Agriculture Commons^™

Keynote Address, Godwin I. Emefiele Con

Economic and Financial Review

The theme for this year’s edition, “Food Security in Nigeria: Options for Policy” is apt and in tune with the existing realities of both the global and domestic economies, which have suffered heavily from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the theme could not have come at a better time than now when issues of insecurity, climate change, and COVID-19 related disruptions are challenging food production and supply, not only in Nigeria but also globally. As a matter of fact, food security is critical for national security, economic stability and sustainable development.

Special Remarks, Kingsley Obiora

Economic and Financial Review

The theme of this year’s Seminar, Food Security in Nigeria: Options for Policy, is apt, timely and consistent with the current efforts of this administration and the Bank in finding sustainable solutions to the food security challenges confronting us as a nation. As we all know, food is a basic need of every man and key to socio-economic stability. The ability of a country to feed its people, and perhaps extend the surplus to other countries, is one of the key indicators of good standing in the comity of nations. The World Food Summit (1996), defined food security as a …

Food Security Strategy In Nigeria: Is There Need For A Shift In Paradigm?, Abubakar D. Akpa

Economic and Financial Review

The paper highlights the problem of food security in Nigeria under a rapidly increasing population and declining crop productivity and sheds light on strategies that can guarantee self-sufficiency, wealth, and employment generation.

The paper concludes that policy thrust must be on production, processing and storage to minimise post-harvest losses and enhance farmers’ incomes, foreign exchange earnings and achieve food security objectives.

Rural Infrastructure And The Challenge Of Food Security In Nigeria, Idris A. Ayinde

Economic and Financial Review

Rural infrastructure, therefore, implies “the basic physical and organisational structures and facilities. In same vein, rural infrastructure are those forms of physical, social, human and institutional capital, which enhances rural dwellers better performance in the aspect of production, processing and distribution activities, as well as improving their overall quality of life.

Transforming The Agricultural Value Chain For Food Security In Nigeria: Any Role For Public-Private Partnership?, Stanislaus A. Ukeje

Economic and Financial Review

In the food sector, public-private-partnership (PPP) has the potential, not only to reduce the risk that farmers face, but also to improve the agricultural business environment. As the agricultural and rural sectors are the habitat of the poor, the best value chain strategy should be one that embodies poverty reduction, which can be achieved by increasing the incomes of smallholder farmers and rural dwellers.

Refocusing Agricultural Subsidy For Food Security In Nigeria, Sulaiman A. Yusuf

Economic and Financial Review

Food security has remained a key human right-related issue and ranks second only to poverty on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The objectives of this paper are to identify the gaps in agriculture subsidy regime; and to identify options for refocusing of the subsidy regime to improve food security.

Following the introduction, section 2 explores the nexus of agricultural subsidy and food security, while section 3 reviews the agricultural subsidy regime in Nigeria. Section 4 discusses the input-output dimensions of agricultural subsidy in Nigeria, and in section 5, the paper takes a dive into the agricultural subsidies from international perspective. …

Averting The Looming Food Crisis: A Clarion Call To Immediate And Near-Term Policy Action, Kabir Ibrahim Mnia, Fnim, Acc

Economic and Financial Review

This paper seeks to advise on how to tackle the skyrocketing prices of food being experienced today all over the nation and to get the Government to take urgent and proactive actions to avert the pain being experienced by the entire Nigerian people.

Averting The Looming Food Crisis: A Clarion Call To Immediate And Near-Term Policy Action, Alwan A. Hassan

Economic and Financial Review

Nigeria suffers from food insecurity and poverty. It is estimated that the number of hungry people in Nigeria is over 53 million, which is about 25.0 per cent of the country’s total population of about 212 million. Also, about 43.0 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty line. These statistics are worrisome, given that Nigeria, in the 1950s and 1960s, was not only self-sufficient in food production, but was also a net exporter of food to other regions of the continent (Ajayeoba, 2010). A nation is food secure when food is available and accessible in sufficient quantity and quality …

