Florence Olu Ogunrin, Olubunmi Ogunrin and Adebayo Akerele
The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of need dissatisfaction and need importance in the two groups of orthodox medical doctors in Nigeria, relating these…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of need dissatisfaction and need importance in the two groups of orthodox medical doctors in Nigeria, relating these motivational variables to quality in‐patient care.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on Maslow's theory, and the question format in Heller and Porter's study; 33 government‐employed doctors, and 29 private practitioners were surveyed. The “t‐test” and Mann‐Whitney test were employed in statistical analysis.
Findings
The paper finds that the two groups differed significantly in perceptions of need dissatisfaction with respect to 13 of 26 need items; and in the importance attached to “opportunity to belong to social groups” and pay. When absolute values are considered, the overall picture suggests that the two groups are most dissatisfied with pay, physiological, security, self‐actualization, and transcendence needs.
Practical implications
If doctors as a microcosm of Nigerian workers are to replace poor work habits with quality concepts, their needs for better pay must be satisfied to enable them to meet their physiological needs, and better facilities provided in hospitals to support skill utilization. An economy functions as a system. Doctors consume and render services. If they do not have to procure personal power‐generating sets, self‐protection, and other services that ought to be accessed as public utilities, they will be more emotionally engaged with their tasks.
Originality/value
The main contribution in this paper lies in the evaluation of the motivational needs of Nigerian doctors, healthcare being fundamental to life, and the emphasis on centrality of employee motivation in any planned service improvement efforts.
Details
Keywords
Some service elements and processes address the minimal requirements and expectations of customers, while others go a step further to add value to the service experience. This…
Abstract
Some service elements and processes address the minimal requirements and expectations of customers, while others go a step further to add value to the service experience. This article describes and illustrates a simple method of looking at customer satisfaction survey data that service marketers can use to distinguish minimum requirements from value enhancements.
Dare Akerele and Adebayo Musediku Shittu
Emphasis on the potential roles diverse farm production systems could play in enhancing food consumption variety and nutritional well-being in rural developing countries has…
Abstract
Purpose
Emphasis on the potential roles diverse farm production systems could play in enhancing food consumption variety and nutritional well-being in rural developing countries has increased in recent times. However, there are paucities of empirical works connecting diversity in agricultural production and dietary diversity in Africa, and Nigeria in particular. The purpose of this paper is to, therefore, examine, among others, the causal link between farm production diversity and consumption of varied diets among farm households in Nigeria using a nationally representative panel data.
Design/methodology/approach
Unlike the simple food count measure, the authors adopt two-dimensional indices to assess food diversity, and estimated both fixed and random effects versions of panel data econometrics models with the two-dimensional indices as regressands.
Findings
Results show that food production system is less diverse with an average farm household consuming fairly varied foods across seasons. All the econometrics models estimated consistently established positive and statistically significant influence of farm production diversity on household dietary diversity. Higher food prices, especially rice and roots and tubers could substantially reduce dietary diversity with the negative effects likely to be more devastating for low-income farm households. The specificity of household being a net food seller had positive, although weak influence on dietary diversity.
Originality/value
The findings accentuate, among others, the need for strategies to promote farm production diversity, transform farm households to net-sellers of foods and enable them take advantage of food price signals to boost farm incomes as important pathway for diet quality improvement and reduction of food insecurity, malnutrition and related diseases in rural Nigeria
Details
Keywords
Olanrewaju Omosehin, Joseph Oseni, Adewale Olutumise and Evans Osabuohien
The economic importance of palm oil produced by its producers in food requirement, income generation, production and consumption has led to a significant increase in its demand…
Abstract
The economic importance of palm oil produced by its producers in food requirement, income generation, production and consumption has led to a significant increase in its demand over the years. Thus, this chapter evaluates the effects of palm oil price fluctuations on the welfare of palm oil producers in Nigeria based on annual time series data (1980–2018). In achieving its objectives, the study employs Autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL). The result establishes the presence of a long-run relationship in the welfare of palm oil producers. The long-run estimates show that palm oil prices had a positive but insignificant relationship with the welfare of palm oil producers. In the short-run estimates, palm oil price and the exchange rate had adverse and significant effects on the welfare of palm oil producers, while the inflation rate positively and significantly influenced welfare. Therefore, the welfare programme should adopt policies that will stabilise the palm oil price and other foodstuffs to increase the standard of living of palm oil producers and raise their literacy levels.
