Background: Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a very important common food crop in West Africa. Beyond its food and nutritious values, the ownership and cultivation of yam have many cultural, religious, and social meanings, which may vary between specific ethnic groups and regional areas. This study explored the diverse social, cultural, and religious perspectives associated with yam and its cultivation in southeastern Nigeria. Methods: We used a comparative approach and utilized in-depth, semistructured interviews, local narratives, and our experiential background to understand the similarities and differences in the local notions of yam and their impacts on the general societal structure across three ethnic regions in southeastern Nigeria. We discussed the findings on a thematic basis to reflect the social and cultural issues associated with the ownership and cultivation of yam. The themes ranged from religious practices, impact on social status, and gender relations. Results: We found no significant differences in the incidence of local perceptions and practices between the study areas. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated the importance and functions of yam crop in structuring the social, economic, religious and cultural fabric of the society

This paper focuses on water meanings, sanitation practices and hygiene behaviours from a cultural perspective in southern Nigeria. Attention was directed on how cultural understanding of water influences sanitation practices as well as the challenges such a relationship poses on public health and sanitation programmes in rural Nigeria. A wide range of meanings, beliefs, values and taboos surrounded local notions and ideas of water and sanitation which were noted to determine available responsive practices and norms. Socio-economic characteristics, physical location and cultural factors were used in explaining the degrees, scale and impact of observed practices and norms across space and time. The paper argues that it will make more practical sense if water and sanitation problems are addressed within the cultural foundation, to understand the realities of local circumstances of beliefs and values, than applying the logic of pure science. This is very important in designing interventions to reduce risks in deeply cultural communities.

This article uses theoretical discourses on risk to engage in a review of cultural and religious concepts that challenge the achievement of universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the review, complex WASH behaviours evolve in relation to dominant situated experiences, often nested in cultural and religious beliefs and values, which tend to complicate risks and limit the attainment of universal WASH coverage in the subregion. The article argues that framing problems purely with respect to socio-economic limitations fails to account for the contextual triggers of WASH behaviours, making intervention programmes less likely to succeed.

Nigeria’s Niger Delta is the storehouse of petroleum resources, which accounts for more than 80 percent of Nigeria’s revenue and more than 90 percent of the total exports. Unfortunately, the producing region remains poor, ecologically disabled and infrastructurally underdeveloped giving rise to various forms of violent conflicts, kidnappings and restiveness. In this study, we employ the concept of governance to see how oil benefits are distributed as well as its overall impacts on the development of the region. The paper mostly uses statistics from secondary sources to support arguments. The outcome shows that the real oil benefits do not trickle down to the Niger Delta region in a significant amount. We observed that several factors including politicization of benefits, revenue and infrastructural distribution; wrong policies; ethnic domination and absence of transparent and accountable leadership are real deprivers and captors of oil benefits, which continues to keep the region perpetually poor and underdeveloped. Addressing these issues requires thorough understanding of the fundamental questions of governance in Nigeria.

This paper examines the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Cross river basin, Nigeria. The Cross River Basin Development Authority (CRBDA) was established in 1976 with a mandate for integrated development, using the abundant water resources available in the region. Thirty years after the creation of the CRBDA, there is still a large gap between the original objectives and the actual delivery of services to meet the needs of the people. A wide range of study methods, including stakeholder meetings, focus group sessions, interviews and observations at village meetings of selected communities was used to examine the implementation of IWRM against the expectations and needs of the people. The paper concludes that IWRM in the Cross river basin (CRB) has not been very successful. This is attributed to a number of institutional factors, including legal, political, administrative and financial obstacles. This paper recommends that IWRM policies in the CRB should be reformed to reflect local circumstances and conditions.

Yam production, processing, distribution, and marketing processes are underpinned by socio-cultural beliefs shaped by ritual practices and indigenous wisdom. We used semi-structured interviews, public meetings, keen observation, local informants, and a review of secondary materials to assess local indigenous understanding of interconnected perspectives of yam farming processes, socio-cultural perspectives, and livelihood practices in communities in southern Nigeria. Our findings revealed that over 90% of farmers depend on experiences of adjusting to seasonal challenges, storage practices, and fertility enhancement. Cultural beliefs and spiritual practices pervade farmers’ social attitudes to improving farming operations. Almost 70% of yam producers are aged 60 years and above and depend on crude tools and traditional methods of land management and production process, even though the modern and innovative farming methods and practices are limited. Farmers respond to the poor public support system of extension services by informal networking and local associational relationships with diverse schemes to support and encourage members. Government and organizations should take advantage of these informal structures to empower farmers through micro-credits, education, information, training, supervision, and mechanization. Different groups of actors organized into formal social structures like cooperatives will take advantage of bulk buying, selling, transportation, access fundings, information, education, and training from public and non-governmental institutions. The study findings have demonstrated that the socio-economic structure of the Obudu community has developed extensively on account of decades of yam production and processing, supporting chains of a livelihood network, entrepreneurship, and relationships of mutual cooperation and co-existence.