Felix Musila

Published by the African Technology Policy Studies Network

For further information on sponsorship, please contact:
Executive Director,
African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS)
8th Floor, Chancery Building, Valley Road;
P.O. Box 10081-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
Email: executivedirector@atpsnet.org
Telephone: +254 (0) 20 2714092 (Landline); +254 (0) 713161928 (Mobile);
Website: https://atpsnet.org/

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 PREAMBLE ...........................................................................................................................3
2.0 CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................6
3.0 EXPECTED OUTPUTS ............................................................................................................6
4.0 EXPECTED OUTCOMES ........................................................................................................7
5.0 CONFERENCE METHODOLOGY............................................................................................7
6.0 FULL CONFERENCE AGENDA ............................................................................................... 8
Annex 1: Abstracts ..................................................................................................................162

1.0 PREAMBLE
The development of and attention to science and technology in Africa took center stage in the
1980s with African governments making commitments through their Heads of States to allocate
at least 1% of their gross domestic products (GDPs) to research and development (R&D) as well as
scientific and technological capabilities in what is popularly known as the Lagos Plan of Action for
the economic development of Africa 1980-2000. This was against the background that Africa atthat time was unable to point to any significant growth rate or satisfactory index of general wellbeing for almost two decades. Faced with this situation, and determined to undertake measures
for the basic restructuring of the economic base of the continent, the African leaders resolved toadopt a far-reaching regional approach based primarily on collective self-reliance which included
putting science and technology in the service of development by reinforcing the autonomous
capacity of our countries in this field. They noted that the role of science and technology inintegrated rural development requires among other things the generation of financial resources
and political will and courage on the part of policy and decision-makers to induce a profoundchange with far-reaching effects on the use of science and technology as the basis of socioeconomic development. A well-developed science and technology base and its appropriate
application will lead to developments in other sectors such as agriculture; transport andcommunications; industry, including agro-allied industries; health and sanitation; energy;
education and manpower development; housing, urban development and environment among
others. Countries were urged to develop appropriate policies and programmes that will utilize thepower of science and technology to sustain growth and development. Among the early adoptersin the development of science and technology policies since the Lagos Plan of Action were Ethiopia(1992), Tanzania (1996), Zambia (1996), Botswana (1998), Nigeria (1998) and Ghana (2000). Other
countries followed later.
One very remarkable outcome of the Plan of Action was the support and strengthening ofregional and sub-regional science and technology organizations in Africa with a call to Member
States and international agencies to provide resources to enable them attain full operational
levels. It was during this period that two distinct networks emerged in Africa: The Eastern andSouthern Africa Technology Policy Studies (EATPS) and the Western Africa Technology Policy
Studies (WATPS). These networks promoted and advocated for the use of science and technology
as a means for achieving socioeconomic development in the regions. They facilitated thedevelopment of most of the science and technology policies in most of the African countries
earlier mentioned. However, in 1994, the EATPS and WATPS came together under one platformthat led to the birth of the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) with its secretariat
in Nairobi, Kenya under the East and Southern Africa Regional Office of the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC).
The ATPS has since then grown in leaps and bounds. In 2001 ATPS became an autonomousinternational organization with diplomatic status in Kenya and working on transdisciplinaryscience, technology and innovation (STI) themes for African development. Whilst retaining the STI
3

focus, ATPS has moved towards a “knowledge for development” network of researchers,
policymakers, private sector and civil society actors that promote the generation, dissemination,
use and mastery of science, technology and innovation for Africa’s development, environmental
sustainability and global inclusion. We implement our programs through members in National
Chapters established in 30 countries (27 in Africa and 3 Diaspora Chapters in Australia, UnitedStates of America and the United Kingdom) with partnerships across the entire 54 Africancountries. The ATPS is unique in many ways: It is not only the premier STI institution in Africa; it isunique in the composition of its membership, institutional structures and implementation
activities. Today ATPS is made up of over 1500 members spread across 51 countries in 5
continents. As the premier STI institution in Africa, it has successfully mainstreamed STI in African
development policy dialogues and assisted many African countries to formulate STI policies as well
as develop strategies for its implementation.
Our work is guided by the needs and aspirations of our stakeholders across Africa which weusually put together in consultation with these stakeholders as a Strategic Plan over five year
periods. During the current ATPS Phase VIII Strategic Plan (2017-2022), we have identified fourthematic and five programmatic priorities of action. The four thematic priorities are: Agriculture,
food and nutrition; Energy; Climate change and environment; and Health innovations, while thefive programmatic priorities include: STI policy research, policymaking and advocacy; Training,sensitization and capacity building; Youth and gender empowerment; Knowledge brokerage,
management and commercialization; and Intra-Africa and global collaboration and partnerships.
Details of these themes and programmes are available online at: https://atpsnet.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/12/ATPS-Phase-VIII-Strategic-Plan-2017-2022_Final.pdf. These strategic
priorities (thematic and programmatic) align very well with most of the development agenda in
Africa including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Africa’s Agenda 2063, the African
Development Bank (AfDB)’s Hi Five Priorities, and the national development agenda and visions
in most of the African countries. We aim to seek for supports and collaborations from different
institutions and organizations charged with the implementation of these development agenda
especially in Africa. The ATPS has benefitted and continues to enjoy the support from many
development partners, donors and governments at various levels in the achievement of ourmandate.
Conference Sub-themes
Five inter-related priority subthemes have been identified to buttress the main goal of the Annual
Forum, Conference and ATPS Silver Jubilee. Papers were invited from experts under thesubthemes.
Sub-themes:i.
Science, Technology and Innovation priorities for Africa’s development- This subtheme focuses on how STI is driving Africa’s development Agenda in the context of STISA 2024
and in achieving the SDGs on the continent. As the African Union has developed a long-term4agenda 2063 for the continent, science, technology and innovation is playing a major role. The
strategy aims to address the challenges that hinder development in critical sectors such as
agriculture, energy, environment, health, infrastructure, mining, security and water using STI.
What does Africa need to do to enhance the use of STI as a means for achieving the sustainable
development goals? Has STI been mainstreamed enough in national development agendas inAfrica in terms of investments, research and policy?
ii.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Africa’s Readiness- The fourth industrial
revolution is the current and developing environment in which disruptive technologies and trends
such as the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) arechanging the way we live and work. This year’s (2019) World Economic Forum theme of
Globalisation 4.0 addressed the fourth industrial revolution which is taking place globally at an
unpredictable rate. Is Africa ready? How effective is the infrastructure in Africa to support these
disruptive technologies that will enhance the fourth industrial revolution? Do African countries
have enough capacity to exploit these emerging technologies? What needs to be done to support
the use of these disruptive technologies in Africa?
iii.
Improving Africa’s Intra-Africa Trade using science, technology and innovation- There
are many reasons for the low intra-African trade including: weakness of physical and humaninfrastructure, small size of individual African country markets, residual tariffs and onerous nontariff measures (NTM) on processed and semi-processed African products by both developed andemerging markets, export constraints and other pre-border barriers, absence of trade finance,
institutional constraints on enterprise growth and inability to achieve scale, currency risk,
corruption and rent-seeking clientelism, and civil disruption among many others. The abundanceof interest, capital, opportunities, and promises in technology such as artificial intelligence (AI)reminds one of mobile technology just 10 years ago. Mobile money transfer technology took thecontinent by storm but this has not really translated to significant increases in intra-Africa tradedue to the different levels of adoption of the technology in Africa as well as challenges in thedevelopment of the required infrastructure. Will technology/automation and AI do to African
nations over the next decade what mobile technology did to them in the last one, fueling a
dramatic rise in connectivity and unlocking significant gains in economic development? Like
mobile technology and communication capabilities, will technology/automation and AI permit
African nations to dramatically increase their research, development, and production capabilities?
Will technology/automation and AI give African nations even more power to leapfrog the needfor old-fashioned infrastructure and outdated strategies of industrialization? In essence, how canintra-Africa trade be realized using STI?
iv. Funding science, technology and innovation priorities for Africa’s development- African
leaders have always committed to increasing funding for national, regional and continental
programmes for science and technology and support the establishment of national and regional
centres of excellence in science and technology. So far only a handful of the countries have
implemented that. Funding for research in Africa is still very low hence very low emergence of
new technologies and innovations. This has severely limited growth and development in Africa.
5How can African governments increase funding to STI? Has the private sector sufficiently
contributed to funding research in Africa? Are the African universities and researchorganizations contributing enough in funding research in Africa? How can development partners
significantly contribute to STI development in Africa?
v.
Gender and inclusivity in science, technology and innovation- The persistent genderinequalities and exclusivity in Africa can be explained by lack of relevant policies, inadequate andimproper curriculum content and strategies, poor didactic materials and negative culture andattitudes which discourage women from training and/or working as scientists, technologists orengineers and the youth from assuming high positions of authority in the polity. This theme
focusses on identifying successful international best practices that should be learned, adapted andwisely implemented in Africa to encourage inclusivity and gender mainstreaming in STI. The
gender mainstreaming of science and technology policy formulation and review processes havenot been sufficient enough to reflect the level of gender awareness that has been created andattitude changes made. What actions need to be taken to ensure there is gender and inclusivity
in STI? What data are required to inform decision making on gender inclusivity in STI?
2.0 CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES
The overall purpose of the conference is to critically examine the current conditions, barriers
and opportunities in the above thematic areas and provide policy options form transitions to more
inclusive sustainable development in Africa.
1.
Present and discuss relevant and topical issues on how STI can be further deployed tomore effectively achieve sustainable development in Africa
2.
Tell ATPS’s story in championing STI development in Africa for 25 years
3.
Relaunch the ATPS Phase VIII Strategic Plan 2017-2022
4.
Provide opportunity for networking among STI stakeholders across the continent andbeyond5.
Present papers that address the main theme and subthemes of the conference
6.
Celebrate and honour ATPS Legends and Champions
3.0 EXPECTED OUTPUTSi)
Published annual forum and conference proceedings;
ii)
A communiqué summarising key recommendations for African policymakers anddevelopment partners.
iii)
Two Policy Briefs

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4.0 EXPECTED OUTCOMESi)
Increased and renewed recognition and deployment of STI as a means for achieving
sustainable development in Africa by policymakers, science experts, private sector actors and civilsociety actors; andii)
Strengthened networks amongst STI actors in Africa.
5.0 CONFERENCE METHODOLOGYThe ATPS@25 Annual Forum will be a two-day event that will bring together stakeholders
including network members, donors and financiers, beneficiaries and government officials fromacross Africa. The event will adopt participatory approaches to engage stakeholders in relevant
discussions. For the main theme and sub-themes, there will be high level presentations by experts
in the field and panel discussions on some of the sub-themes. In all, there will be enough time forstakeholder discussions and dialogue on the different subthemes. About 200 delegates are
expected from across the 54 African countries and beyond during the Annual Forum, Conference
and ATPS Silver Jubilee celebration. Delegates will be drawn from the academia and research
institutions, policymakers and high-level government officials, organized private sector actors,
informal sector, civil society actors, development partners, donors and financiers, and the Fourth
estate among many others. Detailed programme of the event is provided below.
KEY PROGRAMME OF EVENTS:

Opening ceremony and key messages from donors, sponsors and partners

A Masterclass on the theme: Using Science, Technology and Innovation as a means forAchieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa

Expert panel discussion

Plenary presentations on the selected sub-themes
Celebration of ATPS champions and legends. All Foundation Members of the ATPS, past
Executive Directors and Directors, Chairs of ATPS Board of Directors, Core Donors, etc. will receive
honours awards.
Exhibition of science, technology and innovation products and services from around
Africa
Press conference

76.0 FULL CONFERENCE AGENDA
Time
8:00- 8:30 amTime
8:30- 8:35 am

8:35- 8:40 am
8:40- 8:45 am
8:45- 9:15 am

9:15- 10:00 am

10:00- 10:15 am
10:15- 10:25 am
10:25- 10:50 am

DAY 1- Wednesday 30 October, 2019
Topic/Presentation
Facilitators
Registration-Felix Musila-Damaris Kavesa
Opening Session-Official Opening Ceremony
Moderators: Dr. Ernest Acheampong, INBAR
Dr. Maurice Bolo, Scinnovent Centre
Rapporteurs: Alfred Nyambane and Damaris Kavesa
Topic/Presentation
Presenters
Session Chair
Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Stephen Karimi, Board Prof. Joseph Obua- Former ATPS
from ATPS Kenya
Member ATPS Kenya Chapter National Chapter Coordinator,
Chapterand Director Accreditation and Uganda; College of Agricultural
Quality Assurance, NACOSTI.
and Environmental Sciences
Makerere University, Uganda
Welcoming
Remarks Dr. Nicholas Ozor,
from the ATPS Secretariat ATPS Executive Director.
Welcoming Remarks- the Prof. Crispus Kiamba, Ag. Chair
ATPS Board of Directors
ATPS Board of Directors.
Opening Remarks from
1.
Prof.BenedictO.
our Partners
Oramah,President
AFREXIMBANK
2.
Prof. Njuguna
Ndung’u, Executive Director
AERC.
3.
Dr. Ezekiel Mutua,MBS, Chief Executive Officer,
KFCB
4.
Dr. Philip Osano, Ag.
Centre Director, SEI
5.
Dr. H. Doko Ibrahim,
DG/CEO RMRDC
6.
Prof. Nelson Torto,
Executive Director AAS.
Opening
Keynote Dr.
Ouedraogo
Mahama,Addresson“Using Director Human Resource
Science, Technology and Science and Technology, AUC
Innovation (STI) as ameans for achieving the
Sustainable
Development
Goals(SDGs) in Africa”
Official Opening by the Prof. George Magoha, CS
Chief Guest of Honour
Ministry of Education, Kenya
Group Photo
Health/Coffee/Tea Break

