This research work was carried out to analyze profitability of honey production in Esan North East LGA of Edo State Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the socio-economic characteristics of honey production, examine the costs and returns of honey production, access the profitability and problems facing honey production. Questionnaire was administered on 50 randomly selected respondents in five (5) communities within Edo North Local Government area. Ten respondents were selected from each community. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency tables and percentages) and gross margin analysis. The obtained results showed that the majority (98%) of the respondents were male, 100% of the respondents were married and were literate. The study further revealed that 76% of the respondents had less than 5 years of experience. There is no adequate link between the extension workers and the honey producers as only 6% of the respondents were visited by the extension workers. The estimated net profit was N58,864 per honey producer and was considered relatively high. The cost of hive, lack of fund, absconding of bees, effect of whether, infestation and lack of flowering plants were the major problems encountered in honey production. It was recommended that government should assist interested worthy bee farmers with loan or provide necessary materials at subsidized rate.

The objective of this study was to assess the performance of various marketing channels for sweet potato value added products. The study used cross sectional design. It used individual interviews, focused group discussions; review of relevant practical documents and discussions with key informants. Data collected were summarized using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) and Excel. Moreover the study adopted Structure- Conduct- Performance (S-C-P) model to analyze the performance of sweet potato value added products marketing system. Furthermore, the study employed gross margin analysis to measure profitability of various market channels. Regarding sweet potato prices, it was found to vary from one node to another. The analysis revealed that there is no market transparency in the sweet potatoes value added products marketing system due to poor coordination on prices information, grades and quality and standard weights of the product in question. Furthermore, bulkiness and perishability affected post-harvest system of the products which acts as barriers. Other serious challenges facing the subsector were lack of improved seeds (33.1%), low capital (26.8%), unpredictable weather (20.6%) and pests attack (13.9%). The sub-sector seems not to perform efficiently and hence there is poor economic performance due to poor production, lack of market information, low prices, and poor quality of both the sector and the product.

The demand for organic food has been rapidly increasing worldwide, because of an improvement in the awareness of environmental problems, and health concerns. Although the demand for organic food is increasing, the popularity of organic food is not widespread and the perception of organic food varies in the wide public. This review shows that in Australia and other countries, there have been variation in people’s understanding of organic agriculture and organic food, and differences in consumers’ attitudes, motivations and behaviours within consumer groups and in different places, although there have been basic similarities. Consumers’ perceptions have probably changed over time. A large proportion of consumers have been identified as having an understanding of organic food as being grown without chemicals, but the level of knowledge has been variable. ‘Health benefits’ was the first and primary reason for purchasing organic food, while ‘high price’ was the key deterrent to purchasing organic food. There have been various and even opposite findings related to the relationships between organic food consumption and personal elements such as age, gender, income, education, household with children and household size. In some countries, there was no link or minimal link, but several links was found in others. Although most consumers exhibited positive attitudes towards organic products and expressed their purchase intentions, the level of their trust in organic labels and certifications are very important factors influencing purchasers’ decision of buying organic food.

It is a known fact that there are three agents of underdevelopment, that is, poverty, disease and ignorance in the world. Micromedi claim in India presently is too small to create a great impact in poverty alleviation, but if provided with new technologies for skills and opportunities for the development of the poor, it holds to change the socio-economic face of the India's poor. The self-help group (SHG) model with micromedi claim through SHG group leading to groups without collateral has become an established part of rural development with financial inclusion. SHG-based micromediclaim which is run and supported by NGOs, have become a significant alternative to traditional medical insurance in terms of reaching the poor without increase in operating and monitoring costs. The government and financial institution have accepted this and have highlighted the SHG model and taken initiatives to work along with NGOs. Millions of SHGs have been linked to banks over the years, but still most of the states are not doing well to establish the development, link up the social responsible process of the poor and nurture the various schemes of the government. This paper also discusses why rural poor easily get the mediclaim from ‘regional rural bank’ by using this Micromediclaim-SHG-bank linkage model.

This study specifically modeled poultry litter equation among Telfairia occidentalis farmers in Ikot Ekpene area of Akwa Ibom State in Southern Nigeria. One hundred and twenty Telfairia (fluted pumpkin) farmers were randomly sampled and used for this study. Structured questionnaires were used to collect the data needed for the analysis. Logit model regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation was specified and used to analyze the data collected. The choice of the Logit model was based on the nature of the dependent variable which was a probability or decision based variable. The explanatory variables used in this study were derived following a careful review of the literature and observed characteristics of the respondents. The result of the empirical estimation revealed that age, education, farm size, previous year’s harvest, farming practice adopted, farming experience, soil management practice, farm income, off-farm income and household expenditure were important determinants of the Telfairia farmers’ decision to use poultry litter in the study area. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Telfairia farmers in the study area should be exposed to more years of formal education so as to enhance organic manure technology adoption. Efforts should be channeled towards sensitizing the Telfairia farmers on the need to embrace the family planning programme so as to reduce the household size and expenditure. This will enhance increase farm budget allocation and hence organic manure utilization. This study also advocated mixed crop farming system among Telfairia farmers as this will reduce production risk and increase the tendency of poultry litter usage. In addition, the study supported agricultural income diversification among Telfairia farmers; this will guarantee increase in aggregate income of farmers and hence poultry litter usage even in the face of increased household expenditure.