Decisions regarding insurance depend crucially on the extent to which individuals are willing to bear risk.Farmer's decision of whether or not to participate in insurance is likely to be influenced by comparison of expected net gain (or loss) with or without insurance. The attitudes of farmers to risk were assessed using Likert scale. The results show that farmers were aware of the benefits of agricultural insurance and were positively disposed to it. However, majority were against using insurance as a prerequisite for extension of credit lines. This study uses Safety First principle to investigate the impact of insurance on risk attitude of farmers.The result show the overall mean to be 2.47 implying that the farmers were intermediate risk takers. The risk attitude coefficient showed that 20.6 percent were low risk-averse, 40.2 percent intermediate risk-takers and 39.2 percent showed high risk-aversion. The influence of socio-economic factors revealed that age, education, experience and stock size were significant and positive determinants of risk attitude. Access to agricultural insurance impacted positively on the attitude of farmers to production risk. The Chow test confirmed differences in risk attitude between farmers with insurance and farmers without insurance.

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The study examined the increasing commercialization of subsistence agriculture and identified the driving forces of the commercialization process. The study defined some concepts under which the process of agricultural commercialization was examined. The study was conducted in the three agricultural zones of Abia state, Nigeria. A total of 120 farm families spread across the state were enlisted for the study. Data were collected bimonthly for a period of six months with structured questionnaires. Data analysis involved the use of descriptive statistics and quantitative techniques. Results show that agriculture is not subsistence oriented. There is some considerable degree of market-orientation. Off-farm income was identified as important source of the commercialization of agriculture. The farm-level determinants of commercialization were labour, fertilizer and planting materials. The production elasticity of labour is high and there are diseconomies of scale. The study observes that the full potentials of agriculture have not been harnessed as agriculture is labour intensive and relies heavily on crude implements.

Aims: This study assessed the demographic transition in the past and projected five decades in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1967-2068: Empirical evidence from Nigeria. Study Design: Past and projected time series data (between 1967 and 2068) were used for the study. The 1967-2068 data sets were resorted to due to lack of complete national data. Place and Duration of Study: Past (between 1967 and 2017) and projected (between 2018 and 2068) five decades in Nigeria. Methodology: The time series data (1967 to 2068) obtained from the 1950-2099 Interpolated Demographic Data of the United Nations Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, on Births, Deaths and Population levels, were used for the study. The 1967-2068 data sets were resorted to due to lack of complete national data. Data collected were analyzed using birth and death rate indices, demographic transition index, growth rate equation and granger causality statistics. Unit root, co-integration and error correction tests were also carried out. Results: Results showed that in the past five decades (1967-2017), the mean crude birth and death rates per 1,000 populations were 43.9 and 18.0 respectively; while that of the projected five decades (2018-2068) was 28.9 and 7.9 respectively per 1000 populations. The demographic indices showed that in the past five decades (between 1967 and 2017), Nigeria was at the second stage (stage II) of demographic transition and expected to remain at this stage in the next five decades (between 2018 and 2068). Results also showed that the population growth rate in the past five decades was 2.584 percent, while the growth rate in the next five decades as projected was 2.098 percent. The population growth rate (2.098 percent) in the next five decades (between 2018 and 2068 as projected) is expected to decrease by an average of 0.486 percent. Results also showed that there is a mutual link between demographic transition and population growth. Conclusion: Nigeria is currently at the second stage of demographic transition and expected to remain at this stage (stage II) in the next five decades. Demographic transition increases the prediction of population growth and vice versa.