10:50- 11:15 am Panel Discussion on the -Prof. Osita Ogbu, FNAE, OON; Prof. Joseph Obua- Former ATPS
Opening Keynote Paper
University of Nigeria and National Chapter Coordinator,
Managing Director, ADSI.
Uganda; College of Agricultural8

11:15-11:25 amTime
11:25-11:55 am

11:55-12:05 pm

12:05-12:15 pm
12:15-12:40 pm

12:40-12:50 pm

Facilitated Discussion-Prof. Michael C. Madukwe, and Environmental Sciences
ATPS National Chapter
Makerere University, Uganda
Coordinator Nigeria andUniversity of Nigeria
Nsukka, Nigeria.
-Prof. Francis Aduol, Vice
Chancellor, Technical Universityof Kenya.
-Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie,
Executive Secretary, African
Capacity Building Foundation(ACBF).
-Prof.
SylvesterNdesoLecturer, Epidemology & Public
HealthFaculty of Health Sciences
University of Buea, Cameroon.
-Prof. Crispus Kiamba CBS,
MBS, Ag. Chair ATPS Board of
Directors; School of Built
Environment, UoN.
-Dr. Jemimah Onsare, Ag. CEO
National Research Fund-Kenya.
All Delegates

Plenary Session 1-Keynote Presentations
Topic/Presentation
Presenters
Science, technology and Dr. George Essegbey, Chiefinnovation priorities for Research Scientist, Science andAfrica’s development
Technology Policy ResearchInstitute (STEPRI)/CSIR, Ghana.
Case interventions-Dr. Nadia Hassan, ATPS
National Chapter Coordinator,
Sudan.
Economic
Studies
Department Industrial Research& Consultancy Centre (IRCC)
Sudan.
-Mr. Benson Zwizwai, ATPS
National Chapter Coordinator,
Zimbabwe.
Chairman,
Economics
Department
University of Zimbabwe.
Facilitated Discussion
All DelegatesFunding science,
Dr. Akanimo Odon, CEO,technology andEnvironfly
Consulting, andinnovation priorities for
Lancaster University, UK.
Africa’s development
Case Interventions-Mr. Wondwossen Belete,
ATPS
National
Chapter
Coordinator, Ethiopia and
Director of Intellectual Property

9

Session Chair
Prof. Nelson Torto, Executive
Director AAS.

.

12:50- 1:00 pm
1:00- 2:00 pm

Time
2:00- 2:25 pm

2:25- 2:35 pm

2:35-2:45 pm
2:45- 3:10 pm

3:10-3:20 pm

3:20-3:30 pm
3:30- 3:45 pm
3:45- 4:10 pm

4:10- 4:20 pm

Facilitated Discussion

Protection and Technology
Transfer, EIPO.
-Prof. Dr. Saïd Boujraf ATPS
National Chapter Coordinator
Morocco and Director of theClinical
Neuroscience
Laboratory, University of Fez
Morocco.
All Delegates

Lunch BreakPlenary Session 2-Keynote Presentations
Rapporteur: Mr Marsden Momanyi and Damaris Kavesa
Topic/Presentation
Presenters
Session Chair
Improving Intra-Africa
Prof. Benedict Oramah,Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u,Trade using science,
President, AFREXIMBANK.
Executive Director, AERC.
technology andinnovation
Case Interventions-Prof. Arsène Kouadio, ATPS
National Coordinator, Coted’Ivoire and University of Abidjan-Cocody, Cote d’Ivoire.
-Ms. Manal Moustafa Samra,
ATPS
National
Chapter
Coordinator, Egypt.
Facilitated Discussion
All Delegates
The Fourth Industrial
Ms Ann Therese NdongRevolution and Africa’s
Jatta, Director UNESCO Regional
Readiness
Office for Eastern Africa.
Case Interventions-Eng. Lourino Alberto Chemane,
ATPS
National
Chapter
Coordinator, Mozambique and
ICT and Planning Advisor,
Executive Secretariat, ICT Policy
Commission, Mozambique.
-Dr. Wollor Emmanuel Topor,
ATPS National Coordinator,
Liberia and College of Scienceand Technology, University of
Liberia.
Facilitated Discussion
All Delegates
Health/Coffee/Tea BreakGender and inclusivity in Dr. Kathryn Toure, Regional Prof. Agnes Mwang’ombe EBS,
science, technology and Director Sub-Saharan Africa University of Nairobi, Kenya
innovation
International
Development
Research Centre (IDRC)
Case Interventions-Mrs. Martha Ada Ugwu
ATPS National Chapter
Coordinator, United Kingdom

10

4:05- 4:15 pm-Prof. Musa Dube, Faculty ofAgriculture
Luyengo Campus
University of Eswatini.
All Delegates
End of Day 1

Facilitated Discussion

DAY 2- Thursday 31 October, 2019
Time

Topic/Presentation

Facilitators

9:00- 9:20am

Re-cap of Day 1

Dr. Ernest Acheampong

Parallel Sessions
9:20- 12:50 pm
Sub theme 1: Science,technology and innovation
prioritiesforAfrica’sdevelopment

Providing Off-Grid Solar
Light To Rural Areas In
Sierra Leone By:
K. G. Mansaray and T.
Morlai

Nagging Food Insecurity In
Nigeria: The Missing Links
A.N. Eneh and Eneh
Onyenekenwa
Sustainable
Agricultural
Innovations And Tools: The
Solution to Africa’s FoodandEnvironmental
Challenges
Kum Christian & Prof
Sylvester Ndeso

Sub theme 2:
The
FourthIndustrial
Revolution and
Africa’s
Readiness
Leveraging 4th
Industrial
Revolution (4IR)
to Drive Africa’s
Transformation
Dr Julius Gatune

Sub
theme
3:
Improving
Africa’s
Intra-Africa
Trade
using
science,technology
andinnovation
The potential for STI
in assessing theenvironmental
implications of theAfrican Continental
Free Trade Area
(AfCTA)Dr Philip Osano

Trajectories ofknowledge andinnovation systems
among cassava
cooperative farmers
towards improving
livelihoods andindustrial
development inSouthern Nigeria
Prof. Edwards
Adeseye Alademerin

Innovation, Inclusion and
SDGS in Sub-Saharan Africa:
Challenges
andOpportunities
Nepeti Nicanor

11

Sub
theme
4:
Fundingscience,technology
andinnovation prioritiesforAfrica’sdevelopment
Fundingscience,technology
andinnovation prioritiesforAfrica’sdevelopment

Sub theme 5: Genderandinclusivityinscience,technology
and innovation

Gender Gap Analysis ofAdoptionofTechnology
andInnovation (TI) among
Rural
FarmersinNigeria: A Case of
Dr Akanimo Odon Gender Mainstreaming
andDevelopment
Policy in Africa
Adama Alami, andOmeje Emmanuel E.
Climate Change and Agroforestry - Coping
Sustainable
Mechanism for Food
Development Focus Insecurity andon Sahel and Sahara Unemployment In
Region of Africa: Nigeria: A Case of
Sustainability Analysis Rural Women / Youths
Research Study for In Imo State, Nigeria.
Pan African Agency on Ogueri Emma Ifeanyi
Great Green Wall and Mgbada, Justina(PAGGW)
Dr Chidi Magnus
OnuohaField Extension Agents’UtilizationofMobileApplicationsfor
Agricultural
Extension
Service Delivery in Ebonyi
State
Agricultural
Development Programme
Ann
N.
EZEH
and
Anayochukwu V. EZE

Xenophobia:
Retarding Africa’s
Intra-African Trade,
Science-TechnologyInnovation (STI)
Transfer andagricultural
Development
Omeje, EmmanuelEjiofor

Healthcare
Services
Satisfaction in the Prison: A
Cross-Sectional Survey andComparative Analysis ofInmates’ Perspectives in an
African Country
Ochonma, Ogbonnia G

Early Childhood
Malnutrition andLabour Productivity
Growth in West Africa
Fredrick Onyebuchi
Asogwa, Okeke
Donatus Ifeanyi,
Joseph Amuka andNathaniel Urama
Assessment of Factors
Militating against
Rural Women’sParticipation inModern Innovative
Palm Oil Processing inSouth East Nigeria.
Ezeibe Adaku Bridget
Chidi
Harnessing the Powerof Technology: The
State of Women in the
21st Century
Umulumgbe Odo
Performance
Dr Gloria Nwandu
Ozor

ProposedPlanforAcceleration of Medical
Training through Enhanced
Enrolment, Out-Turns in
Reducing
Shortage ofPhysicians in Nigeria
Christopher
EnyiomaAlozie
Could
Sustainable
Agricultural Innovations in
Africa be the Solution to
Soil Health and Climate
Change for Enhanced Food
Production?
Kum Christian Tegha andSylvester Ndeso Atanga

Gender-Based Analysis
on ICT Accessibility
and Utilization for
Enhanced
Performance among
Undergraduate
Students in Ogun
State, Nigeria
Omobolanle Marcus
Nosiru andOshionebo, Esther
Emike

Achievements
andChallenges from African
Technology Policy Studies
Network by
Eswatini National Chapter:
A Success Story
Musa M. A. Dube &Absalom M. Manyatsi
Healthcare
Services
Satisfaction in the prison: across-sectional survey andcomparative analysis ofinmates’ perspectives in an
African country
Ochonma, Ogbonnia G
From ‘Communicating’ to‘Engagement’: Sustainable12Agriculture
and
AfroRelationality Frameworkfor
ClimateChangeCommunication
Dominic Ayegba Okoliko
and Prof. Martin de Wit
Effects of Land Use Change
on Soil Quality in Mai
Mahiu
Ecosystem
inNaivasha
Sub-County,
Kenya
Basweti Caleb, Manohar, S.
and Otor, S.
Impact of Climate Change
on Adaptive Strategies thatleadtoSustainable
Livelihoods:
Resource Base Carrying
Capacity, Climate Change
Variability, and Population
Growth: A Case Study offourCommunities
in
Wonago Woreda, Ethiopia
Costantinos
Berhutesfa
Costantinos
A Case of ‘Tingadalire
Organic Food Products’
Using Science, Technology
And
Innovationsin
Agricultural Value Chains
and Waste Management
Systems in Malawi
Tennyson Magombo
Technology,
Innovation
BehaviourandRice
Production
Efficiency
Differentials in Northeast,
Nigeria: Policy Implications
for Africa’s Technological
Development
Omeje Emmanuel Ejiofor
and
Arene
John
Chukwuemeka
The Untapped Potential of
Local
InnovationsforAchieving
Sustainable
Development Goals in
Africa: The Experience ofEthiopia
Shirega Minuye Meskay
Status of the Adoption ofModern Biotechnology for
Agriculture in Africa
A.M. Dlamini,
M.A. Dube and B.Z.
Nkhabindze

13

Socio-economic survey offorest foods in afijio local
government area of oyo
state, Nigeria
Oluwole Sikiru BANJO*,
Akinyode
Timothy
OLAWUMI
Design, Construction andDetermination of Thermal
Efficiency of a Model Solar
Power Irrigation System
Ayanda J.D*, Ogunsanwo
F.O and Falayi E.O
ProspectsofFarmerManagedNaturalRegeneration (FMNR) and
Its Impact on Forest
ConditioninSinyala,Lilongwe, Malawi
Judith Kamoto, Charles
Wella
and
JabulaniNyengere
NERICA
TechnologicalInnovation for Improved
Rice Economy in Nigeria
OmobolanleMarcusNosiru & Mohammed
Abdul Yekeen Rahji
Speedy Development ofAfrica Using Smart Energy
Options and Air Pollution
Reduction
Kingsley Ukoba

144:00- 4:30 pm

Silver Jubilee Celebrations
Moderator: Dr. Ernest Acheampong, INBAR
Dr. Maurice Bolo, Scinnovent Centre
ATPS@25: The journey so far-Dr. Nicholas Ozor, Executive
Director, ATPS
Remarks by Key ATPS Stakeholders-Prof. Osita Ogbu
-Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie-Prof. Judi Wakhungu-Prof. Charles Igwe
-Prof. Agnes Mwang’ombe-H.E. Ambassador Sheidu Momoh-Prof. Crispus Kiamba
Remarks and Launch of ATPS@25
Hon. Joe Mucheru, E.G.H.
(Silver Jubilee) by the Chief Guest of
Cabinet Secretary, Information andHonourCommunication Technology (ICT),
Kenya.
Award of Prizes and Certificates-Institutional Awards-Individual Awards
Closing Remarks and Way Forward-Dr. Nicholas Ozor, Executive
Director, ATPS
Vote of thanks-Prof. Crispus Kiamba, Ag. Chair
ATPS Board of Directors
Coffee Break

