This study examines the impact of cooperative membership on rural income generation. It also analyzes the factors influencing participation in cooperatives among rural households in Southwest, Nigeria. The study was designed to account for selection bias into cooperative organizations. Rural household survey data were used and the estimates were based on both the Probit model and non-parametric propensity score matching method. The findings show that income generated through cooperative membership is approximately 10% higher than those generated by noncooperative members. Empirical estimates of determinants of cooperative membership indicate that years of education, age and land size have significant influences on the decision to join cooperatives.

Background and Statement of the Problem: It has been established that countries with high political and economic risks will draws investment funds away prospective investors from other countries, thus, such countries are at greater risks of loss of confidence in her currency stability and movement of capital to more stable economies. The aforementioned problems may discourage growth, macroeconomic stability, human capital development and institutional changes. Thus, there is the need to investigate the asymmetric cointegrating relationship, if any among the rate of exchange, trade balance and growth in Nigeria. Research Methodology and Data: With the primary assumption of the likelihood of an asymmetric adjustment process in the disequilibrium, the study deployed the M-TAR (Momentum-Threshold Autoregressive) and the TAR (Threshold Autoregressive) models. Annual data on imports, exports, domestic real income, world real income, domestic consumer price index and US consumer price index were used and this comes from the World Bank Development Indicators for the period 1960-2016 and all data are denominated in US-Dollars. Research Findings: The result shows that for the TAR model, cointegration exists among the three variables (economic growth, balance of trade and real exchange rate). An asymmetric adjustment disequilibrium process also exists. The point estimates suggest that the adjustment speed is lower when the balance of trade is worsens. The asymmetric ECM suggests that trade balance, real exchange rate and growth respond to disequilibrium and that the coefficient of domestic income and exchange rate are negative and that of foreign income is positive and statistically significant. Policy Implication: Government of Nigeria should concentrate her policy efforts towards import substitution strategy that will facilitate the production of currently imported goods locally, thereby creating sustainable employment and development of industrial manufacturing sector in Nigeria.

Background: In the context of flattening the curve of the spread of coronavirus in Nigeria, some factors were considered. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between some of the considered factors and physical activity and investigate sex differences on physical activity during the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.  Methods: The study was cross-sectional using an online survey and recruited participants from Nigeria's southwest geopolitical zone through the snowball sampling technique. Descriptive statistics (such as percentages), correlation analyses, and t-test of independent measures were used to analyze the data collected. The data collection was conducted from April to June 2020. Results: The participants' age ranges from 18 to 73years, with a mean age of 42.9 years, a median of 43years, and a standard deviation of 5.41. The result showed a significant difference between males and females (x ̅= 1001.21; SD=1371.83) on moderate physical activity during the pandemic in Nigeria. However, there was no significant relationship between contextual factors; perception of the spread [r (467) =0.028; P>0.05], fear of contracting COVID-19 [r (467) =0.041; P>0.05], stay at home measures [r (467) =-0.030; P>0.05], sensitizing others about COVID-19 [r (467) =-0.044; P>0.05], compliance with safety rules and regulations [r (467) =0.052; P>0.05] and overall physical activity. Conclusion: The study concluded that the relationship between contextual variables and physical activity among Nigerian people during the COVID-19 pandemic is not significant. Secondly, males and females are not different on vigorous and walking physical activity levels.

This study examines the impact of fiscal and monetary policies on agricultural output in Nigeria. Nearly 800 million people suffer from hunger globally and the vast majority of them live in developing countries (United Nations, 2015). These figures motivate the inclusion of zero hunger, defined as the eradication of hunger and the achievement of food security, as a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Agenda and feeding of Africa as one of the High 5s (five) of the African Development Bank Agenda. To achieve the sustainable development goals and the goal of feeding Africa for the developing countries there is the need to reinvigorate the agricultural sector of developing countries. The Agriculture sector in most developing countries is largely underdeveloped and relies on primitive tools as against mechanized Agriculture, output per hectare is still very low, access to capital and credit by farmers is very limited and at very high cost, basic amenities and infrastructure that can enhance Agricultural performance is minimal and of very poor quality. It employed the asymmetric cointegration method and documented that macroeconomic policies have mixed impact on agricultural output in Nigeria over the years. Specifically, important monetary variables that drive agricultural output in Nigeria include interest rate , exchange rate and inflation rate while government budgetary provision for the agricultural sector is still abysmal low and far below the Maputo recommendation, thus its non-significance. Institutional quality was found to have a positive relationship with agricultural output in Nigeria; however, it does significantly influence agricultural output. The study therefore concludes that macroeconomic policies both monetary and fiscal are important drivers of agricultural performance in Nigeria and good institutional quality is key in achieving better performance in the agricultural sector in Nigeria. It is against this conclusion that the study recommends that institutional quality need to be strengthen in Nigeria as this may go a long way to assist macroeconomic policies which will engender better performance in the agricultural sector. The government may need to show more political will to meet up with the Maputo (10%) requirement in terms of budgetary provision for the agricultural sector.