ABSTRACT Kenya’s smallholder maize-legume farmers are faced by many challenges in production, among them soil mining, input acquisition, and low soil fertility. In an attempt to address these challenges, the use of Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Practices (SAIPs) has been promoted widely. However, their uptake has remained low among smallholder maize-legume farmers and it is unclear whether social capital influences SAIPs uptake. Using secondary data from Australian International...
ABSTRACT Although crude oil in Nigeria is indeed a blessing, the fly in the ointment is the fluctuating price of oil which looks somewhat like a curse. The overdependence on crude oil as the country’s main product leads to Dutch disease syndrome. This study contributes to existing literature by estimating the impact of oil price fluctuations and oil revenue on welfare in Nigeria for the period 1981-2014. Employing the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) estimation technique within an Error C...
ABSTRACT Baringo District is one of the districts in Kenya that is categorized as an ASAL area, characterized by high poverty and food insecurity. Subsistence farming and pastoralism have been and still are the main source of livelihood for majority of the people. However, since crop and livestock agriculture are susceptible to drought, beekeeping has become the sole most important alternative form of sustenance. Despite documented potential benefits of value addition, honey is majorly produ...
ABSTRACT Sugarcane and soybean are emerging value chains in Awendo Sub-County of Kenya with the potential for alleviating the perpetual problems of food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and unemployment among the rural households. Agricultural extension officers have educated farmers on the economic benefits of sugarcane-soybean integration but the uptake and performance of this cropping system has not been evaluated. This study therefore aimed at contributing to increase in farmer’s house...
ABSTRACT The demand for animal products is projected to increase progressively due to extensive urbanization, rapid growth of human population and income dynamics. Despite the potential expansion of beef and dairy production, dairy goat production as an option for enhancing food security and income generation in Kenya is likely to benefit from this prospect. Essentially, goat milk is nutritionally superior to the cow milk. Although the importance of goat milk is empirically known, its valuati...
ABSTRACT This study sought to evaluate the growth of youth-led MSEs in Kirinyaga County with the aim of coming up with recommendations that will help the enhancement of growth of the initiatives to spur the growth of MSEs. The study’s objectives were: To assess the effect of finance availability on the growth of youth-led MSEs; to analyse the extent to which management contributes to the growth of youth-led MSEs; to explore the influence of technology on the growth of youth-led MSEs; and t...
ABSTRACT In this paper, an empirical analysis is used to compare the effects of oil price shock and exchange rate volatility on the economic growth of Nigeria and Kenya. Firstly, a LA-VAR model is applied to investigate whether the oil price shock and exchange rate volatility have the Granger Causality to economic growth of both Nigeria and Kenya. Secondly, we apply a VAR model with co-integration technique to examine how GDP Growth of Nigeria and Kenya are affected by changes in oil prices...
ABSTRACT Out-of-pocket expenditure at point of seeking healthcare services is the major means of financing healthcare in Nigeria, among other financing mechanisms. This is because most households (over 95%) are excluded from the financial risk protection of health insurance. The decision to utilize health services by households implies the decision to pay for them. This has resulted into a situation where households have to sale assets, borrow money or sometimes, forgo the consumption of oth...
ABSTRACT The study examines the effect of globalization on the Nigerian financial sector. It is also aimed at ascertaining the impact of globalization on the Nigerian commercial banks and the stock exchange. Assets of the Nigerian financial sector and commercial banks were used as performance indicators of the Nigerian financial sector and the commercial banks. Market capitalization was used as performance indicator of the Nigerian stock exchange. The data used are Nigerian yearly data from ...
ABSTRACT Recent research emphasizes adopting business models that not only improve market linkages but also enable inclusion of smallholder farmers in high value markets along the value chains. While evidence points to positive impact of business models choice, studies seldom exploit the extent of their impact on smallholder gross income. Besides, socioeconomic and institutional factors associated with such choice of the models are discussed incoherently, hence less understood. The objectives...
ABSTRACT The dairy industry in Kenya has faced and continues to face challenges in the inefficiency of linkages among supply chain actors. Despite this, the industry still plays an important nutrition and economic role in the lives of many people ranging from farmers to milk hawkers, consumers and processors. Since liberalization of the sector in 1992, a vast array of dairy marketing channels has sprung up, presenting smallholder farmers with multiple marketing channel options. Any choice of ...
ABSTRACT Ethiopia’s agricultural sector accounts to 40 percent of national Gross Domestic Product. This shows that the sector is important in improving the livelihoods of the bulk of the population. Despite its importance, the agricultural sector in Ethiopia is characterized by low productivity. To improve this and overall economic growth, the Ethiopian government has focused on promotion of organic fertilizer use. However, adoption of organic fertilizer remains low in most parts of Ethiopi...
ABSTRACT Malaria incidence threatens human existence and reduces economic prospects in countries with high prevalence. Physical challenges caused by malaria can be a limitation to employment probability in the labour market. The co-existence of malaria with high rate of poverty in Nigeria has implications on income loss. While the direct (treatment) and indirect (productivity loss) cost burden of malaria in relation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been examined in Nigeria, its effects ...
Introduction This study explores the effect of oil price shocks on Ugandan economy. In studying the effect of oil price shocks on Ugandan economy, the movement of Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Inflation, Unemployment and Net Official Development Assistance for Uganda as a result of world oil price shocks will be investigated. It will further analyse the determinants of oil imports in Uganda. The proposal is arranged into three chapters as follows: Chapter one is the introduction with te...
An overview of the study This PhD thesis explores the topic of employability of new graduates. Specifically, it examines the influence of entrepreneurship education and engagement in Employability Skills Development Programme (ESDP) activities and their role in enhancing the employability skills and competencies of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) graduates. Using triangulation, the thesis addresses the following questions: a) Do HEIs and particularly schools of education facilitate the ...