4:30- 5:30 pm

Annual General Meeting

2:00- 2:30 pm
2:30- 3:00 pm

3:00- 3:15 pm

3:15- 3:30 pm

3:30- 3:50 pm
3:50- 4:00 pm

ATPS Members Only

Celebrations-Music and Dance
6:00- 8:00 pm
Cocktail and Networking
End of ATPS Annual Forum, Conference and Silver Jubilee Celebrations: Delegates to leave at theirown pleasure15

Annex 1: Abstracts

Sub Theme 1: Science, technology and innovation priorities for Africa’s
development
NAGGING FOOD INSECURITY IN NIGERIA: THE MISSING LINKS
O.C. Eneh1* and A.N. Eneh2
1 Senior Research Fellow/Lecturer, Institute for Development Studies, Enugu Campus,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Member of ATPS.
2 Department of Education Foundation, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Mobile: +234-803-9144762, Email: amucheeneh19@gmail.com* Author for correspondence, Mobile: +234-803-338-7472, Email:onyenekenwa.eneh@unn.edu.ng
Nigeria has had five decades (1970-2019) of numerous public policies, strategies, programmes
and projects aimed at boosting agricultural production for the attainment of food security. But,
the outcome is that seven out of ten Nigerians are food insecure. The study set out to establish
the missing links. Theoretical and documentary research methods were used to identify the
missing links, which were subjected to factor analysis to ascertain the significant ones. A survey
research design was adopted to get four hundred (400) purposively selected academics andpractitioners in food production to authenticate the significant missing links. Respondents’ online
visibility guided their selection as people in the best position to respond to questions on Nigeria’s
agricultural production and food security. Each of them was engaged in virtual interaction throughinternet and social media platforms to obtain information as guided by a questionnaire covering
questions on the ascertained significant missing links and their relationship with science
technology and innovation (STI) with answer options in likert scale. Scores were analysed bycomparing calculated values with decision values to confirm affirmation and otherwise. Results
showed six (6) authenticated significant missing links: predominance of smallholder subsistence
farming, use of rudimentary tools, unimproved varieties of seeds and other inputs, traditional
storage and preservation practices, deficit of marketing infrastructure, and dependence on rainfed agriculture. All of these were related to STI, attributable to poor STI adoption, and can besolved by STI adoption, which can as well address the four dimensions of food security. The study
recommended STI adoption for agricultural production to attain food security status in Nigeria.
Keywords: Nutrition and diet, Food and livestock systems, Food security and agricultural
production policy, STI adoption, Nigeria

16

FIELD EXTENSION AGENTS’ UTILIZATION OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS FORAGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE DELIVERY IN EBONYI STATE AGRICULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMEAnn N. EZEH*1 and Anayochukwu V. EZE2
*1Department of Agricultural Economics, Management and Extension,
Ebonyi State University, P.M.B 053, Abakaliki
2Department of Agribusiness Management & Trade
Kenyatta University, Kenya
Corresponding author’s email: annezeh2007@yahoo.com
The high penetration of smartphones and advances in software that they can host, have compel
private and public agencies to rapidly change the mode of service delivery through the use ofmobile applications/apps. The use of mobile apps can enhance effectiveness and efficiency ofextension service delivery in terms of time and coverage at a minimal cost. Extension agents canuse mobile apps to provide vital extension information to its clients – farmers, research stations,
suppliers and market actors through smartphones. It can help them to connect and work withextension workers and farmers at any time. Despite the growing use of mobile apps as thedominant means of communication in both public and private agencies, it is still unclear whether
mobile apps have being utilize for extension services in Ebonyi State. Consequently, this study
assessed field extension agents’ utilization of mobile apps for extension service delivery in Ebonyi
State Agricultural Development Programme (EBADP). Specifically, the study assessed the types ofmobile apps that are in use for extension service delivery; extent of utilization and constraints touse. The study employed multi-stage random sampling technique to select 120 Field Extension
Agents who were administered with structure and validated questionnaire. Descriptive statistical
tools were employed in the analysis of data generated. The result of the analysis shows that themost utilized mobile apps for extension delivery are WhatsApp (76.4%) and Facebook (42.5%).
However, these apps were highly underutilized for extension services due to constraints such highcost of smartphones (82.3%), poor internet connectivity (66.1%), poor knowledgability of the
farmers on the use of mobile apps (58.5%), high cost of data subscription (53.8%), low ownershipof smartphones among farmers (73.3%), among others. The study recommended thedevelopment of specific apps that will support extension service delivery which can be operated
on any mobile phones.
Keywords: Mobile apps, smartphones, extension service, utilization, Whatsapp, Facebook

17

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND DETERMINATION OF THERMAL EFFICIENCY OF A
MODEL SOLAR POWER IRRIGATION SYSTEM
Ayanda J.D*, Ogunsanwo F.O and Falayi E.O
Physics Department, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State, Nigeria
Corresponding Author E-mail: jacobayanda@yahoo.com*
The alternative energy source such as solar energy is a clean, cheap and dependable energy
source that has no adverse effect on the environment, human and animals. This source of energy
is generated as a result of incident solar radiation on semiconductor crystals (solar cells) giving
rise to photo-electricity. African agricultural systems in rural settlements are in dire needs formodernization to achieve millennium goals for self-sufficiency in crops, and livestock’s production.
Also frequent bloody clashes between farmers and pastoralists in some African communities
called for an urgent solution by establishment of cattle ranches in selected rural areas equippedwith solar powered irrigation pumping system. In most rural farms in Africa, where agriculture arepracticed, access to electricity from the national grid is non-existence, while the cost of
procurement of diesels to fuel generators for water pumping is too expensive for an averagesubsistence rural farmer. The only solution to solve these mired of problems is solar generated
electricity (DC or AC). A model small scale prototype solar powered irrigation system sited near astream in Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-ode, Nigeria, was designed, constructed andtested at CENVOS vegetable farm. The solar project utilizes a 320watts poly crystalline solar panel
connected using a flexible insulated 6mm copper cable to a 12V/75 Ah battery via a 12V charge
controller. Also, a 12V DC submersible pump connected to the load terminal of the charge
controller provide pumped water piped through 12.7mm pipe through a water rate meter
connected to 200 liters water storage tank at 5.3m height. To store water for irrigation purposes
without the use of power every times due to erratic energy supply during raining and cloudy
weather, a potential energy principle was adopted which consist of water reservoir tank placedon an elevated height of about 3.7m above the ground level for maximum daily crop consumption,using a drip irrigation system at low pressure. The results from the field indicated gradual rise inwater pumping rate from day break when sun was bright and decreases gradually during rain andcloudy interception of the sun. An experimented water pumped using the model gives 200 litersof water in a cumulative pumping average time of 90mins when sun shines. The solar agriculture
project when implemented at a higher scale with an elevated water storage tank that provides
potential energy fed water lines to a drip irrigation system can be used efficiently in savannah andsemi-arid region of Africa.

Keywords: Solar energy, Irrigation, Photo-electricity, Agriculture, Semiconductor Crystal
18

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES THAT LEAD TOSUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
Resource Base Carrying Capacity, Climate Change Variability, and Population Growth: A
Case Study of four Communities in Wonago Woreda, Ethiopia
Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD
Professor of Public Policy & Sustaianable Intitutional Reforms, AAU Kidane Mengistu, ECRAND
Consult Addis Ababa
Mogues Worku, Lem Ethiopia, the Environment & Development Society,costy@costantinos.net or doncosty@gmail.com
The study area is located in the northern parts of the Wonago Woreda, covering a total area of
about 3340 ha and comprises four Quebelle Associations (QAs) namely Bale Bukisa, Tumata
Chirecha, Hase Haro, and Kara Soditi. The research was under taken using PRRA to assess thesocioeconomic situation, key informant interviews and secondary data (Climatic data, SPOT 5
images, published and unpublished research articles). The area falls between the upper moist
Kolla and the moist Woina Dega agroclimatic zones of the country. The rainfall distribution isbimodal, with mean annual rainfall of about 1311 mm. The mean annual temperature is about0

20.3 C. The altitude of the study area ranges from 1270-2070 m. The topographic feature consistsof gently sloppy and undulating areas to hilly terrain with some incised valleys. The naturalvegetation type can be broadly classified into moist evergreen montane forests with major species
that include Croton macrostachys, Albizia schimperiana, Milletia ferruginea, Erythrina abyssinica,
Ficus sycomorus, Polyscias fulva, Pouteria adolfi-friderici, Calpurnia, Cordia Africana and Vernonia
amygdalina. Based on the information from Qubelle office, the population of the study area totals
about 26787, with 4842 households. Accordingly, the population density (crude) is computed tobe approximately 802 persons/ Km2. The average family size of the sampled households is about
7.1. Based on the available population data given in different years, the population of the study
area is growing at the average annual rate of 2.9%. All the households covered by this survey are
engaged in farming activities, out of which the minority (17.6%) indicated that they are also
engaged in off-farming activities such as safety net programme, coffee trading, civil service,carpentry works and retail trades. In general, the farming community is besieged with problems
of interrelated environmental constraints. Traditional coping strategies that have been under use
for generation, have now reached a tipping point. Therefore, the future for the majority of thehouseholds in this area could be disastrous unless appropriate measures are taken to provide
viable alternatives that will supplement household income. There are two alternatives. The first is
introduction of non-farm activities. In this case, schemes of alternative means of income
generations such as cottage industries have to be introduced. However, this proposal is not aneasy task to be achieved in a short time. Hence, in the face of such limited resources, it seems thatthe most appropriate (the second alternative) is relocation. In other words, those households with19

smallholdings and the landless have to be relocated to sparsely populated areas within the region
or in the country. Any strategies to control and or reduce the problem of population pressure haveto be supported by appropriate government policies and political commitment if it is to bring asustainable solution to the problem. Finally, a "Sustainable Livelihoods Approach", an integrated
package of policy, technology and investment strategies together with appropriate decision-making
tools is recommended to promote sustainable livelihoods by building on local adaptive strategies

Keywords: Wonago Woreda, climate change, temperature, rainfall, tropical storms,
sustainable livelihoods.
20

EFFECTS OF LAND USE CHANGE ON SOIL QUALITY IN MAI MAHIU ECOSYSTEM
IN NAIVASHA SUB-COUNTY, KENYA*Basweti, C., Manohar, S. and Otor, S.

Department of Environmental Sciences, Kenyatta University, P.O Box 43844-00100, Nairobi,
Kenya.
E-mail: cbasweti@gmail.com; Cellphone: +254722369139
Land-use changes are the main cause of soil degradation and associated human andenvironmental problems especially in many developing countries in Africa and Asia. Study was
conducted in Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya whose aim was to assess the impacts of land-use
changes on soil productivity and ecosystem functioning. Specific objective was to understand thenature and extent of land use changes/practices and there impacts on soil quality indicators.
Landsat archive was utilized was used to detect land-use change from 1985 to 2015 at an intervalof 15 years and analyzed based on supervised image classification. From four land-use practices(undisturbed forest, disturbed forest, cropland and glassland), plots measuring 20 m x 20 m werelaid out and soil sampled within the plots with core samplers (196 cm 3) to the depth of 15 cm.
From each plot, nine sub-samples were pooled to form a composite sample. From each site, three
individual cores were left un-bulked for undisturbed soil analyzes. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was used to identify differences at 0.05 level of significance while least significant difference (LSD)
was used for mean separation. Results showed a remarkable land-use and land-cover change
between 1985 and 2015. Cropland significantly increased by 135% from 27.3 km 2 in 1985 to 64.2
km2 2015 at the expense natural forest. Built-up area and roads coverage had increased by almost
three times from 9.8 to 29.9km2. Soil quality deteriorated significantly with land-use change.
There were significant differences (p<0.001) in soil bulk density that increased from 0.93±0.02
g/cm3 in forest soil to 1.27±0.02 g/cm3 in disturbed grassland. Soil acidity increased significantly(p=0.002) with land conversion with pH ranging between 6.19±0.14 and 7.18±0.12. Soil organiccarbon declined significantly (p=0.008) with losses of up to 63% while total nitrogen declined
significantly (p=0.005) from 0.34% to 0.15 with land conversion. The study concluded that land
use changes and modifications in Mai Mahiu have negatively affected the soil productivity with apotential drop in other ecosystem services production. For the sake of the present and future
generation in this region, it is recommended that management decisions should take into
consideration integrated landscape approach, enforcement of relevant laws and policy
implementation that are aimed at maintaining resilience of soil quality attributes for sustaining
this type of ecosystem.

