizobium inoculation, and phosphorus supplementation for predicting soybean yield in the savanna areas of Nigeria.

Rapid and accurate soybean yield prediction at an on-farm scale is important for ensuring sustainable yield increases and contributing to food security maintenance in Nigeria. We used multiple approaches to assess the benefits of rhizobium (Rh) inoculation and phosphorus (P) fertilization on soybean yield increase and profitability from large-scale conducted trials in the savanna areas of Nigeria [i.e., the Sudan Savanna (SS), Northern Guinea Savanna (NGS), and Southern Guinea Savanna (SGS)]. Soybean yield results from the established trials managed by farmers with four treatments (i.e., the control without inoculation and P fertilizer, Rh inoculation, P fertilizer, and Rh + P combination treatments) were predicted using mapped soil properties and weather variables in ensemble machine-learning techniques, specifically the conditional inference regression random forest (RF) model. Using the IMPACT model, scenario analyses were employed to simulate long-term adoption impacts on national soybean trade and currency. Our study found that yields of the Rh + P combination were consistently higher than the control in the three agroecological zones. Average yield increases were 128%, 111%, and 162% higher in the Rh + P combination compared to the control treatment in the SS, NGS, and SGS agroecological zones, respectively. The NGS agroecological zone showed a higher yield than SS and SGS. The highest training coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.75) for yield prediction was from the NGS dataset, and the lowest coefficient (R2 = 0.46) was from the SS samples. The results from the IMPACT model showed a reduction of 10% and 22% for the low (35% adoption scenario) and high (75% adoption scenario) soybean imports from 2029 in Nigeria, respectively. A significant reduction in soybean imports is feasible if the Rh + P inputs are large-scaled implemented at the on-farm field and massively adopted by farmers in Nigeria.

Digital Platforms for Linking Agriculture Investors with Smallholder Farmers in Nigeria

The study assessed digital platforms used to link agriculture investors with smallholder farmers in Nigeria. Content analysis and in-depth interviews were used for the study. Three digital platforms, namely the ThriveAgric, EZ Farming and Farmcrowdy were purposively chosen for this study. Results showed that ThriveAgric is user friendly; EZ Farming and Farmcrowdy provide risk assessment scores for easy monitoring. Also, ThriveAgric uses the Agricultural Operating System (AOS) to track farmers’ activities. EZ Farming uses social media platforms for adverts and campaign while Farmcrowdy innovatively used the platform to render advisory services to the farmers. ThriveAgric and Farmcrowdy invested in crop and livestock production while EZ Farming areas of investments were crop, livestock, fisheries, farm equipment and hydroponics. Smallholder farmers’ derived benefits were mainly observed in the aspect of reduction in post-harvest losses. Untimely delivery of agricultural inputs and cost of running the platforms were identified as major impediments to the effective deployment of the platform by the farmers and operators of the platforms respectively. Cost sharing mechanism should be incorporated into the partnership to ensure sustainability and a winwin situation. Also, regular review of the initiative by all the stakeholders is strongly recommended.

A Review of the Digitalization of Agriculture in Nigeria

It has become difficult to articulate the impacts, needs and challenges of digitalization of agriculture due to the extensive nature of publications relating to the digitalization of the agricultural sector. This review evaluated the effect of digitalization of agriculture on improved food production and standard of living, identified the training needs of extension staff and clientele for digitalization of agriculture, and highlighted the challenges of digitalization of agriculture. From an initial search of 208 articles, only 87 articles met the inclusion criteria using the PRISMA guidelines. Most articles were published between 2016 and 2020; more studies were carried out in the South Western region of the country. Digitalization of agriculture has reduced the role of middlemen, provided opportunities for farmers to expand their markets, and improved the linkage between extension and research centers, and productivity and livelihood of small-scale farmers. Training needs for effective digitalization of agriculture were in skills, use of relevant digital services, digital privacy and security risks. Challenges of digitalization of agriculture were lack of technical skill, poor infrastructure and high cost of purchase and maintenance. The government should focus on initiating agricultural technology transfer programs and provide the necessary rural infrastructure to support the sector's digitalisation.

Effects of sand mining on peri-urban agriculture in Ife East and Ife Central Local Government Areas, Osun State, Nigeria.

There is virtually no information on the effects of artisanal sand mining on peri-urban agriculture in Nigeria in general and Osun State in particular. This study assessed the effects of sand mining on peri-urban agriculture in Ife East and Ife Central Local Government Areas of Osun State during 2015-2019. In effect, the study sought to identify and explain the rate and extent of changes in land uses in the study area, evaluate the level of encroachment of sand mining activities into other land use classifications, and examine socioeconomic factors that determined parting of land for sand mining by landowners in the study area between 2015 and 2019. Data were generated from both primary and secondary sources. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 60 landowners, 30 cultivators and 30 residents giving a total of 120 respondents using structured questionnaire. Mean ages of landowners, farmers and residents were 67.9 years, 39.6 years and 47.3 years respectively. Majority (68.3%) of landowners had no formal education, while majority (73.3%) and (90%) of farmers and residents had formal education. Majority (68.3%) of landowners were farmers while majority (66.7%) and (76.7%) of farmers and residents were employees of governments. Majority (93.3%) of landowners were males, 100% of farmers were males. Cultivated land area decreased from 48% to 23.2% (–24.8%), built-up area increased from 37.3% to 41.8% (4.5%) while sand-mined area substantially increased from 14.6% to 35% (20.4%). Parting of land for sand mining increased with increasing age, household size and primary occupation being farming while parting of land for sand mining decreased with higher level of education. It is therefore recommended that all levels of government in the country should embark on close monitoring of land use to prevent frequent occurrence of land and environmental degradation. Additionally, Land Use Act of 1978 should be reviewed by bringing all stakeholders together to deliberate on how to prevent multiple land ownership and conflicts.