Assessing the combined effects of temperature, precipitation, total ecological footprint, and carbon footprint on rice production in Nigeria: a dynamic ARDL simulations approach.

The present study aims to investigate the combined effects of temperature, precipitation, ecological footprint, carbon footprints, rice plant area harvested, and fertilizer use on Nigeria's rice production by using data from 1971 to 2018. The study used the bounds test for cointegration and the novel dynamic ARDL (DYNARDL) simulation approach. The bounds test shows a long-run relationship. The empirical results show that temperature has a positive long-run effect on rice production; however, this result is insignificant. Furthermore, rainfall has a negative long-run effect on rice production. The ecological footprint has a positive long-run effect on rice production. In contrast, carbon footprint has a negative long-run effect on rice production. For non-climatic input factors, potash fertilizer has positive short-run and long-run effects on rice production, and rice area harvested has a positive but insignificant long-run effect on rice production. The study provides valuable policy directions for the policymakers in Nigeria.

Financial development and carbon emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This study analyzed the nexus between financial development (FD, and its key dimensions), economic growth, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for 37 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 2000 to 2016. The data sources include the world development indicators, the IMF financial development, and the Maddison Project databases. The empirical strategy involved checking for cross-sectional dependence, causality, and regressions analysis using second-generation analytical techniques. The regression analysis technique was the pooled mean group ARDL estimator. The dynamic generalized method of moment estimator was used to provide robustness checks. The findings indicate that overall FD reduces CO2 emissions in the region and supports the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Specifically, the results reveal that a 1 unit increase in the overall FD index results in a 2.867% reduction in CO2 emissions over the long run. The coefficient of the speed of adjustment is found to be approximately negative 41% and statistically significant, which suggests that approximately 41% disequilibrium in carbon emissions is adjusted back to long-run equilibrium within a year. The Granger causality test indicates a bi-directional causality between FD and CO2 emissions. Additional research of the critical financial subsectors for low-carbon growth suggests that the financial market index, including its access and efficiency dimensions, has a considerable CO2 emission reduction effect. On the other hand, the financial institution index has no discernible effect, even though its access and depth dimensions contribute to CO2 emission reductions.

Impact of Poultry Farmers' Participation in Modern Food Retail Markets on Household Dietary Diversity: Lessons from Southeast Nigeria.

This study analyzed the interrelationships between participation in MFRMs and dietary diversity of poultry farming households in Southeast Nigeria. We used cross-sectional data from poultry farmers in Southeast Nigeria and employed instrumental variable and seemingly unrelated regression models to estimate the impact of MFRM participation and major linkages to poultry farm households' dietary diversity. The results show that participating in MFRMs, relative to traditional markets, improved poultry farmers' dietary diversity. Moreover, dietary diversity was positively related to higher poultry farm incomes, higher value of own poultry products consumed, and larger area of vegetable cultivated using poultry droppings as manure. Furthermore, increased poultry farm income, higher value of own poultry products consumed, and larger area of vegetable land cultivated using poultry droppings as manure increased the dietary diversity of the farm households. In contrast, a higher share of poultry production revenue controlled by men reduced household dietary diversity. These findings make clear the potential of improving farming households' nutrition outcomes by promoting participation in MFRMs and the major impact pathways.

The impact of financial development on carbon, non-carbon, and total ecological footprint in Nigeria: new evidence from asymmetric dynamic analysis.

This study investigates the asymmetric dynamic effects of financial development on ecological footprint in Nigeria over the period 1971-2014 using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) framework. Ecological footprint in Nigeria is classified into carbon footprint, non-carbon footprint, and total ecological footprint. The results show that in Nigeria, a positive shock in financial development (an increase in financial development) has significant reducing effect on ecological footprint (i.e., improves environmental sustainability) while a negative shock in financial development (a decline in financial development) has significant increasing effect on ecological footprint (i.e., deteriorates environmental sustainability). Asymmetry test shows that a significant difference exists in how negative and positive shocks in financial development impact on carbon footprint and total ecological footprint, but not for non-carbon footprint. On the basis of the total ecological footprint, the adjustment asymmetry from the dynamic multiplier graph shows that the response of ecological footprint to a negative shock in financial development is stronger. Further findings from the analysis show that economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, and economic globalization are all drivers of environmental sustainability in Nigeria. Overall, the results highlight the need for a deepened financial system, as part of the strategies for achieving sustainable development in Nigeria.