Welcome Address, Itohan M. Ogbomon-Paul

Economic and Financial Review

The theme of this year’s Seminar is tagged “Food Security in Nigeria: Options for policy”. The central focus of the Seminar is to discuss policy options for tackling the challenges of food insecurity, with the resultant outcomes on poverty reduction, job and wealth creation, as well as overall growth and development of the Nigerian economy. This year’s Seminar provides a unique opportunity for us all, because food holds the key to quality human existence. Indeed, food security is at the core of every nation’s development agenda. The quantity and quality of food available to the citizenry is correlated with the …

Socio-Economic And Environmental Issues: Implications For Food Security In Nigeria, Isaiah O. Olurinola, Evans Osabuohien

Economic and Financial Review

Socio-economic activities within the agricultural sector have witnessed significant changes in recent times. Two major factors account for this recent development. Available evidence shows that over the last four decades, environmental challenges (such as pollution, extreme weather, fire disaster and deforestation, among others) have been on the increase in Nigeria. This is complicated by a weak institutional framework to stem the tide (Egbetokun et al., 2018; 2020). Also, the information from Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) shows that the annual mean climatic conditions (that is rainfall and temperature) in Nigeria have witnessed huge variation (NIMET, 2020; Egbetokun et al., 2020), which …

Averting The Looming Food Crisis: A Clarion Call To Immediate And Near-Term Policy Action, Adeleye O. Oyebade Mni

Economic and Financial Review

Food is defined by Britannica, a web-based encyclopaedia, as any substance consisting of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and other nutrients used in the body of an organism to sustain growth and vital processes, and to furnish energy.8 In a similar definition, Wikipedia described food as any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for an organism; adding that food is usually of plant, animal or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients. The above definitions explain why food is viewed as an essential need of life. However, the production of food has been declining in recent times for some reasons, including the adverse …

Averting The Looming Food Crisis: A Clarion Call To Immediate And Near-Term Policy Action, Gabriel S. Umoh

Economic and Financial Review

This paper reviews food crisis and its causes in Nigeria. It takes the position that food crisis has been simmering in Nigeria for the past couple of years and identifies policy instability, poor policy implementation and declining household purchasing power, among others as the major causes of food crisis. It recommends strong policy support and implementation, automatic indexation of wages and pensions and other measures to curb food crisis in the country.

Averting The Looming Food Crisis: A Clarion Call To Immediate And Near-Term Policy Action, Emmanuel A. Onwioduokit

Economic and Financial Review

Discussions on food security have gained traction in the recent past, especially in Africa and other developing economies. Several horrifying images of famished families, particularly around “The Horn of Africa” including Somalia, Ethiopia, and some parts of Kenya, projected globally in both the print and electronic media vividly illustrate the perils of food crises. In Nigeria, food constitute a substantial share of family budgets, particularly for low-income households. When prices of essential foods items increase poorer people suffer the adverse impacts more disproportionately. While clothing and shelter are basic necessities of life, food remains the most vital, given its centrality …

Distillers' Grains: Past, Present, And Future Economic Analyses, Daniel E. Gertner

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis is comprised of four chapters, each of which discusses or conducts economic research related to the distillers’ grains market. The first three chapters are meant to be standalone papers. Chapter four provides potential paths forward in distillers’ grains research based on the findings of the first three chapters and concludes the thesis.

The first chapter conducts a comprehensive literature review that categorizes and summarizes economic research on distillers’ grains products. This section shows how the physical market has moved beyond the current academic understanding of market products and structure. Existing research finds that traditional distillers’ grains products positively …

Establishment Of The In Vitro Culture And Plant Regeneration Of Anubias Barteri Var. Nana 'Mini', Kuan-Hung Lin, Chih-Peng Kuo, Li-Ru Chen

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

Anubias barteri is an ornamental aquatic plant of economic importance worldwide. Effective removal of contaminants has been a major problem for the in vitro propagation of A. barteri. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was applied as a pre-disinfectant to treat rhizome bud explants of A. barteri var. nana ‘Mini’ followed by disinfection with mercuric chloride (HgCl₂) to eliminate in vitro contamination. However, application of 0.1% HgCl₂ for 5 min without pre-disinfecting with H₂O₂ significantly reduced the contamination rate to 44.4% compared to other combinations. Moreover, in vitro shoots of A. barteri …

