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In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the corrosion prevention practices applied to agricultural equipment manufactured and used in Nigeria, it is necessary to identify the various corrosion prevention methods and specify the contribution and the efficiency of each method to corrosion protection. This paper outlines the basic corrosion prevention methods used in practice and attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of their use in relation to agricultural service in Nigeria. The results of this study indicated the use of oils, fats, waxes and lubricants on metal parts, spraying with gasoline on corrosion‐sensitive parts constituted the majority of applied corrosion protection in industries where the equipment is manufactured and/or used. The study concluded by giving practical recommendations that are essential for improving corrosion prevention in the Nigerian agricultural industry.

Agriculture remains the largest sector of Nigerian economy, generating employment for about 70 per cent of the population. With the ever‐increasing market demand for agricultural products, mechanisation of most farm operations is gradually on the increase. This new development has brought about an increase in the cases of accidents through the use of farm tractors.

This study was carried out in the south‐western part of Nigeria to investigate the safety measurement, effectiveness, and its contributions to farm tractor usage in the State. The study identified various causes of farm tractor accidents, consequences and different classes of farm tractor‐related accidents. The effectiveness of each accident prevention method and frequency of use were investigated and put into consideration in the data analysis.

It was revealed through the analysis that the use of safety protective wear gave the highest contribution (24.05 per cent) to total accident prevention on farms while the use of orientation training and seminars gave the least contribution (8.30 per cent) with the lowest frequency of use than the other methods.

The results of this study serve as baseline information for tractor manufacturers regarding the inclusion of certain parts in new or proposed tractor designs with particular peculiarity to Nigerian farmers.

This paper gives an estimation of the magnitude of farm tractor accidents in relation to the Nigerian farming situation and proposes remedial actions.

This study examined public knowledge and compliance with infectious disease preventive measures using COVID-19 as a case study. Exploratory research design was employed to collect primary qualitative data from 23 market-involved individuals through the use of in-depth interviews. Responses from the interviewees were audio-recorded, transcribed and categorised into themes before content analysis was used to decrypt fundamental cognitive processes and patterns. Results showed good public knowledge of the infectious disease signs and symptoms, mode of transmission as well as prevention. However, knowledge of how and why some of these preventive measures should be engaged was inadequate or lacking. Findings further showed knowledge-praxis gaps as expressed in the non-observance of face mask directives, disregarding social distancing requirements, and non-compliance to handwashing obligations. Lastly, results showed that observed preventive inactions were reportedly rooted in scarcity of proximate infectious disease cases, public distrust in government, leadership exemplar deficit, individual's poor responsibility mentality, and difficulties in adapting to preventive and control guidelines. Knowledge of this study is most beneficial to market-involved individuals affected by infectious disease policies. This empirical study has helped to unveil the need to bridge knowledge-praxis gap in order to curtail the spread of any infectious disease especially in market areas. The study concluded that unless health communication of infectious disease is adequately and properly disseminated, knowledge-praxis gaps remains inevitable. The need for detailed dissemination of health information, cum intervention strategies that bridge the observed knowledge-compliance gaps is highly imperative in a progressive and dynamic society.

Direct energy utilization in nine palm‐kernel oil (PKO) mills located in Southwestern Nigeria was analyzed. The mills were stratified into small, medium and large‐scale categories, based on their modes of operations and production capacities. Evaluation of energy usage was carried out in the seven readily defined unit operations namely: palm‐nut drying, palm‐nut cracking, palm‐kernel roasting, palm‐kernel crushing, PKO expression, PKO sifting and PKO bottling/pumping. PKO extraction rates in the three mill categories were evaluated. The average PKO extraction rate for small, medium and large mills were 48.45 percent, 42.68 percent and 36.24 percent, respectively. The total energy expenditure in small, medium and large‐scale PKO mills were 350.89MJ/tonne, 230.70MJ/tonne and 181.74MJ/tonne, respectively. This suggests that the unit energy requirement for PKO output decreases as mill capacity increases. The four most highly energy‐intensive operations identified were palm‐nut cracking, palm‐kernel roasting, palm‐kernel crushing and PKO expression, altogether accounting for 95.29, 92.14 and 93.65 percent of total energy used in small, medium and large‐scale mills, respectively.

The cheapest and most rapidly available metal for agro‐processing equipment fabrication in Nigeria is plain carbon steel. However, there are some aggressive ions present in raw agricultural and food products, which may attack the steel components of these processing machinery, resulting in their untimely failure in service. The present study investigates the effect of fluid squeezed from cassava tuber on the corrosion behaviour of mild steel.

