Prevalence of malnutrition among under-five children is very high in many developing countries of the World. As a step towards reducing the prevalence, there is need to identify the important determinants of malnutrition in the specific context. This study examined the prevalence and determinants of malnutrition among under-five children of farming households in Kwara State, Nigeria. Descriptive and regression analyses were used to analyze anthropometrics data collected from 127 children selected randomly from 40 rural villages in the State. Descriptive results indicate that 23.6%, 22.0% and 14.2% of the sample children were stunted, underweight and wasted respectively. Regression analysis shows that the significant determinants of malnutrition were gender and age of child, education and body mass index of mother, calorie intake of the households, access to clean water and presence of toilet in the households. To reduce the present high rate of malnutrition in the area, the study suggests the targeting of women with education programmes and provision of clean water, including the enforcement of healthy environment in the rural areas.

In recent times, the global focus has been on food security and poverty alleviation. This is in response to increasing food insecurity and poverty in the world. The incidences of food insecurity and poverty are particularly devastating in the developing countries and a lot of resources are being channelled towards programmes aimed at eradicating food insecurity and poverty by various international organizations and government of the developing nations. In terms of food insecurity, 852 million people worldwide are still chronically undernourished. In Africa, an estimated 200 million or 27.4% of the people on the continent are undernourished. This figure is expected to increase to 30% by 2010. In Nigeria, over 40% of the estimated population of 133 million people are food insecure. To achieve the Millennium Development Goals of halving the proportion of hungry people by 2015, it was projected that 22 million people must achieve food security every year. In consonance of the above, this study examined the socio-economic characteristics and determinants of the food security status of rural farming households in Kwara State of Nigeria. The study utilized a three-stage random sampling technique to obtain a sample of 94 farm households and a cross sectional data in year 2005. Descriptive analysis was carried out to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the households. Econometric tools were used to determine factors affecting the food security status of household. Using the recommended calorie required approach; the study revealed that 36% and 64% of the households were food secure and food insecure respectively. The Shortfall/Surplus index showed that the food secure households exceeded the recommended calorie intake by 42%, while the food insecure households fell short of the recommended calorie intake by 38%. A logit regression model made up of eight regressors was specified. Household income, household size, educational status of household`s head and quantity of food obtained from own production were found to determine the food security status of farming households in the study area. It is concluded that the design of food security strategies should be multi-dimensional such that would focus on and address the identified determinants in order to achieve the target set by the Millennium Development Goals.

This study examined the prevalence and exposure to ergonomic risks factors among crop farmers in selected states in Nigeria. We used cross-sectional data to provide this evidence. Data were collected with the aid of a standardized questionnaire administered to farmers. A total of 480 smallholder cassava farmers selected across 24 farming communities in Kogi and Kwara states, Nigeria, were engaged in the study. Descriptive statistics and binary regression were used for analysis. About 96% of the respondents reported shoulder pain, 85% reported lower back pain, 82% reported upper back pain, 64% reported neck pain, and 53% reported elbow pain during farming operations. We found that the age of farmers (OR = 2.01) and daily duration of daily chemical spray (OR = 1.17) were risk factors, while previous training on the safe use and application of farm chemicals was found to be a protective factor (α = 0.05). The study identified affordability of farm safety measures and poor access to relevant safety information as top constraints to farmers’ adoption of safe farm practices. We concluded there is a high prevalence of ergonomic risks during cassava operations among respondents. A crop-specific co-designed ergonomic intervention targeted at Nigerian farmers to reduce exposure to ergonomic risks is recommended.

Aims: The research investigated the determinants of gender differentials in the output of male and female sweet potato farmers in the study area. Specifically, the study examined the socio economic characteristics of the sweet potato farmers, gender levels of potato production, the efficiency estimates of the farmers and factors that determine gender outputs in the study area. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Osun State Agricultural Development Programmes (OSADEP) between April 2010 and September, 2011. Methodology: The sampling frame for this study is the sweet potato farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. The sample of 16 respondents were randomly selected from five (5) Osun State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) zones giving a sample size of 80.Primary data were collected with the use of structured questionnaireand personal interviews. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and Cobb-Douglas production function. Results: The result suggests that Land clearing, preparation and ridging were found to be done by 90%, 87.5% and 93.8% of the male and 12.5%, 35.0% and 10.0% of the females, respectively. The analysis of the mean output in kg per hectare of the male and female sweet potato farmers shows the difference in the mean output. The efficiency distribution shows that male operate at the efficiency range lower than that of the females. The study reveals that women are more interested and committed to sweet potato farming. Farm size, quantity of input, depreciation, age, education, farming experience and care economy were found to affect output of all the respondents. Conclusion: It is therefore pertinent that policy makers should pay attention to the female sweet potato farmers as they are found to be more productive, since it was revealed that the female produced more output than their male counterparts. This implies that the female took sweet potato farming more seriously and did not play a supportive or complimentary role to their male counterparts.

| Despite several investments programmes by the Nigerian Government and development institutions over the years to bridge the gender gap in schooling among children and increase enrolment in schools, most children are still found outside the walls of the classroom especially in rural areas. This research assessed how inequality in gender as it regards schooling among children affects the income as an indicator of livelihood of farming households in Kwara state, Nigeria. A sampling technique comprising of three stages was used to randomly select 200 farming households in the study area. Data were collected using questionnaire and were analyzed using the Gini-coefficient and the Ordinary Least Square method. The result showed an overall gini-coefficient for gender inequality in schooling of 0.35, with the value for boys and girls at 0.35 and 0.49 respectively. Mother’s education, age of the household heads, marital status, dependency ratio, farm size and the average time spent by the children on the farm were found to significantly influence children’s access to schooling. While increase in schooling cost, average years of schooling of the children affects the farm income. It was thus recommended that parents should be sensitized on the future benefits of sending their children to school. More so, credits should be made more accessible to farming households. This might help in the establishment of mechanized farm system thus reducing the need for manual labour and improving the children’s opportunities of schooling.