Keywords: Land use change, Soil properties, Mai Mahiu

21

PROPOSED PLAN FOR ACCELERATION OF MEDICAL TRAINING THROUGHENHANCED ENROLMENT, OUT-TURNS IN REDUCING SHORTAGE OF PHYSICIANSIN NIGERIADr. Christopher Enyioma Alozie,
Centre for Community Development & Research (CCDR)
70, Old Market Road (2nd Floor), Onitsha, Anambra State – Nigeria
Mobile Phone: +234-52220581 and +234-33474629
Email: fidescng@yahoo.com ; chris.alozie@unn.edu.ng
The paper assessed availability of physicians and supply-side and demand for medical
workforce, alongside forecast of requisite output to meet minimum ratio of physicians topopulation in Nigeria (2021 -2040). It also provides projection of the financing requirement byprospective medical trainees and government towards achieving the targeted number ofphysicians in the medium term to long run. Ex-post ‘facto’ quantitative research design andmethod is employed. Data sets obtained from Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Nigerian
Medical Schools, National Universities Commission (NUC), Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH),
etcetera and utilized for the analysis. Analytical techniques include simple numerical analysis,
descriptive statistics, moving average system, demographic estimation methods and projectionsof future budgetary resource allocation procedures. Findings indicate that the existing density ofphysicians in Nigeria is currently one to 2700 people in 2019 as against the prescribed minimumof one-doctor-to-1818 people. Therefore, Nigeria’s medical schools should be enrolling about
5000 to 7000 in first instance, and latter from 8000 to 10000 annually and expected to be
producing about 4000 newly licensed doctors around 2027 (in first new cohort); which rises up to8000 by 2036 which peaks at 9500 about 2040 to be able to eliminate shortages of medical workforce in the light of her rapidly increasing population. In terms of financing, the result of
preliminary investigation and analysis indicate that indicate that the estimates average unit total
cost for 6-year medical education in Nigeria is N30 million currently and by the inception of the
proposed plan and would rise N42 million per head by 2036 -2040. Financial projections for theplan reveal that Nigeria should provide annual medical education subvention amounting to N60
billion initially and up to needs to minimum of N240 billion in last quartile phase of funding in theplan. The result of the demographic forecasting of annual out-turns of new physicians andinjections to the pool during the proposed plan show that shortage of medical workforce in Nigeria
shall be eliminated as from 2035 .In return, Nigeria could to derive over N1 trillion savings frommedical tourism, and in addition to savings from recruitment of expatriate doctors and otherunquantifiable benefits that accrues to the economy from implementation of the proposed
accelerated medical training. Conclusion: Physicians’ supply-side projections which is based on
population’s need-based demand estimates that spreads over almost two decades and supportedwith forecast of governments annual budget allocation with the assumptions incorporated
thereon, would enable Nigeria achieve the target annual production of new doctors, satisfy theprescribed minimum doctors density for developing countries by 2036 up to 2040. Other
22

sovereigns are to benefit from this planned accelerated medical education. The study hasconceptualizes new strategy to promote international mobility of medical experts, contributetowards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and enhancement of population
health in this contemporary era of fast rising population.

Keywords: Physicians requisite density, shortage of medical workers, population health, labour
mobility, accelerated medical training, Nigeria

23

PROMOTING NUTRITION AND FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA: ROLE OF
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
Catherine Kunyangaa and Grace Werikhea
aDepartment of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology and Food security Center, Universityof Nairobi, Kenya.
Corresponding author email: ckunyanga@uonbi.ac.ke
The attainment of food security remains a big challenge for most governments in Africa
including Kenya. As a complex problem, food and nutrition insecurity requires sustainable
solutions to ensure that everyone has access to safe food at all times. This situation is worsenedby the triple burden of hunger and malnutrition in Africa. Food security has been highlighted as a
focal area of concern by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and African
Union (AU) Malabo declarations (2014). Therefore, to address the food security situation in Africa,
a multi-faceted approach is needed which consists of exploring alternative strategies andtechnologies to sustainable crop and livestock production. Majority of African nations are facedwith severe food insecurity problems as depicted by a high proportion of the population having
no access to food in the right amounts and quality/safety. The aim of this paper is to present key
findings and recommendations by scientists and innovators from the University of Nairobi inpartnership with other Universities and research institutions including private sector. Thesefindings are technological solutions and innovations generated from a 5 year project on Reducing
Losses and Adding Value (RELOAD) aimed at addressing postharvest losses in the food value chainsas a strategy of reducing food insecurity. This North to South cooperation has been instrumental
in disseminating agro-processing technologies for loss reduction in various food value chains
including meat, milk, fruits and vegetable. The technologies have been adopted and adapted forvarious end users including farmers/farmer groups, women groups, private sector and SmallMedium Scale (SMEs) food processors and are transforming the lives of rural poor communities
and households in Africa. The University has also partnered with the Food Security Center in the
University of Hoheheim with programs on “Global Food Security”. This interdisciplinary
collaboration incorporates a multi-faceted strategy that includes diverse approaches andexpertise to tackle food insecurity. Although, the project focused on all the food value chains inEast Africa, this paper will focus on the livestock value chain. This paper will give details of someof the technologies and innovations that have been disseminated to reduce food insecurity andgenerate income for rural poor in Kenya.
Keywords: Food Security and Nutrition, Science, Innovation and Technology, Institutional
Linkages24

EARLY CHILDHOOD MALNUTRITION AND LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN
WEST AFRICA

Fredrick Onyebuchi Asogwa, Okeke Donatus Ifeanyi, Joseph Amuka and Nathaniel
Urama
Department of Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Email: asogwafred@gmail.com, donates.okeke@unn.edu.ng, dobuamuka@gmail.com,
nathaniel.urama@unn.edu.ng

This paper is motivated by the debate on early childhood malnutrition and labour productivity
in Less Developed Countries. It examined the consequences of early childhood malnutrition on
labour productivity growth in ten selected West Africa countries. The theoretical framework forthis paper is the health theory of Grossman (1972) which maintains that health is a robust capitalstock that differs from other forms of human capital and the demand for healthcare is derived
from the fundamental demand for good health. The inter-temporal model of childhood
malnutrition and adulthood labour productivity growth model was adopted. It assumes that
individuals have a period of childhood where they need proper and well-nourished feeding for thedevelopment of both cognitive and physical stature and the period of adulthood where they are
bestowed with enough strength for childrearing and labour force production. Labour productivity
growth was captured using agricultural value-added growth as the region under the study is moreof the agrarian region than industrialized region. Childhood malnutrition was captured using
height-for-age (h_age) and weight-for-height (w_height) of children below 5 years of age whose
Z-score is less than -2SD (standard Deviation) as stated by UNICEF and WHO. The study usedmaternal level of education, type of earning of the household, age of the mother at first birth andplace of residence to determine the cause of early childhood malnutrition. The adopted panel
random effect estimation technique was to capture the variability within the countries. The study
found a significant impact of early childhood malnutrition on labour productivity growth in theselected West African countries. The study further found that maternal level of education, age ofthe mother at first birth and place of residence determine childhood malnutrition in West Africa.
It was also found the threshold level of maternal education necessary to make significant
reductions in child malnutrition is at a higher level of education. Below this threshold level,maternal education has no significant impact on reducing childhood malnutrition. The usefulnessof female education in the region is inevitable especially at a higher education level thatsignificantly changes early childhood malnutrition.
Keywords: Childhood Malnutrition, Labour Productivity Growth, West Africa, Less Developed
Countries.
25

PROSPECTS OF FARMER MANAGED NATURAL REGENERATION (FMNR) AND ITSIMPACT ON FOREST CONDITION IN SINYALA, LILONGWE, MALAWIJudith Kamoto1* Charles Wella1* Jabulani Nyengere2*
1, 2Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Forestry, Bunda
Campus, P.O. Box 219 Lilongwe, Malawi. Tel (265)-1-277-260 Fax (265)-1-277-364.
Corresponding author: Judith Kamoto, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, Department of Forestry, Bunda Campus, P.O. Box 219 Lilongwe, Malawi. Cel: 265-0884-430-000.
Email: judithkamoto@gmail.com

Deforestation and forest degradation have been a problem the world over and exacerbatesclimate change and Malawi is experiencing the impacts of this problem. For so long, Malawi
government in an effort to conserve the environment and reduce emission from forest
degradation and deforestation has been trying to plant trees with emphasis on exotic species but
the efforts have not been to expectations. Recently, a community involved technique, Farmer
Managed Natural Regeneration was adopted in some areas in order to restore forest in degradedlands and farmlands. The aim of the study was to examine the prospects of Farmer managed
Natural Regeneration in Sinyala village, Malawi with a view to provide information to people on
best and simple way of regenerating degraded areas. The technique has helped to regeneratesinyala Village Forest areas (VFAs) and farmlands. A total of 165 respondents, farmers which arepracticing Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration were identified using simple random technique.
Results of the study found that 165 farmers interviewed practiced FMNR and they managed toregenerate 77 hectares of VFA comprising of 35 tree species. Species mostly regenerated include
Fadherbia albida, Magnifera indica, Bauhinia thonngii, senna spectablis, Uapaka kirkiana,
Lonchocarpas capasa, Markhamia obtusifolia, Albizia lebbeck, Psorospermum febrifugum,
Combretum apiculatum, Parinari curatelifolia, Albizia versicolor, Leucaena leucocephala, Bridelia
micrrantha, and Pterocarpus angolensis. The results show that FMNR is a strategy to go for hence
it was recommended that FMNR should be promoted by including bee keeping practices to thoseregenerating VFAs and also incentives to farmers that regenerate certain number of tree species.

Keywords: Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, Species diversity, Adaptive Approach

26

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS AND TOOLS: THE SOLUTION TO
AFRICA’S FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

1Kum Christian Tegha and Prof. Sylvester Ndeso Atanga 2
1PhD Research Student Environmental Engineering

College of Technology, University of Bamenda-Cameroon
Tel: +237677188198/+237699893446
Email: teghechrist@yahoo.com
2Senior Visiting Lecturer, Epidemiology & Public Health,

Faculty of Health Science, University of Buea-Cameroon
Tel: +237653774599/+237699841433
Email: silawrence2011@gmail.com

The two most pressing and interlinked challenges facing humanity in the 21 st century are
Climate change and food security (Godfray et al., 2011). The world’s population is forecasted toincrease from the present 7-8 billion to about 10 billion people in 2050 (DESA UN, 2015) with mostof the increase coming from less developed regions such as Africa. This growth in population willconsequently generate and increase in the demand of food to feed the world’s people. As a result,the United Nations and World Health Organization suggested doubling of food production by
2050. Africa’s development plan by 2063 guided by SDGs is largely dependent on agriculture. The
agricultural system in Africa is faced with complex challenges such as; climate change, foodinsecurity, infertile soils, political instability, land for urbanization and forest conservation, andunsustainable agricultural practices. This complex nature of the agricultural sector in Africa
necessitated an urgent need for the development of new scientific and innovative agricultural
systems and tools in solving these agriculture’s problems. African scientists have over the years
develop and/or adapted sustainable scientific agricultural innovations to fit the African context
such as LANDPKS mobile app technology by ATPS, PUSH-PULL technology by INCIPE, and otheragro-ecological practices as a means to solving the African agriculture challenges. Evidence fromthe pilot projects and a few deployments around the continent have shown that these innovations
ideally give more yield and environmental protection. The expansion and deployment ofsustainable agricultural innovations in Africa are challenged by climate change, policies andpolitics, and institutional setup. This paper provides a review to sustainable agricultural systems
and innovations in Africa supporting crop production. It classifies these practices according toefficiency. This paper also analysis their advantages and draw backs with evidence from publishedworks on the benefits of these systems in terms of SOC, yields, and climate change mitigation. In
addition, it evaluates the potential use of these innovations for future African agriculture in termsof the challenges that hinder the expansion and deployment of these innovations round the region
and provide suggestions to farmers, policy makers, and scientist to facilitate expansion and27

deployment. Our major finding are; (1) we identified 8 categories of sustainable scientificinnovations/tools all of which involved increasing efficiency. (2) LandPKS, push-pull technology,
and drip irrigation are still not well integrated in actual agriculture of the continent. (3) The otherpractices which includes; minimum tillage and intercropping with legumes, crop rotation,
agroforestry with timber and fruit trees, residue management, and use of organic manure are wellintegrated in the continent. It is recommended that efforts should be made during thedevelopment stages of the innovation system to investigate the impacts of agricultural policies
and poor institutional setup on the efficiency of the innovation. Also more studies should be
carried out to quantify the benefits (SOC sequestration, and increase yield) and consequences(GHG emissions) of these sustainable innovations up to 2063 based on the African Union
development plan to aid choice of agricultural systems and policy development.

Keywords: Sustainable agricultural innovations, climate change, food security, Soil Organic
Carbon, yield.

28

COULD SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS IN AFRICA BE THE
SOLUTION TO SOIL HEALTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE FOR ENHANCED FOOD
PRODUCTION?