Details
Keywords
Abraham Falola, Ridwan Mukaila and Kafilat Ololade Abdulhamid
The problem of inaccessibility of finance for farm investment is a common phenomenon among farmers, especially the rural dwellers. Thus, there is a need to know how the…
Abstract
Purpose
The problem of inaccessibility of finance for farm investment is a common phenomenon among farmers, especially the rural dwellers. Thus, there is a need to know how the accessibility of informal finance can be increased to increase farm investment. Therefore, this study evaluates farmers’ access to informal finance and its contribution to farm investment among rural farmers in Northcentral Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-stage random sampling technique was employed to select 160 farmers. Primary data collected were analysed with descriptive statistics and the Heckman selection model.
Findings
The study revealed that cooperative society is the major informal means of loan acquisition used by the farmers followed by Rotational Savings and Credit Associations (RoSCAs). Informal loans contributed to agricultural investment through the various operational activities involved in production. Factors influencing farmers’ access to informal loans were the age, farm size and income of the farmers. Interest charged, farmers' age, farming experience, household size, education and loan duration were the drivers of the amount borrowed from the informal financing sector.
Practical implications
The findings of the study call for policies that will sustain informal financial institutions in developing economies, like Nigeria. Thus, the government through its regulatory agencies should assist informal finance providers with the necessary resources to achieve more goals. This is because the informal credit lenders help in bridging financial gaps created by formal financial institutions, such as commercial banks.
Originality/value
Unlike the previous research studies, this study investigated the driving factors of the amount borrowed from informal finance and its use in farm investment.
Details
Keywords
Ireen Raaijmakers, Youri Dijkxhoorn, Harriette Snoek, Kikelomo Amoreoluwa, Adedola Adeboye, Olufolajimi Talabi, Christine Plaisir, Augustine Ehimen Okoruwa, Oluwole Toye and Coen van Wagenberg
Despite its health benefits, vegetable consumption is low in urban Nigeria. Interventions have been successful in increasing urban Nigerians' vegetable intake in the home…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite its health benefits, vegetable consumption is low in urban Nigeria. Interventions have been successful in increasing urban Nigerians' vegetable intake in the home environment, but interventions doing so for popular out-of-home consumption are lacking. This study aimed to design, implement and assess an intervention to increase the vegetable intake of urban Nigerians through street foods.
Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental design was applied in Lagos, Nigeria. During the intervention, 12 trained street food vendors (SFVs) actively promoted the health benefits of vegetables to their customers (using marketing statements and posters) and provided the option to buy an additional green leafy vegetables (GLVs) side dish to their meal. Purchases were observed, and a survey was conducted before and during the intervention to measure perceived meal quality and satisfaction. Six to eight weeks after the intervention, a mystery shopper visited the vendor to assess if they were still selling additional GLVs.
Findings
Almost half (46%) of the 1,506 observed customers bought additional GLVs during the intervention. Both at baseline (N = 452) and during intervention (N = 564), meal satisfaction was high. Users were on average more educated and older than non-users. Most vendors did not perceive the sale of additional GLVs as additional work. Six to eight weeks after the intervention, nine vendors (75%) were still selling additional GLVs.
Originality/value
This study showed that SFVs informing consumers on the potential health benefits of vegetables and offering these vegetables in street food dishes at a commercially viable price is an interesting option to increase vegetable intake.
Details
Keywords
Fatai Abiola Sowunmi, Oladunni Akinwande Daramola and Ishaq Adewale Tijani
The economic recession that Nigeria recently passed through caused distortions in economic and well-being of Nigerians. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The economic recession that Nigeria recently passed through caused distortions in economic and well-being of Nigerians. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the economic recession on households’ demand for basic foodstuffs in Southwest Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 380 respondents drawn from urban areas of Lagos, Osun and Oyo states using multistage sampling technique. Descriptive statistics and Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System were employed to analyze data collected.
Findings
The study showed sharp increase in the prices of basic foodstuffs during recession. Households were compelled to spend higher percentage of their monthly income on basic foodstuffs. Also, 51.1 percent of the respondents were government workers who experienced inconsistent or modulated monthly salary during the period. The percentage of households that were food insecure was 36.4 percent. Osun State had the highest monthly per capita expenditure (₦5,147.13) on foodstuffs, followed by Lagos and Oyo states while rice had the highest expenditure share (0.26), followed by yam (0.18), beans (0.106), vegetable oil (0.104) and garri (0.101). The breakdown also showed that 11.7, 18.1 and 17.7 percent of the total household monthly expenditures in Lagos, Osun and Oyo states, respectively, were spent on basic foodstuffs.
Research limitations/implications
There purchasing power of naira reduced significantly during recession, thus compelled households to spend more on basic foodstuffs compared to similar purchases before economic recession.
Practical implications
The reduction in purchasing power of naira affected the formal and informal sector. Irregular salary for civil servants reduced their expenditure on goods and services.
Originality/value
The study is original and topical, serving as literature of accounts that transpired among the households as far as demand for basic foodstuffs is concerned during the economic recession.