This report presents the research findings on the key social, economic and agronomic dynamics in communities whose livelihoods depend predominantly on the farming of sorghum in northern Nigeria.... Show moreThis report presents the research findings on the key social, economic and agronomic dynamics in communities whose livelihoods depend predominantly on the farming of sorghum in northern Nigeria. Sorghum has become a major element in producing beer and malt by companies like Nigeria Breweries (NB), which is partly owned by Heineken. The two main objectives of this study were to obtain NB’s diverse sourcing modalities and sourcing practices and to examine farm-level issues. In order to achieve the stated objectives, a mixed methods approach was adopted. Four-stage fieldwork was undertaken in 2018 and 2019 in six sorghum- producing states: Kaduna; Niger; Zamfara; Gombe; Katsina; and Yobe States. Researchers from Dutch and Nigerian academic institutions conducted interviews with six vendors from Kaduna and Kano state, administered a questionnaire survey among 433 farmers in the six sorghum- producing states, and conducted interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) with selected sorghum farmers. Based on the data collected, two main groups of sorghum value chain actors were distinguished for further analysis: ‘regular farmers’ and ‘aggregator-farmers’. The former group is further divided into five sub-groups, based on the size of owned land: smallholder farmers I (< 5 ha), smallholder farmers II (6-10 ha), smallholder farmers III (11-20 ha), middle-range farmers (21-200 ha) and large scale farmers (over 201 ha). The latter group consists of vendors and aggregators who combine their commercial activities with sorghum farming Show less
Enrolment in both primary and secondary schools has risen substantially over the years, but secondary and tertiary enrolment remains low. The primary student population increased from just under 4... Show moreEnrolment in both primary and secondary schools has risen substantially over the years, but secondary and tertiary enrolment remains low. The primary student population increased from just under 4 million students in 1970 to more than 26 million students in 2013.Similarly, at the secondary level, student numbers increased from a base of approximately 360,000 students in 1970 to 12.5 million students in 2013. Likewise, the tertiary sector recorded an appreciable increase in the numbers of institutions, variety of courses and enrolled students in the same period. Despite these increases, only about half of all primary students continue to the secondary level, and less than 15 percent eventually make it to tertiary level. The seeming lack of employment opportunities and other problems identified in the tertiary sector has contributed to a substantial increase in the number of Nigerian students undertaking tertiary education abroad, with the United Kingdom and the United States emerging as the top two destinations.Unemployment is high, particularly among youth and higher educated students. Despite Nigeria’s natural resource wealth, many Nigerians appear to have been left behind, primarily because of the shortage of employment opportunities. Unemployment is highest among youth and among those with post-secondary education. Agriculture still has the largest share of employment. Trade emerged as the second most important employment sector providing jobs for Nigerians. Though manufacturing ranks third on the list, the proportion employed in this sector has shrunk to half of what it used to be in the preceding decade. One interesting sector is Information and Communication: while providing less than 1% of all jobs, it contributes more to Nigeria’s GDP than manufacturing, due to its high value added.Nigeria is an important area of origin, destination, and transit of migrants in Africa. It is Africa’s most populous country, and a country of high migration turnover. The high immigration rate (1.2 million in 2017) is accompanied by an even higher rate of emigration of Nigerians (1.3 million in 2017), resulting in a negative net migration rate. The Nigerian Government formally adopted a National Policy on Migration and its Implementation Plan in May 2015. This occurred in the backdrop of a growing recognition of the strong links between migration and potentially immense national development benefits for the country. For instance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated that the inflow of remittances to Nigeria increased dramatically from $2.3 billion in 2004 to $22 billion in 2018; The US, followed by the UK and Cameroon are the top three destinations of Nigerian migrants. In mainland Western Europe, the Netherlands ranks as the fifth destination behind Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria. Noteworthy is the large ‘brain drain’ of Nigeria-trained medical students and health workers as well as academics who appear to be fleeing Nigeria’s struggling tertiary education landscape and unstable labour market prospects. Thousands of them are now gainfully employed in medical jobs abroad, and they tend to prefer the US and the UK to the Netherlands. Show less
Hollander, S.; Dekker, M.; Miroro, O.; Kesteren, F. van; Bossuyt, J. 2018
The research project is a comparative ethnographic study into the usage, perceptions and attitudes towards digital financial services (DFS) in four selected countries: Cameroon, Democratic Republic... Show moreThe research project is a comparative ethnographic study into the usage, perceptions and attitudes towards digital financial services (DFS) in four selected countries: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Senegal and Zambia. The results presented give a voice to users of DFS, giving insight into why people are motivated to use DFS and why they might not be using specific mobile phone-related monetary transfer systems. They also contextualize these motivations through a cultural understanding and reveal that the specific socio-economic and political contexts in which monetary transfer systems function play an important role in the decisions consumers make. Show less
ASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 54 (2016).... Show more ASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 54 (2016). African Studies Centre, Leiden Show less
An earlier version of this African Postal Heritage Paper was published as African Studies Centre Leiden Working Paper 117 / 2015: "A postal history of the First World War in Africa and its... Show moreAn earlier version of this African Postal Heritage Paper was published as African Studies Centre Leiden Working Paper 117 / 2015: "A postal history of the First World War in Africa and its aftermath - German colonies; II Kamerun", written by Ton Dietz. Show less