1Kum Christian Tegha and Prof. Sylvester Ndeso Atanga 2
1PhD Research Student Environmental Engineering

College of Technology, University of Bamenda-Cameroon
Tel: +237677188198/+237699893446
Email: teghechrist@yahoo.com
2Senior Visiting Lecturer, Epidemiology & Public Health,

Faculty of Health Science, University of Buea-Cameroon
Tel: +237653774599/+237699841433
Email: silawrence2011@gmail.com

Climate change and food security are the two most important interlinked challenges tosustainable development in Africa that affects food production, and both aquatic and terrestrial
ecosystems. The leading factor of climate change is the accumulation of CO 2 in the atmosphere(IPCC, 2001). The reductions of CO2 in the atmosphere by artificial means are very expensive andso carbon sequestration by soils, oceans and plants turn to be the simplest and most economicallypractical way to face the climate change and food crises in Africa. Increasing the amount of carbon
stored in Africa’s soils could significantly help reduce Africa’s emissions of GHGs from agriculture,by offsetting some of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Although there is already carbon
stored in Africa’s agricultural soils as organic matter, opportunities exist to store more by altering
current agricultural management practices. The continued development of sustainableagricultural innovations and soil organic carbon storage premised on – producing more from less- is essential to maintain the quality and quantity of agricultural products for society, particularly
with the scarcity of natural resources, climate change, a growing Africa’s population, and thephysical limitation of productive agricultural land. We believe using the currently available
agricultural lands more efficiently and sustainably can avoid the need for agricultural expansion
into the remaining natural habitat, such as forests, peat land, wetlands, etc. that is vital forbiodiversity conservation and carbon storage. This paper is out to share knowledge and gather
feedback on ways and means to mitigate land use change and land use based carbon emissions.
To facilitate a dialogue we are showcasing approaches and results of two of our projects that
support comparative analysis of conventional vs conservational land use practices to avoid
emissions. The first is the “Soil Organic Carbon Storage under different land uses South of Mount
Cameroon National Park (MCNP)” with main purpose being to estimate Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)
29

quantities in different land uses as an impetus to forest conservation and promotion of sustainable
conservation agriculture. And the second being “Soil and Water Protection in the Bamenda
Highlands of Cameroon” with the objective to evaluate impacts of sustainable agriculture
innovations such as reduced tillage and cover cropping on soil erosion in arable land compared toconventional practices. The results demonstrated the advantages of forest conservation andsustainable conservation agriculture to help optimize farm profitability and build ecosystem
resilience against climate change. Overall, our learning shows that no single set of practice works
in all places, in fact a range of approaches is required: specific to crops, climates, and cultures.
Therefore, sustainable practices and technologies must be tailored to the local landscapeconditions and the socio-economic conditions of farmers compromising the key elements of thetechnology being to sequestrate SOC, minimize GHG emissions and increase yield. Policy
programs will need to provide further financial or technical assistance to farmers, particularly
those who are younger or more entrepreneurial and willing or able to change their approaches.

Keywords: Sustainable agricultural innovations, climate change, food security, Soil Organic
Carbon, GHG emissions
30

STATUS OF THE ADOPTION OF MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR AGRICULTURE
IN AFRICA

A.M. Dlamini1; M.A. Dube2; B.Z. Nkhabindze3;
1University of Eswatini, Department of Animal Science, Private Bag Luyengo, Kingdom ofEswatini. E-mail: adlamini@uniswa.sz;
2University of Eswatini, Department of Agricultural Education and Extension, Private Bag

Luyengo, Kingdom of Eswatini;
3Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Swaziland Environment Authority. Mbabane,

Kingdom of Eswatini

Modern biotechnology, particularly genetically modified (GMO) crops have potential to
improve agriculture productivity. Despite that transgenic technology has been commercialized incrop production for the past twenty three years, there has been a slow adoption rate of thistechnology in Africa. The purpose of this paper is to elicit the role of policy in the use of modern
biotechnology in agriculture and food production in Africa. A desktop study was done to review
the literature and archival records on the adoption of modern biotechnology in Africa. There has
been a slow adoption rate of transgenic crop technology in Africa. South Africa-1998, Burkina Faso
and Egypt-2008 followed by Sudan-2012 were amongst the early adopters of the technology. Overthe past three years, records from the biosafety clearing house (BCH) have shown that a few
additional countries have commercialized production of transgenic crops in Africa. These includes:
Eswatini, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Zambia. A Few other countries are conducting field trials oftransgenic crops Examples in this group include Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique. The
adoption rate of the technology has been hampered by lengthy regulatory frameworks, public
skepticisms, conflicts between civic society groups and technology developers, and high costs
associated with the technology. The concerns about the products of modern biotechnology
include fears for: the relatively new technology (20 years); unknown allergic reactions; negative
perceptions; possibility of development of drug resistance of gut pathogens; and monopoly byMultinational Corporations. The claimed benefits by the proponents of the technology include:
reduced usage of chemical pesticides; control of viral diseases; reduced labour costs; increased
yields and farm revenue; and precision breeding. Worldwide commercialized GMOs have been
done for the following traits: stress tolerance, altered growth/yield, disease resistance, insect
resistance, herbicide tolerance, modified product quality and pollination control systems. Key
traits that have been exploited in Africa include: stress tolerance, herbicide tolerance and insect
resistance. Key crops that have genetically modified in Africa include: maize; cotton and Soybean.
31

Although many countries benefited from the UNEP-GEF funded biosafety project during theinitiation of national regulatory frameworks, it was recommended that member states’
governments have the responsibility to put in place policies for implementation, monitoring andsustainability of their biosafety legal frameworks to ensure precautionary adoption of modern
biotechnology in Africa.
Keywords: modern biotechnology; biosafety framework; transgenic technology; geneticallymodified crops; Biosafety.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES FROM AFRICAN TECHNOLOGY POLICYSTUDIES NETWORK BY ESWATINI NATIONAL CHAPTER: A SUCCESS STORY

1Musa M. A. Dube & 2Absalom M. Manyatsi
1Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Education & Extension, National Coordinator& Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royal Science Technology Park
2Professor, Department Agricultural Bio system and Engineering & Director of Research Centre

Eswatini joined the African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS) Network in the 1980s while there
were two networks: the West African and the East African Networks. Like other Member States,
Eswatini has had many achievements from ATPS Network even though she was faced withchallenges in popularising Science, Technology and Innovations (STI), including promotion of thevision and mission of the Network. Sharing such information to mark the Silver Jubilee of the ATPS
Network was considered important as evidence of growth of ATPS Network being the core driverof STI in the Member states. The purpose of this paper was to systematically document theEswatini Chapter’s achievements and challenges encountered while supported by ATPS Network.
The paper was developed through desk work, review of reports, proceedings from various
meetings of the National Chapter, Initiatives by ATPS such as capacity building, policy formulationand dissemination of research reports through policy briefs. It was concluded that the Eswatini
Chapter under the auspices of ATPS Network and over the 25 years has achieved many things,
namely: human capacity building on (i) writing research grants, (ii) policy studies, (iii) translating
research findings into innovations (products, processes and services), (iv) writing policy briefs, (v)general popularization of STI and (vi) influence on policy development. The paper recommended
that ATPS Network should continue to support African countries in capacity building, policy
formulation and information dissemination, and it should expand to all countries in the continent.
Keywords: Achievements, benefits, challenges, experiences and lessons

32

INNOVATION, INCLUSION AND SDGS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: CHALLENGESAND OPPORTUNITIES

Nepeti NicanorSouth African Research Chair in Industrial Development, School of Economics andEconometrics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Email: nepetin@gmail.com and nepetin@uj.ac.za

There is increasing pressure for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to diversify and structurallytransform their economies in ways that reduce poverty and inequality, create quality employment
and catch-up with countries at the frontier. At the same time, there is a global commitment throughthe UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to do this sustainably with climate change andenvironmental considerations. Innovation and technology have potential to play a significant rolein achieving these global, regional and national ambitions. While innovation and technology are
regarded as key drivers of economic growth and structural transformation, they also have asignificant role to play in addressing the sustainable development goals on education, health,nutrition, food production and security, accessible and resilient industrial and social infrastructure,
decent employment, inclusive industrialization, sustainable settlements and cities, climate change,marine and terrestrial ecosystems and global partnerships for sustainable development. Yet,innovation and technology policies and practices are major contributors to the creation of some of
the global sustainability and inequality challenges facing the world today, but this is often
neglected in the innovation and industrial development literature. This paper argues that theneglect to critically evaluate their socio-economic and environmental effects is a major oversightthat needs to be addressed. It further argues that innovation and technology contributesignificantly to: inequalities within and between countries, climate change, resource depletion,
terrestrial and marine pollution, ill-health, hunger and poor nutrition, security risk and injustice.
The paper then identifies some of the channels through which unsustainable innovation andtechnology manifest such as business models, global value chains, intellectual property rights
protection and concentration, tax havens, mass production systems, financial institutions,international trade policies and land use practices. The paper further identifies some of therelevant technologies that need to be strongly diffused in SSA to achieve development needs. The
originality of the paper lies in its unique indicators for innovation which departs from those usedin the mainstream innovation literature but which are most relevant to SSA. The paper finallydevelops an innovation policy framework that can guide how SSA can achieve its SDGs objectives
through innovation and technology strategies and policies that are inclusive within the context of
STISA 2024 and the Agenda 2063.
Keywords: Inclusive innovation, SDGs, structural transformation, inclusive innovation policy
framework, technology diffusion
33

NERICA TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION FOR IMPROVED RICE ECONOMY IN NIGERIA

1Omobolanle Marcus Nosiru & 2Mohammed Abdul Yekeen Rahji
1Dept. of Agricultural Science, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Nigeria
2Dept. of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Email: nosiruom@tasued.edu.ng
Nigeria has favourable agricultural landscape that supports large scale rice production. In spiteof this, the country has huge demand-supply gap and self-insufficiency for rice due to low
productivity. Rice is a major staple in Nigeria; hence this self-insufficiency contributes significantly
to national hunger. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 highlights onachieving zero hunger. Nigeria comprises of about 20 percent of Africa’s population. Hence,
implementing SDG 2 in Nigeria has implication of reducing Africa’s hunger by 20 percent. The New
Rice for Africa (NERICA) variety is a modern technological innovation that has been developed toenhance rice farmers’ productivity and also reduce the demand-supply gap. However, there islittle documentation on efficiency and productivity of NERICA technology innovation in Nigeria.
Hence, the study aims to investigate the level of efficiency and productivity of rice farmers that
adopted NERICA technology innovation in northern part of Nigeria. Four-stage sampling technique
was used which involved purposive sampling of the two states, random selection of four local
government areas (LGAs), random sampling of five rice-growing villages from each LGA, andrandom selection of rice farmers that adopted NERICA technology innovation in the villages. A
total of 164 rice farmers that cultivated NERICA rice alongside its technological innovation package
were selected for the study. Data that were collected from the selected farmers include the socioeconomic characteristics, inputs of NERICA technologies and their respective farm output levels.
The analytical techniques that were used to analyze the collected data include descriptive
statistics, Cobb-Douglas production function and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis.
The study revealed that inputs such as NERICA technology seeds, labour, fertilizers and herbicides
had positive influence on farm output. The socioeconomic characteristics like level of NERICA
technology adoption, frequency of extension contact, access to credit, level of farmcommercialization, household size and cooperative membership influenced total factor
productivity, average productivity and marginal productivity of selected rice farms. Most of the
farmers were operating at increasing returns to scale. In addition, NERICA technology enhanced
the technical efficiency and managerial efficiency of the rice farmers that adopted the innovation.
It was recommended that rice production can be significantly improved throughinstitutionalization of programs that would accelerate the promotion and adoption of NERICA
innovation technology in the country. Proper implementation of NERICA innovation programs has
potential to bring about improvement in rice farmers’ efficiency and productivity. The resultant
effects of these would be reduction of national rice self-insufficiency and hunger.
Keywords: NERICA technology innovation, Rice, Returns to scale, Productivity, Efficiency.
34

HEALTHCARE SERVICES SATISFACTION IN THE PRISON: A CROSS-SECTIONALSURVEY AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INMATES’ PERSPECTIVES IN AN
AFRICAN COUNTRY
Ochonma, Ogbonnia G
Department of Health Administration and Management, Faculty of Health Sciences andTechnology, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu State, Nigeria.
ogbonnia.ochonma@unn.edu.ng; godoch002@yahoo.com

Assessment of patient satisfaction allows general practitioners to investigate the extent towhich their service meets the needs of their client group, identify aspects of the service where
patients are less satisfied, and potentially improve these aspects of care. However patientsatisfaction surveys have been conducted in a number of different settings in Nigeria but are
scarcely investigated in prisons and this informed the study. This was a cross-sectional study
conducted at three prisons in Enugu, Oji River and Ibite-Olo all in Enugu State of Nigeria. Includedin the study were all the prisoners who at one time or the other had used or presently using prison
healthcare services as patients. Application was made through the Deputy Comptroller of Prisons-Enugu to the Comptroller of Nigeria Prisons, Abuja (the nation’s capital), for permission to
conduct the study. Ethical approval for the research was gotten from a local ethical clearance
committee (University of Nigeria ethical and review committee) to conduct the research. One
hundred and fifty patient inmates were interviewed who consented verbally. This method ofconsent was preferred by the patients. In general, for all prisons put together, the patients weredissatisfied with all the listed services. Greater dissatisfaction was on services such as: the physicalappearance of the facilities and the quality of the equipment (2.40±1.33) and timely availability oflaboratory result (2.46±1.36). The between prisons satisfaction comparison revealed that thesatisfaction level differed significantly between the prisons, p < .001. Satisfaction of the healthservices was associated more to Oji-River prison and Enugu prison. The likelihood of being
unsatisfied was 1.7 and 2.4 times higher in Ibite-Olo prison than Enugu prison [95% C.I of 1.452.08] and Oji prison [95% C.I of 1.63-3.53] respectively. Enugu prison and Oji prison had the same
likelihood of being unsatisfied. Satisfaction with healthcare services in the prisons was low. Even
though there were recorded variances in the assessment of healthcare services satisfaction in all
the prisons, the overall result points to low satisfaction even when broken down using age,education, occupation and length of jail service as predictors of satisfaction. These results, it ishoped would be used in the on-going prison reforms necessitated by incessant prison riots by inmates.
Keywords: Healthcare Services, Satisfaction, prison patient inmates, cross-sectional survey,
comparative analysis, Nigeria.