The Uniform Soybean Tests: Northern Region 2021, Guohong Cai, Adam Brock

Uniform Soybean Tests Northern Region

The purpose of The Uniform Soybean Tests is to critically evaluate the best of the experimental soybean lines developed by federal and state research personnel in the U.S. and Canada, for their potential release as new varieties. A test is established for each of ten maturity groups. Uniform Test 00 includes maturity Group 00 strains adapted to production in the northern fringe of the present area of soybean production. Uniform Tests 0 through IV include later maturing strains adapted to locations progressively further south in the North Central States and areas of similar latitude. Each year new selections are added …

Enhanced Drought Resistance Of Vegetation Growth In Cities Due To Urban Heat, Co2 Domes And O3 Troughs, Peng Fu, Leiqiu Hu, Elizabeth A. Ainsworth, Xiaonan Tai, Soe W. Myint, Wenfeng Zhan, Bethany J. Blakely, Carl J. Bernacchi

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Sustained increase in atmospheric CO2 is strongly coupled with rising temperature and persistent droughts. While elevated CO2 promotes photosynthesis and growth of vegetation, drier and warmer climate can potentially negate this benefit, complicating the prediction of future terrestrial carbon dynamics. Manipulative studies such as free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments have been useful for studying the joint effect of global change factors on vegetation growth; however, their results do not easily transfer to natural ecosystems partly due to their short-duration nature and limited consideration of climatic gradients and potential confounding factors, such as O3. Urban environments serve as a useful …

Photosynthesis, Yield, Energy Balance, And Water-Use Of Intercropped Maize And Soybean, Elena A. Pelech, Brendan C.S. Alexander, Carl J. Bernacchi

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

By 2050, the U.S. Corn Belt will likely face a 23% increase in leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit (VPDL), the driving force of evapotranspiration (ET), which may restrict maize yield improvements for rainfed agroecosystems. Alternative cropping systems, such as maize and legume intercrops, have previously demonstrated yield and resource-use advantages over monocultures. In this study, the residual energy balance approach was used to gain insights into how an additive simultaneous maize and soybean intercrop system regulates ET and water-use efficiency (WUE) compared to standard maize and soybean monoculture systems of the U.S. Corn Belt. Experimental field plots were rain-fed and arranged …

Veganic Farming In The United States: Farmer Perceptions, Motivations, And Experiences, Mona Seymour, Alisha Utter

Urban and Environmental Studies Faculty Works

Veganic agriculture, often described as farming that is free of synthetic and animal-based inputs, represents an alternative to chemical-based industrial agriculture and the prevailing alternative, organic agriculture, respectively. Despite the promise of veganic methods in diverse realms such as food safety, environmental sustainability, and animal liberation, it has a small literature base. This article draws primarily on interviews conducted in 2018 with 25 veganic farmers from 19 farms in the United States to establish some baseline empirical research on this farming community. Its qualitative perspectives illuminate farmer perceptions of and experiences with veganic growing, including definitions, knowledge acquisition, values, and …

Effects Of Scarification, Phytohormones, Stratification, Soil Types And Warming On The Germination And/Or Performance Of Three Tamaulipan Thornscrub Species, Paula Luera

Theses and Dissertations

The Tamaulipan thornforests of south Texas and northeast Mexico are an ecologically and economically important conservation hotspot. Thornforest restoration is limited by native tree and shrub seedling availability for planting. Seedling shortages arise from low seed availability and knowledge gaps regarding best practices for germinating and growing the 70+ thornforest species desired for restoration plantings. To fill key knowledge gaps, we investigated three ecologically important thornforest species with low or highly variable germination or seedling survival rates: Ebenopsis ebano, Cordia boissieri, and Zanthoxylum fagara. For each, we quantified the effects of different dosages of chemical seed treatments …