Abstract. Poultry production decision setting is full of risk and imperfect information. Attitude towards risk is a measure of farmers' willingness to take risks which is an important determinant in their production decisions. Strong social capital emanating from social networks can lead to efficient risk management strategies, thereby minimizing risks faced by the farmers. Therefore, the effects of social capital on the risk attitude of small-scale commercial poultry farmers in Oyo state were assessed. Data were collected from two hundred small-scale farmers and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, factorial analysis, multinomial logit and a two-stage least square. Results showed that 52.5%, 37.5% and 10% of the poultry farmers were risk averse, risk neutral and risk preferring, respectively. About 31.4% and 68.6% of the female and male farmers respectively were risk averse. Close to a fifth, a quarter and two-thirds of the risk averse, risk neutral and risk takers respectively contributed 21-30% of the decisions in the associations. Fourteen percent of the farmers belonged to homogeneous groups. The choice of being risk averse was affected by marital status, educational level, family size, percentage spent on poultry income and aggregate social capital. There was no reverse causality between risk attitude and social capital.
Demand for citrus fruit has increased over the years in Nigeria. However, post-harvest loss of tropical fruits is high in developing nations owing to poor handling and storage facilities along the supply chain. The study therefore assessed levels and correlates of postharvest losses of fresh oranges along the orange supply chain. Primary data collected from marketers and producers of orange were analysed using descriptive statistics and ordered logit. Orange farming was dominated by male (68.4%) while orange marketing was dominated by females. Most of the producers (63.16%) and wholesalers (65.38%) experienced postharvest loss of 6-10%, while 46.79% of the retailers experience a postharvest loss of less than 5%. Being a male farmer that harvested oranges in the afternoon increased the likelihood of postharvest losses among the farmers while having a large household size reduced it. However, education, smallholding marketing and use of storage facilities reduced the likelihood of postharvest loss among orange marketers. Postharvest training for farmers and marketers on fruit harvesting and storage methods will help to minimise postharvest loss from producers to retailers.
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