35

FROM ‘COMMUNICATING’ TO ‘ENGAGEMENT’: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
AND AFRO- RELATIONALITY FRAMEWORK FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
COMMUNICATION
Dominic Ayegba Okoliko (Corresponding author) and Prof. Martin de Wit
School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, AI Perold Building, Private Bag X1,
Matieland, 7602, South Africa. E-mail: okolikoda@gmail.com; E-mail: mdewit@sun.ac.za

Climate change poses a significant threat to Africa’s development trajectory; to the social,economic and ecological systems in the continent. The economic landscape of the region depends
largely on the performance of sectors such as agriculture, forestry, energy, tourism, coastal andwater resource which are highly susceptible to climate change impacts. With governance fragility
in the region, climate change risks exacerbate challenges relating to food and water security,
health management, economic stability, land-use, social and cultural cohesion with implications
for agricultural practices. Despite acknowledged Africa’s peculiarities, however, public awarenessand engagement on climate change are considered problematic in the region. There is a need todrive campaigns on sustainable agricultural practices that have social, economic andenvironmental benefits, including meeting the need for increasing food demands. This study
interrogates current practices in mediated climate change communication (CCC) as a forum wheretransformative ideas are shaped. Besides the dominance of non-African epistemologies inliterature analysing the media-climate change and public nexus, there is little attention given to
problematizing ‘public engagement’ (PE). Common assumption pitches ‘the public’ on the one sideand ‘the communicator’ on the other side. This bifurcated model of ‘communicating’ climatechange has import for the forms of subjectivity in climate (in) action, including a weakened
citizenship representation in climate discourse and the depluralisation of ideas. This study argues
that because it is people that stand to be engaged in climate campaigns, it is important to draw
attention to what understanding of “person” and “community” undergird current CCC practice.
Utilising a “conversational method” of inquiring, the paper discusses these concepts from African
political philosophy – Afro-communitarianism and Ubuntu – and intersects them with
contributions from non-African traditions to tease out implications for reorienting CCC towards“engaging” the public as persons-in-relationship. The paper argues that a relational perspective
on our sociality, one which takes into cognisance, context specificity of experience to account fora view of human agent-hood as persons-in-relationship or persons-in-community (1) can inform a
media ethic that can counter the normative valence of oppositional discursiveness which markconventional mediated CCC and (2) provide space for inclusivity of subjectivities within it. The
paper contributes to the discussion on the epistemologies of the South and challenges the binary
approach to the knowledge economy on climate change.
Keywords: Climate change, person and community, African communitarianism, Ubuntu, Afrorelationality, communication
36

HARNESSING THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY: THE STATE OF WOMEN IN THE
21ST CENTURY UMULUMGBE ODO PERFORMANCE
Gloria Nwandu Ozor
Department of English and Literary Studies
Faculty of Arts
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Nigeria
glosunny2005@gmail.com

Over the years, technology has revolutionized the world, even the African traditions are notleft behind. This study is a part of the fieldwork conducted in Umulumgbe in order to ascertain
the influence of modernity on the contemporary performance of Odo masquerade ritual in thecommunity. Thus, this study is an aspect of the fieldwork that studied the influence of modernity
on the participation of women in the performance, its focus is on how the women of Umulumgbe
are taking advantage of the power of technology to ‘enlarge their coast’ during the performanceof Odo masquerade ritual. Odo masquerade ritual is an oral tradition of the people of Umulumgbe,
in the Southeastern Nigeria, which is passed down from generation to generation through theword of mouth. Odo masquerade performance is both social and communal in nature. This isbecause masquerades are agents of transmission of ancestral wisdom from one generation to theother. It is also used to enforce law and order in the community. However, the performance isentirely males’ affair; this is because the secret that guides the Odo masquerade society is only
known by men and this is why the actors are only the indigenous males of the community. In
Umulumgbe, Odo masquerade as males’ performance is traditionally performed by the initiatedyoung or adult males. During the performance of this ritual, women are forbidden to move aroundfreely which hinders their economic growth and their fundamental human rights. Nevertheless,there is a saying that change is the only constant thing in life. In order to carry out the above
investigations, the objectives of the study revolved around the question of how the 21st century
women of Umulumgbe have been able to liberate themselves during the performance of thistradition. The study asked the following questions: Has technology affected the communal viewof Umulumgbe Odo masquerade performance? In what ways are the 21st century women of
Umulumgbe harnessing the benefits of technology during the performance of Odo masquerade?
How has technology promoted the issue of gender inclusivity in this performance? The study will
be approached from modernist point of view.
Keywords: Technology, Tradition, Odo masquerade, Umulumgbe Women, Umulumgbe

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF FOREST RESOURCES TO LIVELIHOODSIN ALIMOSHO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF LAGOS STATE
37

Akinyode Timothy OLAWUMI*, Oluwole Sikiru BANJO

Department of Agricultural Science, Tai Solarin University of Education, P.M.B.2118, Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode,
Ogun State, Nigeria*Corresponding author: aremutim@gmail.com

There is an increasing understanding that forests play crucial roles in sustaining livelihoods
among the rural communities and in poverty reduction strategies. This study assessed the socioeconomic contributions of Forest Resources to Livelihood in Alimosho Local Government Area of
Lagos State through a random selection of two hundred (200) respondents interviewed with aquestionnaire with both open and closed ended questions to elicit needed information on
respondents’ socio-economic and other relevant characteristics. The data gathered was collated
and analyzed using regression analysis and frequency distribution. The findings showed that morethan half (63%) of the respondents were females between ages 15 and 50 years; a greater part(76%) was married with average of 5-10 persons in their households. All respondents (100%) had
one form of formal education or the other and were engaged in different forms of vocation.
Regression results confirmed that access to forest products was associated with household’s
characteristics such as age, position in the household, level of education and distance to the forest
all indicating significant relationship with forest access and utilization of forest resources.
Households' dependence on forests and activities they engaged in also had a significant impact on
the forest in terms of conservation and sustainability of forest resources. The study concluded
that forest resources played vital roles in the livelihoods of the respondents and recommended
that more attention should have been given to forest resources conservation by the government
and assistance should have also been given to foresters in the form of subsidy.

Keywords: Forest, Livelihoods, Socio-economic, Lagos, Sustainable.

38

TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION BEHAVIOUR AND RICE PRODUCTION EFFICIENCYDIFFERENTIALS IN NORTHEAST, NIGERIA: POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR AFRICA’STECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Omeje, Emmanuel Ejiofor1 and Arene, John Chukwuemeka2
1,2Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
The role of technology and adoption of innovation for agricultural development requires,among other things, the generation of financial resources for provision of science and technology
based inputs and political will to support the rural farmers by promulgating favorable policies at
all levels of governance. This study empirically investigates production efficiency differentials andadoption behaviour among rice farmers in Nigeria. The specific objectives were to analyze thesocioeconomic factors of rice production; measure the technical efficiency (TE) under traditionaland modern production technologies and innovations; identify the determinants of TE; andidentify factors that influence the adoption of modern technologies and innovations. Data for the
study were collected from a sample size of 280 rice farmers from Northeast, Nigeria. Descriptive
statistics, stochastic frontier production function, cost function, tobit regression and logit
regression were used to analyze the data. Results show that adopters of modern rice technologies,
techniques and innovations obtained higher average yield than non-adopters, and significant at
1%. The frontier result showed that the mean TE was 69.1%, and 67.6%, respectively for adoptersand non-adopters. Tobit result identified household size, level of education, number of extension
contacts, access to farm input credit and land tenure systems as major determinants of efficiency
in the sub-sector. The logit result showed that annual farm income, access to information, accessto credit, education level of the households heads, family size and membership of cooperative
groups played significant roles in influencing farmers’ adoption behaviour. Irregular rainfall
patterns, herders/farmers crisis, high cost of inputs, among others, were identified as major
problems affecting their decision to adopt innovations or technologies. Inaccessibility and orunavailability of technologies and innovations were the major issues that needed urgent policy
formulation. The study, therefore recommends among others, that African governments should
begin to make urgent and significant policy commitments, to allocate at least 5% of their grossdomestic products (GDPs) to technological research and development (TR&D) as well as engage
other stakeholders in scientific and technological capabilities in a manner that is driven by genuine
political will. Secondly, since rice is a major staple food in Africa, African Heads of States should
promulgate a common policy designed for Africa’s technological development for rice production
where intra-African exchange of skills, innovation, sciences and technology can be harnessed.

Keywords: Technology, innovation, rice production, Nigeria.
39

TRAJECTORIES OF KNOWLEDGE AND INNOVATION SYSTEMS AMONG CASSAVACOOPERATIVE FARMERS TOWARDS IMPROVING LIVELIHOODS AND INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA
Edwards Adeseye Alademerin, PhD.
Department of Agricultural Education & Extension,
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Eswatini,
The kingdom of Eswatini, Southern Africa.
alademerin@uniswa.sz and ealademerin@gmail.com

Innovation is a social process and it starts with mobilising existing knowledge in the productive
areas of agriculture. It has the ability to increase profit and encourage economic and industrial
development. It has existed since the creation of man and in the production, processing andutilization of arable crops like cassava. Cassava researches and development have improved
tremendously over the last five decades in most tropical countries in the continent. These are asa result of improved attention from national, international and non-governmental organizations
within the growing countries across Africa. As a food crop, it has some inherent characteristics
which make it attractive to the smallholder and resource poor farmers in tropical areas of Africa Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo, Zaire etc. It is a poverty alleviation crop and since the crop is
mostly grown by the rural poor, they should be capable of initiating and expanding economic
investments of their own. Significant numbers of knowledge systems and innovations have
evolved in the production of the crop over the period particularly within farmers groups andfarmers’ cooperative societies in these countries. These have improved their livelihoods in diverse
forms thereby leading to emerging industrial development as have been observed using Southern
Nigeria as a case study. This paper takes a cursory look into the emerging nature of ruralknowledge systems, innovations, models of innovation and knowledge systems, researchmethods, government intervention initiatives on cassava development, diverse livelihoods ofcassava farmers, emerging and industrial development of cassava in Southern Nigeria; and theimplications on grassroots development and industrial growth. Four research questions and two
research hypotheses guided the study. Three states one from each geopolitical zone in Southern
Nigeria was purposively sampled and from them, 360 accessible cooperative farmers (males andfemales) were randomly sampled for the study. The study was a survey and a 20-item structured
questionnaire validated by 13 experts in different areas of cassava development was used for datacollection. The internal consistency was established using Cronbach Alpha. Three hundred andsixty copies of the instrument were administered to the respondents out of which 331 werecompleted and returned. Data were analyzed using percentages, means, t-test, analysis ofvariance (ANOVA) and scheffe test. Based on the findings and available literatures with specificexamples, some recommendations are made on better ways to harness these potentials of native
intelligence of the farmers in the rural areas for the overall National and continental sustainableagricultural as well as industrial developments. The overall outcomes of these will be towards the40achievement and realization of Sustainable Development Goal no 2 which is “End hunger, achieve
food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”.

Keywords - Cassava, dietary energy, smallholder, poverty alleviation, rural innovation,indigenous knowledge etc.

41THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL OF LOCAL INNOVATIONS FOR ACHIEVINGSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN AFRICA: THE EXPERIENCE OF ETHIOPIA
Shirega Minuye, Meskay
Consultancy Services, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Literature on local innovations as well as the potential contribution to achieve Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries particularly in Africa is very scarce. Thus, as acase point, this article presents the stocking of local innovation in different livelihood settings ofEthiopia and elaborates for which SDGs goals and targets each local innovation responsive. Thus,
the objective of this study is to explore the local innovations structure, drivers for creating
innovations and to suggest how to synchronize with the modern knowledge systems to facilitate
the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Desk review of published andunpublished studies complemented with experts’ on the area/subject discussion and observation
used as source of data. Result showed that most of the local innovations are accessible, inclusive,
environmental soundness, climate responsiveness; and gender responsiveness. Local innovations
emerging from community-based settings create meaningful livelihood impacts for their users andthat, more significantly, the act of innovating contributes to building and strengthening a set ofsystem capacities which are essential for local economic development. In spite of having thispositive value, there is weak link and integration among modern knowledge systems and local
innovations. Therefore, this study suggests there should be established a continuous engagementwith local innovation holders and communities in all aspects of the SDGs process at all levels. To
support this engagement national level process should create conducive space for entrenchment
and respect of traditional knowledge. It is also essential to design strategies and practicalinterventions to combine science and traditional knowledge. As practical interventions, it could
be establish or mainstream the traditional structure of local innovations with the modern
knowledge systems and/or create an institution at national level to capture the database of local
innovations and unlock its potential for achieving the sustainable development goals in systematicmanner.

Keywords: Local Innovations, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Traditional Knowledge,
Modern Knowledge Systems

42

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATIONS IN PRACTICE IN DRIVING THE
AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT AGENDA AND IN ACHIEVING THE SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOALS: A CASE OF ‘TINGADALIRE ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS’USING SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATIONS IN AGRICULTURAL VALUECHAINS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN MALAWI
Tennyson Magombo,
Managing Director, Tingadalire Organic Food Products, P.o box 30351, Lilongwe 3, Malawi.
Email: tennysonmagombo@yahoo.co.uk Cell: +265 992 714 625

There is an increasing need to improve value addition and take care of the environment in orderto realize maximum benefits from agricultural and waste management systems. Application ofscience, technology and innovations (STI), could not be avoided if agricultural and waste
management systems are to be efficient and sustainable in Africa. This paper illustrates how
Tingadalire Organic Food Products- a business owned and managed by a former chairperson of
African Youth Forum in Science and Technology (AYFST) is applying STI in integrating value
addition and waste management systems in Malawi. Using raw material purchasing and finishedproducts sales data from 2015 to 2018, the impact of value addition on incomes of smallholder
farmers, plastic waste collectors, and aggregators were analyzed. The contribution of Tingadalire
Organic Food Products towards achievement of some of the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) was also examined. The analysis revealed that cost and revenue extents increased withvalue addition for both smallholder farmers and plastic waste collectors and/or aggregators. It isalso evident that, Tingadalire Organic Food Products is contributing in one way or another towards
achievement of SDGs through her activities that ensures social inclusion, economic growth andenvironmental protection. It is therefore recommended that governments should be allocating
adequate resources in STI capacity building among the youth if Africa is to realize its development
agenda.

Keywords: Science, Technology and Innovations; agricultural value chains; waste management;sustainable development goals.

43

PROVIDING OFF-GRID SOLAR LIGHT TO RURAL AREAS IN SIERRA LEONE

1K. G. Mansaray and 2T. Morlai
1Mechanical and Maintenance Engineering Department, Fourah Bay College

mansaraykg@gmail.com
2Inclusive Development and Research Consultancy (IDRC) Firm, Sierra Leone

teddymorlai@gmail.com

Biomass, especially wood and coal, dominates the energy sector in Sierra Leone, accounting forsome 80 per cent of consumption, followed by imported petroleum products at some 13 per cent.
Grid-generated electricity makes up the remainder, or approximately 7 per cent. Less than 1 percent of the country’s rural population has access to electricity. Households use almost exclusively
wood fuel, the traditional form of energy, for cooking and other activities – despite its significant
health and environmental concerns and failure to provide night-time lighting. People’s health andproductivity are seriously hampered by their dependence on traditional fuels and technologies,
with women and children most at risk. This project is designed to tackle this challenge by providing
lighting/power in off-grid rural areas of Sierra Leone through solar photovoltaic (PV) lanterns,
thereby improving medical services and children’s education, and empowering women. The feefor-service/rental model for dissemination of solar lanterns piloted in India in the early 1990s was
adopted in the Sierra Leone village of Kychom where six charging stations for 50 solar lanterns
each were set up. The project has had tangible impact in different areas, such as children’s
education (doubled enrolment and a 60 per cent rise in examination success), job creation (thanks
to the need for technicians, organizing committees and extended business hours), better healthservices (solar energy powering lights at clinics), and women’s socioeconomic status. The use ofsolar energy to provide light to off-grid households and communities is the initiative’s majorinnovation. It is unique in the sense that Kychom village had never had easily accessible energy;
only urban residents have access to grid electricity. The project has a strong capacity building andtraining component for local technicians, while the income generated from lantern rentals andmobile phone charging is used to pay salaries and address system costs. Further research on
profitable sectors and segments in the agricultural value chains in rural communities in northern
Sierra Leone proved the need for mini-grid solar power in the agricultural value chain forsustainable income of women entrepreneurs in rural Sierra Leone. The Fisheries, poultry andLivestock sectors of the value chain particularly show high potentials for higher returns on
investment (ROI) if solar power is applied as a trajectory.
Keywords: Solar energy, PV Lantern, off-grid electricity, agricultural value chain, ruraldevelopment

44

SPEEDY DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA USING SMART ENERGY OPTIONS AND AIR
POLLUTION REDUCTION
Kingsley Ukoba
University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park campus, Johannesburg, South Africa
ukobaking@yahoo.com

Sub-Sahara Africa continues to struggle with power supply and with the few countries having
regular power supply powered by fossil fuels. These fossil fuels pose a huge risk to the earth.
Although, Africa is positioned geographically to benefit from the enormous supply of resources
such as wind and solar to meet her energy especially power needs. This paper discussed the roles
renewable energy especially solar energy can play in the development of Africa and actualizationof the sustainable development goals (SDGS) and Fourth Industrial revolution. The last part of thepaper discussed Africa’s silent killer known as air pollution and ways Africa can reduce the menaceof air pollution through social-cultural practices already existing in the continent. This paper also
discussed the opportunity and challenges mitigating full utilization of smart energy options
especially solar energy in the continent and solutions to the utilization. Also, emerging solarmaterials and how Africa can domesticate photovoltaic technology to reduce cost and enhance
the advancement of the continent is presented. The danger associated with continuous usage offossil fuels and energy in Africa is highlighted. This paper also discussed ways the country cantransition from air pollution causing-practices to alternate method of providing heat and cooking
without using wood thereby curbing air pollution. It also shed light on air pollution caused by
vehicular emission by proffering green and renewable alternative mixed with Africa culture. The
technologies of smart energy will play a vital role in speedy actualization of the SDGs and help
Africa in the Fourth Industrial revolution. Adequate, reliable and affordable energy especiallypower is needed for successful implementation of automation, Robotics, Internet of a thing (IoT)
and other associates technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A stable and affordable
power supply will drive industrialization and help entrepreneurs grow. This paper will contributeto body of knowledge and proffer solution needed to develop Africa through provision ofaffordable, efficient, sustainable power supply and reduction of mortality and respiratory diseases
caused by air pollution.

Keywords: Energy, development, SDG, Air pollution

45

Sub Theme 2: The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Africa’s Readiness

LEVERAGING 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (4IR) TO DRIVE AFRICA’STRANSFORMATION
Dr Julius Gatune
Africa development challenges are well known but not the solutions. Proposals fortransformation strategies have been advanced (see ACET, AfDB, Brookings). Many still propose
some of the paths trailed by Asian tigers e.g. light manufacturing. However, the technologicalchanges that have heralded the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution have made some of thetransformation pathways untenable. Indeed the assumptions that have underpinned
development are being challenged and some economic models being rendered useless. Whilelong term planning seems to be the way to securing sustained development, one might ask what
longterm planning should like in the era where technological changes are changing the world
rapidly and in fundamental ways. What now is needed is better ability to anticipate and agility torespond to opportunities while not losing the long term goal. The 4 th Industrial Revolution isindeed providing a challenge even to the most developed countries. Africa is particularly
challenged given the low levels of skills and technologies. All the same the paradigm shifts being
presented by 4IR also provide new opportunity for powering the transformation and indeed evenleapfrogging as we have seen with mobile phone technologies. Africa needs to re-imagine its
future in the context of the emerging 4th industrial Revolution. This paper will review readinessof Africa for 4IR, transformation opportunities that 4IR presents how Africa can leverage 4IR todrive transformation. This will draw from a number of studies and roundtables we have done on
future of work in Africa and also transformation strategies.

Keywords: Industrial Revolution, African Development, Technologies, Technological changes

46

Sub Theme 3: Improving Africa’s Intra-Africa Trade Using Science, Technology andInnovation
XENOPHOBIA: RETARDING AFRICA’S INTRA-AFRICAN TRADE, SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGYINNOVATION (STI) TRANSFER AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

Omeje, Emmanuel Ejiofor.
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Foreigners from other African countries have faced various forms of discrimination, targeted
violence and wanton destruction of property and businesses in South Africa. This has also caused
reappraisal attacks by some citizens of other countries in their domestic nations, leading tomultiple effects on the African economy, intra-trade relationship and infringement on sciencetechnology-innovation (STI) transfer potentials. These xenophobic attacks, among other vices
such as corruption, low value of currency, low trade finance, institutional constraints, poor
infrastructure, smallness of country markets, multiple tariffs and taxation on processed and semiprocessed agricultural products by both developed and emerging markets, have affected and may
likely continue to affect Africa’s intra-trade potentials in the future if nothing is done urgently totame these vices. The main objective of this work was to review the negative effects of xenophobia
on intra-African trade, science-technology-innovation (STI) transfer and agricultural development.
Specific objectives of the paper were to: investigate the major cause of xenophobia in South
Africa; examine the immediate effect of xenophobia on South African economy; examine thetemporal and long term effects of xenophobia on their agricultural sector; and examine the impact
on science-technology-innovation (STI) transfer. The research adopted literature review
methodology and highlighted the following thought-provoking findings and proffered solutions:
results suggest that the major cause of xenophobia was that foreigners from other Africancountries, mainly Nigerians, Somalis, Malawians, Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, Ethiopians andCongolese, allegedly suffocated their businesses, hijacked jobs meant for locals and as well as theirwomen. Results also show that in fear of their lives, non-South Africans were forced to close theirbusinesses and to go into hiding, thereby leading to massive pull out of capital from the South
African economy. Further investigations show that major agricultural inputs such as feeds forlivestock, perishable fruits and vegetable, and other products were not delivered on time or never
got to their destinations, and this has far-reaching impacts on agricultural productions. Reprisal
attacks across many other African countries have led to temporal closure of South African owned
technological companies such as MTN and is a disincentive to further investment in STI in Africa.
The paper recommends among others, that South African government and other African Heads
of State should collaborate with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other private
sectors to coordinate, sensitize and educate people on the effects of xenophobic attacks on

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Africa’s intra-trade relationships and must also ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted according
to the laws.

Keywords: Xenophobia, Africa’s intra-African trade, science-technology-innovation (STI),
agricultural development.

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Sub theme 4: Funding science, technology and innovation priorities for Africa’s development

Funding science, technology and innovation priorities for Africa’s development
Akanimo Odon (PhD),
Envirofly Consulting UK Limited, a resident company of Lancaster Environment Centre,
Lancaster University LA1 4YQ United Kingdom, a.odon@lancaster.ac.uk (corresponding author)
The African Union Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024, emphasizes
that African states have the potential for a 1% contribution of their GDP towards financing STI
programmes. African leaders have always committed to increasing funding for national, regionaland continental programmes for science and technology but so far only a handful of the countries
have implemented that. In 2013 Africa’s gross expenditure on research and development was
about 0.45 percent of GDP, compared with 2.71 percent in North America, 2.10 percent inSoutheast Asia 1.75 per- cent in Europe, 1.62 percent in Asia, and 1.03 percent in Latin America
and the Caribbean. The African figures have not changed much since then. Africa was home tojust 2.4 percent of the world’s researchers (1.1 percent for Sub-Saharan Africa and 1.4 percent inNorth Africa), compared with 42.8 percent in Asia, 31.0 percent in Europe, 18.5 per- cent for North
America, and 3.6 percent for Latin America and the Caribbean. In most African countries, STIinclined research institutions depend wholly on their federal government who now struggle tofund them; they don’t engage strategically well with private sector organizations or industry who
can potentially fund them; Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs), when they exist, that can
attract funding are not well operationalized and often gather dusts on shelves; solution-driven
research, even when problems abound, is an afterthought; access to increasing international
funding is a struggle; and when they apply for funding, proposals are poor and not commercially
viable because grantsmanship is deficient. As Africa witnesses an increase in private sector
investment, technological development and industrialization across a wide range of STI-sectors,
there is need for national policy level considerations of sustainable resource mobilization models
that considers STI-research and development as mandatory. Backing this up with a holistic
capacity building of STI-stakeholders on models of internationalization, eco-innovation andgrantsmanship is also non-negotiable if Africa is to substantially increase its funding landscape for
STI priorities.

Keywords – eco-innovation, resource mobilization, internationalization, grantsmanship,
funding.

