Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine households’ acceptability of local (Ofada) rice by identifying the quality attributes influencing marginal implicit prices (MIPs) paid by rice consumers’ households in South-West, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The data used for this study were collected from a survey of 600 rice-consuming households in the study area. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select the respondents. Well-structured questionnaires were used to collect information on general households’ socioeconomic characteristics, their desirability and preference for local (Ofada) rice, and market prices of Ofada rice. Kendall’s concordance test was performed to confirm agreement among respondents in their rankings of the rice quality attributes. Hedonic price function was used to examine the relationship between implicit prices paid by consumers based on quality attributes of local (Ofada) rice, as observed in the market. Findings The result of Kendall’s coefficient of concordance revealed that there is 73.74 per cent agreement in ranking quality attributes of local (Ofada) rice consumers’ households in the study area. Colour, perceived nutrient level, taste, grain shape and rate of breakage were the most ranked quality attributes with mean attribute ranking scores of 1.56, 1.69, 3.12, 5.53 and 5.86, respectively. The result of the hedonic pricing model revealed that households are willing to pay MIPs of ₦71.03 ($0.20), ₦45.23 ($0.13), ₦32.98 ($0.09), ₦21.06 ($0.06) and ₦14.41($0.04) per kg for colour, grain cohesion, grain shape, perceived nutrient level and perceived chemical storage, respectively, while discounting MIPs of ₦60.55 ($0.17), ₦19.36 ($0.05), ₦17.14 ($0.05) and ₦6.00 ($0.02) for texture, rate of breakage, perceived freshness and low swelling capacity per kg of local (Ofada) rice, respectively. Research limitations/implications Continuous importation of rice into the country has many negative implications such as worsening of the poverty status of local rice farmers, unemployment of teeming youths engaged in rice value chain, and exposure to soaring and unpredictable price bringing unsustainable development. Lastly, over-dependency on rice importation, if not checked, can also permit dumping of low quality and sometimes expired rice into the country. All aforementioned reasons will make it difficult for local rice to compete favourably with imported varieties. Practical implications Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and Hedonic model were used as a diagnostic tools. These diagnostic tools show the need for government and relevant stakeholders to focus on improving the quality of local (Ofada) rice, especially the undesirable attributes. This could be achieved by adopting modern processing technology, that will enhance production and consumers’ acceptability, which could make local (Ofada) rice have good market share against imported brands. Social implications The economic value of a good is revealed by the consumer’s willingness to pay for the good, consequently increasing production through consumers’ acceptability, and improve living standard of farmers and processors through increased earnings. Originality/value The choice of a particular local rice, especially local (Ofada) rice, is made to estimate the effect of different attributes on the price paid by rice consumers’ households and to help in the development of effective technologies and policy that enhance better rice quality using both Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and Hedonic model to achieve the objective. For the first time this research has given clarity on the monetary value attached to local (Ofada) rice consumption by rice consumers’ households through quality attributes.

An understanding of dietary knowledge will most likely inform the consumption of healthy foods. Studies have shown that local (ofada) rice is superior to other rice brands in terms of protein and minerals crucial for overall mental and physical well-being. This study, therefore, examined the effect of households' dietary knowledge on the consumption of local (ofada) rice, using a simultaneous equation system that accommodates censored dependent variable and continuous endogenous dietary knowledge. The study used survey data from 600 rice consumers' households in southwest Nigeria and hypothesized that dietary knowledge affects the consumption of local (ofada) rice. The results revealed that dietary knowledge is significantly influenced by factors such as being a household meal planner and presence of household member(s) on a special diet. Dietary knowledge, as hypothesized, was found to positively influence the consumption of local (ofada) rice, as were some sociodemographic variables. The study recommends that effective dietary education about health and other benefits of consuming local (ofada) rice should be developed to promote its consumption in Nigerians' diets.

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The impacts of livelihood shocks on agrarian population especially the natural resource-dependent smallholder farmers in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized, as this devastating event renders many farmers vulnerable because of limited adaptive capacity. Therefore, this study examined the vulnerability of agrarian households to livelihood shocks using a sample size of 368 farmers selected from Oyo State, Nigeria, through a multistage sampling technique, and from whom relevant data were elicited. This study applied the livelihood vulnerability index approach, and composite score technique to decipher the vulnerability space of the respondents, and for the ordinal categorization of the respondents into different vulnerability categories, respectively. The study also used proportional odds model to investigate the determinants of livelihood vulnerability from the perspective of adaptive capacity vis-à-vis the livelihood capital assets of the farmers. Findings from the study indicated that farmers suffered heavily from crime and economic related shocks due to the farmers-herdsmen conflict, while covariate and idiosyncratic related stressors were also reported by the farmers. Findings also indicated a high level of farmers’ exposure to shocks, with a moderate sensitivity to shocks, and a low adaptive capacity, which apparently pre-dispose the farmers to a serious vulnerable position. The farmers’ adaptive capacity linkage of the livelihood capital assets were also found to contribute significantly to farmers’ vulnerability status in the study area. The study recommended strengthening of physical, human, natural, social, and financial capital assets in building a sustained adaptive capacity of the farming population.

Malnutrition and food insecurity remain a significant public health challenge globally, affecting millions of people, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In Nigeria, the prevalence of malnutrition and food insecurity is high, with a significant burden in the South-West region. Despite several interventions aimed at promoting healthy diets and reducing food insecurity, little is known about the pattern of healthy diets and zero hunger among households, as well as the budget shares on the food items driving these outcomes. Therefore, this study analyzes the pattern of healthy diets and zero hunger among households in South-West Nigeria, using the primary data elicited from 600 rice-consuming households, drawn through a multistage random sampling technique. Descriptive statistics and Linear Approximation to Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (LA-QUAIDS) model were used to analyze the dataset. The estimated LA-QUAIDS model was helpful to decipher the relationships that may not be possible to discover using a single-equation model. The finding of this study revealed that rice, especially local (Ofada) rice, is the most consumed food item among the households in the study area with a monthly budget share of 0.195. This is an indication that households spend approximately 19.5% of their monthly food expenditure share on rice consumption. The results also indicated that yam flour (−0.10), cassava-gari (−2.12), and meat (−0.03) are net complements to rice, while the rest of the food items are regarded as net substitutes. The estimated compensated (−1.64) and uncompensated (−1.69) own-price elasticities of local rice, respectively, indicate that local rice variety is price inelastic, and the estimated expenditure elasticity (0.02) suggests that local rice is not a luxury food in the household food basket but a necessity. This study affirms the importance of locally produced foods, especially local rice to the households in the study area. In light of the findings, this study recommends adequate policy aimed at reducing the cost of local food production by boosting domestic production. Apparently, this will technically trigger market price adjustment, as shown in this study, where local rice was estimated to be own-price elastic in nature.