In the present study, we evaluated the statistical significance of a number of socioeconomic and demographic variables on the demand for office football pool betting in Ibadan, Oyo State of Nigeria. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) econometric model was employed. The study identifies the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the gamblers and econometrically analyzed the factors influencing gambling activities. The results showed that gender, age, household size, educational attainment, occupation, monthly income of pool bettors, as well as price of coupons, were among the major factors affecting the demand for office football pool betting. To the extent that our sample may be representative of a wide and broader set of circumstances, our finding led to the recommendation of policy and institutions that support government involvement in gambling activities, especially office football pool betting.

The paper investigated the determinants of beef cattle production and technical efficiency of beef cattle farmers using stochastic frontier production function which incorporates a model of inefficiency effects. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was employed for the selection of 360 respondents comprising 97 nomads, 208 agro-pastoralists and 55 ranchers across the 6 major producing states in Nigeria. The inefficiency effects are assumed to be functions of education of farmers, beef cattle farming experience, access to credit sources and farmers' membership of cooperative societies. Empirical results indicate that significant increase recorded in output of beef cattle in the country could be traced mainly to the critical inputs. The estimated average technical efficiencies for the three groups were 0.59, 0.69 and 0.83 for the nomadic pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and ranchers, which indicated that there is still much opportunity for increased efficiency given the present state of technology. The need to develop some low cost labour saving technologies to ease labour constraints on farms was emphasized.

This paper attempts to provide a critical assessment of microfinance as a strategy for poverty reduction in Nigeria. It argues that while microfinance has developed some innovative management and business strategies, its impact on poverty reduction remains in doubt. Microfinance, however, certainly plays an important role in providing safety-net and consumption smoothening. However, for any significant dent on poverty, the focus of public policy should be on growth-oriented and equity-enhancing programs, such as broad-based productive employment creation. There is also need to design financial sustainable models that increases outreach and scale up operations for the poor. More so, financial inclusion agenda should be considered and adopted in a concerted manner.

The study analyzed the cost and returns of dry season tomato production by small scale farmers in Onitsha Agricultural Zone of Anambra State, Nigeria. Eighty farmers were randomly selected for the study and data were analyzed, using descriptive analysis and profitability analysis. The results showed that the mean age of the farmers was 42 years, implying that they were in their productive ages. The respondents were fairly educated as about 45 percent of them had secondary school education. The result of the profitability analysis revealed average gross margin and net income of N670,103.72 and N657,454.62 for tomato intercrop farmers respectively; average gross margin and net margin of N589,910.14 and N577,261.04 respectively, for sole tomato enterprise farmers respectively. This indicated that dry season tomato production was a profitable venture in the study area. The analysis further identified inadequate farm credit and poor storage facilities as the main problems faced by the farmers. The study therefore recommends that farmers should be encouraged to form cooperative societies so as to enable them obtain loans from commercial banks and agricultural banks at regulated interest rates. Government should also focus research on viable methods of storing tomatoes and other vegetables, so as to encourage farmers to produce more and ensure food security.

No abstract