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CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FOCUS ON SAHEL AND SAHARAREGION OF AFRICA: SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS RESEARCH STUDY FOR PAN AFRICAN AGENCYON GREAT GREEN WALL (PAGGW)Dr Magnus C. Onuoha
Executive Director, West Africa Green Economic Development Institute (WAGEDI) Gregory
University Uturu Abia State, Nigeria.
Email: chidimagnus1@gmail.com
The Africa Union (AU) in 2006 established a mandate and endorsed the Great Green Wall Africa
Programme (GGWAP). It was launched in 2008 for 23 African countries affected by drought anddesertification: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroun, Central African Republic(CAR), Chad,
Cape Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gambia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger,
Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Tunisia. The Pan African Agency on Great
Green Wall (PAGGW) located Nouakchott Mauritania is supervising the mandate.
Since the establishment of the PAGGW, its impact has been dismal and are not able address
most of the objectives due to various administrative and technical constraints. These concerns
was further buttressed in 2015 by the Executive Secretary of PAGGW, Abdalla Teah when he
implored Member Countries ‘’to set up mechanisms for conducting activities and launching
dialogues for the interest of the communities at the Great Green Wall region.’’ Therefore theobjective of this study is to address the gaps identified in the implementation and to proffer
solution as highlighted in our deliverables. In line with the scope of study, the prospects in thevalue chain especially among the beneficiary countries is huge.
The Methodologies and Deliverables are as follows:1.
Advocacy and sensitization among stakeholders at three levels-All tiers of Government;
Community at the PAGGW corridor; and media/civil society.
2.
Conduct of technical baselines studies with emphasis on various Reports on soils, water,
demography, meteorology, and indigenous plant species.
3.
Programme Assessment and Sustainability Analysis with emphasis on vulnerability
assessment tools for other countries successful in the shelterbelt system through comparative
analysis, review study visit for the 23 countries, peer view of the two studies through Sahel-Sahara
stakeholder dialogue.
4.
Establishment of Demonstration/Pilot Nursery along the minor shelter belt to fortify theWall through Demonstrations, engagement of Horticulturists and Green Rangers.
5.
Planting of Trees along the major belt through engagement of Tree Planters, Belt
Managers/ Supervisors and purchase of delivery trucks, and working instruments.
6.
Achieving sustainable water content through rain water harvesting and dam reservoir
transfer facilities, ground water exploration, water tanker and spray trucks and protecting theexisting water shed.
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7.
Consultancy services are designed to organise national and regional sensitization
workshops, community/youth relation centres, and exploring climate finance windows andcarbon trading platforms.
The study will enable PAGGW be investor haven having been given an opportunity for thedevelopment of carbon market model and also functioning as a shelter belt. It will also be in linewith the Paris Agreement where all the 23 Countries submitted their Nationally Determined
Contribution (NDC) with attendant opportunities therefrom.

Key Words: AU, PAGGW, NDC, Drought& Desertification, Sustainability.

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Sub theme 5: Gender and inclusivity in science, technology and innovation

ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST RURAL WOMEN’SPARTICIPATION IN MODERN INNOVATIVE PALM OIL PROCESSING IN SOUTH EAST
NIGERIA
Ezeibe, Adaku Bridget Chidi
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Email; adaku.ezeibe@unn.edu.ng

The study was conducted in Enugu State south east Nigeria; to ascertain the reasons for low
use of modern innovative palm oil processing by women. It sought answers as to the factors thathinder the productive role of women in palm oil processing. Specifically, the study examined thesocio economic characteristics of the women and their effects on modern palm oil processing,source of palm fruits available to the rural women, determine cost and benefits involved andexamine specific task done by women in palm oil processing. Primary data was obtained by theuse of a well-structured questionnaire and personal interview. Data were collected from 150 rural
women palm oil processors in the study area. Descriptive and inferential statistical tool were usedin analyzing the objectives. Result revealed that most of the respondents (74%) obtained fresh
palm fruit bunches for processing from the villages or open markets. They obtained palm oil, palm
kernel, palm wine, brooms, basket, livestock forage and fuel wood from palm oil production andprocessing. All the women processors (100%) used leg in processing palm oil while fifty-six percent(56%) of the women used hydraulic pressing. The major source of labour used for oil palm
processing was household members (68%). The effective source of information for rural women
was ADP officers (68%), radio (56%) and fellow processors (51%). Oil palm processing is a
profitable business in the area with a gross margin of N560,350 (about USD 1500) for an average
enterprise. Serious constraints to mainstreaming rural women in modern palm oil processing in
Enugu state south east Nigeria were lack of modern processing equipment (80%), lack of finance(78%), lack of technical knowledge (73 %), etc. The study recommended the need for government
to hasten the supply of rural infrastructures and processing machines. The women should be
encouraged to form cooperative societies, this will enable them to generate funds for themselves,
access credit and receive free education on modern innovative methods of processing palm oil.
Also, provision of enabling environment for improving productive capacity of women will increase
productivity.

Keywords: rural women, oil palm processing, innovative method, constraints, south east Nigeria

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AGROFORESTRY - COPING MECHANISM FOR FOOD INSECURITY AND
UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA: A CASE OF RURAL WOMEN / YOUTHS IN IMOSTATE, NIGERIA
Ogueri, Emma Ifeanyi1 and Mgbada, Justina U2
1Department of Agricultural Extension, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State,
Nigeria. Email: emma_ogueri@yahoo.com
2Professor of Agric Extension, Rector, Federal College of Agriculture, Isiagu, Ebonyi State,

Nigeria. Email: uzomgbada@yahoo.com

Food insecurity and unemployment heighten insecurity in Nigeria. Women bear moreconsequences of food insecurity as they spend longer hours with hungry household members.
Youths (mostly graduates) indulge in cyber fraud, combined with kidnapping and armed robbery
as a result of unemployment. It is feared that these trends could increase prostitution, divorce,
ritual killings and kidnaps in Nigeria. Given scarcity of land, Agroforestry had been introduced toincrease resource management by rural women to tackle food insecurity whereas businessprofitability through Extension Education attracted youths to form co-operatives to harness
benefits of Agroforestry towards reducing unemployment. Objectives of the study were to
determine rural women perceived effects of agroforestry as coping mechanism for food insecurity
and willingness of youths to undertake agroforestry and value chain as business concern.
Methodology was participatory approach where 270 rural women as respondents from cooperative groups amongst three agricultural zones in Imo State, using multistage samplingtechniques were trained to participate in the research. Data were collected using questionnaire,semi structured interview and focused group discussion (FGD) - especially for the Youths.
Descriptive – frequency, mean, percentage and inferential statistics – analysis of variance wereused to analyze collated data to obtain results. Results showed that 60% of rural women organized
into co-operatives do not understand what agroforestry is all about though 85% of co-operative
members were willing to practice agroforestry to support household food security in dwindling
economy. Study revealed average age of farmers involved in study was 51years, 77% married withaverage household of 6. Implication is that younger women relocated to rural areas perhaps as aresult of accommodation problems in cities and increased hardship. Married with responsibility
to feed average of 6 in household, agroforestry and value chain activities became coping
mechanism. With Educational level (34.4%), completion of secondary education, extension had
better impact on agroforestry technology transfer. Monthly average income of N35,000 ($100),$3.3/day, agroforestry farmers lived above poverty line of $2/day as stipulated. Among theyouths, 75% during FGD opined willingness to embrace agroforestry as business and coping
mechanism against continued unemployment if training/input-driven extension education withmarket linkage opportunities are available. Study concluded that agroforestry /value chain have53

potentials to address social problems by ensuring food security and alleviating poverty occasioned
by high level of unemployment amongst youths. Recommendations were that Public Private
Partnership approach should be deployed to popularize agroforestry practice. Federal Ministry ofAgriculture should establish 74 agroforestry demo farms in Nigeria. Encourage Agroforestry
Practice Club (APC) with incentives like Extension Education, Improved species of oil palm fruits,
citrus, grains, cassava and vegetables to sustain interests among adopters of agroforestry
technologies.
Key words: Agroforestry, Women, Youths, Unemployment, Poverty.

GENDER-BASED ANALYSIS ON ICT ACCESSIBILITY AND UTILIZATION FOR
ENHANCED PERFORMANCE AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN OGUN
STATE, NIGERIANOSIRU, Omobolanle Marcus and OSHIONEBO, Esther Emike
Department of Agricultural Science, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu Ode, Nigeria
Email: nosiruom@tasued.edu.ng
In modern day urbane Nigeria, Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) is turning intoa family name being utilized almost everywhere and every sphere to gain access and obtainnecessary information. Most global modernizations that are achieved in recent times are products
of introduction and contact with the ICTs. These technological advancements however should ofnecessity also be carried along with women empowerment. In the pursuit of gender equity, ICT
should be adopted and accepted as an instrument for gender development. This is in consonancewith the Conference in Beijing 1995. However, in spite of the importance attached to ICTs in
Nigeria, women are frequently inadequately represented in terms of ICT accessibility andutilization. In addition, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4 and 5 focus
on achieving quality education and gender equality for women and girls. Therefore, this study
examines the gender differences in ICT access and utilization by gender using a public Higher
Education Institution in Nigeria as case study. It also considered the relationships between ICT
usage and students’ performance by gender. Multistage sampling technique was used for the
study. This involved purposive selection of students of second, third and fourth years ofundergraduate study. Simple random sampling technique was used for selection of the
respondents. A total of two hundred and ninety respondents were selected for the study; thiscomprised of 136 female and 154 male students. Descriptive statistics and Ordinary Least Squares(OLS) regression analysis were used as analytical techniques for the study. The study revealed thatthe female students had less access to ICTs like laptop, smart phones and tablet devices. Most of
the female students only had access to internet through by patronizing cyber café as against theaccess to same facility in the comfort of their homes. Broadband internet connectivity was mainly
available in the university library, and male students were more frequent at utilizing this facility
than the female counterparts. Wi-Fi / wireless internet connectivity was utilized more by the male54

students than the female students. On average, the male students spent more time on internetrelated activities than the female students. The major computer skills possessed by the selectedstudents were email, search engines databases, digital audio, learning management system andweb tools. In all these internet-related activities, the female students were less skillful than theirmale counterparts. On the other hand, the female students had better academic performance
than the male students. There was significant relationship between ICTs usage and academic
performance among female students, while the two variables were not significant among themale students. The study concluded that the female students should take more advantage of the
ICT facilities within their disposal for much more better academic performance; while the malestudents should justify their access to ICTs by judiciously using the technology for academic
purposes rather than being tools for distractions. ICTs should be incorporated as critical teaching
aid components for all classes in public institutions.
Keywords: Gender Differences, ICT accessibility, ICT utilization, Academic Performance,
Undergraduate Students

GENDER GAP ANALYSIS OF ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION (TI)
AMONG RURAL FARMERS IN NIGERIA: A CASE OF GENDER MAINSTREAMINGAND DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN AFRICA
1Adama Alami, and 2Omeje Emmanuel E.
1Department of Education/Social Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
2Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

Gender inequalities, women exclusivity and some social imbalances such as poor or unequal
access to land and farm input credit have been militating against adoption of Technology andInnovation (TI) among women in Africa. These can only be addressed when relevant policies andresearch-based strategies are employed to modify some gender exclusive culture, norms andtradition which discourage women from engaging, trainings, and adoption of technology andinnovation for sustainable agricultural development. The study, therefore, investigates gender
gaps in adoption of Technology and Innovation (TI) among rural farmers in Nigeria. The specificobjectives of the study were to: describe the gender gaps in adoption of science, technologies andnew innovations among rural farmers; examine the gender gaps characteristics in the yield, accessto land, and input credit; determine the effects of TI adoption on agricultural growth; andgenderize the major constraints militating against the adoption of science, technologies and new
innovations among rural farmers. Data for the study were collected from a sample of 920 rural
farmers. Results showed that 69% of the rural farmers were women. The differences in55

engagement and adoption of TI among women and men were high under different categories. In
the women categories, those with zero level of adoption of TI were 30%, while 31%, 28% and 11%
were fairly adopting, moderately adopting and highly adopting categories, respectively. Also, forthe men, those with zero level of adoption of TI were 11%, while 41%, 30% and 18% were fairly
adopting, moderately adopting and highly adopting categories, respectively. The gender gap ratios
showed that 40% and 75% of the women and men, respectively had access to all season farming
land, while 32% and 20% of the women and men respectively had no access to farm input credit.
The difference between their average yields annually was 24%, with men 75% and women 51%.
The effect of TI adoptions on yield shows that yield increased significantly at 1% as rural farmers’level of adoption increased. Out of the 20 constraints suspected to be militating against the
adoption of TI among rural farmers, 10 and 8 loaded significantly against women and men
respectively. This study noted that women have more challenges and lesser opportunities ofaccess to resources due to culture and nature, and therefore recommend gender-sensitive bestpractices that should be adapted and implemented in Africa to encourage inclusivity and gendermainstreaming in the emerging world of science, technology and innovation.

Keywords: Gender gap, adoption, technology, innovation, rural farmers, Nigeria

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