The investigation involved periodic weight loss measurements of 0.8 per cent carbon and 0.36 per cent carbon steel rods as they were exposed to cassava fluid. The relationships between loss in weight of the exposed samples and exposure period were determined. Models were developed to relate corrosion rate in each environment with total surface area and exposure period.

The results show that 0.36 per cent carbon steel was less affected by corrosion than 0.18 per cent carbon steel, with corrosion intensity in both cases, increasing with duration of immersion. Generally, there was low level of corrosion resistance (high corrosion rate) by the two steel materials. The correlation coefficient between the experimental values of corrosion rates and predicted values (using the developed models) was high.

In food and agricultural industries, product quality, health and sanitation issues are the major concerns. The industries cannot tolerate corrosion deposits in the manufactured products. Hence, material selection for machinery fabrication is essential. In line with this, the results of this study indicate that mild steel materials are unsuitable for use in cassava processing without some forms of surface treatment.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate tractor maintenance practices and costs in Nigeria with a view to making replacement decisions and for overall farm budgeting.

The information was obtained via a structured questionnaire. Tractor owners were grouped into three categories: government agricultural settlements, established farms, and individual farms. Data used for analysis were collected from 60 farms located in major farming centers of the southwestern part of Nigeria. The report includes the formulation of repair equations, which relate tractor repair cost as a percentage of initial purchase prices to cumulative hours of use. Life cycle costs of three commonly‐used tractors were also estimated. The derived equations, which showed that the repair costs per hour increased with hours of use, were used to obtain the life cycle cost of each tractor model in different tractor owners' farms.

The proposed equation was found to be the best fit with coefficient of determination (R²) ranging from 0.992 to 0.996 for tractors in the three user categories. The trend observed in the life cycle costing of the three common tractors gave the general picture of when to replace each of the tractors based on the strategies being adopted by the tractor owners.

The results of this study would serve as baseline information to tractor owners regarding optimum use of tractors for minimizing repair and maintenance cost per hour and for making replacement policy. It would also be helpful to government and other agencies for future planning in the provision of tractor services to the farmers at relatively lower repair and maintenance cost.

Proves that a reduction in repair costs by careful operation and adequate maintenance could result in a significant reduction in tractor ownership costs.

Because of the peculiar nature of food and agro‐processing industries, the industries cannot tolerate corrosion deposits in their production lines. Hence, there is the need to account for corrosion control before and during the production operations. This is more so in Nigeria where there is little or no proper accountability of corrosion cost in all production system.

The industries investigated were grouped into: meat and meat product, dairy and milk, beverages and brewery, confectionery and agro‐processing centres. Questionnaires and interview pro forma were used to collect information from ten major factories/outlets in each category. The study involved the use of life cycle costing to assess corrosion management alternatives and to determine the annualized value of each option.

Among the corrosion prevention methods identified in the industries, greasing gave the least cost contribution (15.9 percent) to the total cost of corrosion prevention followed by painting (17.97 percent) and cleaning (66.14 percent) in that order, while the contribution of each corrosion maintenance method to the total cost of corrosion maintenance was, respectively, 13.08, 7.23, 20.73 and 58.96 percent for annual maintenance, repair, rehabilitation and wages of workers.

This study reveals some of the control measures commonly adopted for minimizing corrosion damage in some selected food and agro‐processing industries in Nigeria. It also investigated the cost implication of each measure and how it affects the present value of processing machineries in each industry. The results of the study have created a state of awareness of corrosion problems to stakeholders, which would encourage preventive actions.

This study aims to investigate the historical antecedent of baranda practice, marketing strategies of Onibaranda, as well as the benefits and challenges associated with baranda practice.

Using exploratory research design, primary data were collected from 27 interviewees in two purposively selected markets in Ibadan. Responses were audio-taped, transcribed, proofread, categorized into themes and, finally, content analyzed to decrypt the underlying thought patterns and processes.

The findings showed that the origin of the age-long practice of baranda was unknown. It was also discovered that Onibaranda used various, dynamic and situational marketing strategies to carve a niche for themselves, in response to the demand of the markets in which they operate. Lastly, the results showed that while some stakeholders see Onibaranda as useful and necessary marketing agents that uniquely connect sellers and buyers, others outline the ignoble role that Onibaranda play in their bid to create valuable exchanges between sellers and buyers.

Knowledge of this study is germane to informal market stakeholders both in Yorubaland and across the globe.

Unless baranda practice is properly regulated, various ills associated with it might discredit the numerous benefits inherent in the practice. Concerted effort by all market stakeholders is, therefore, highly imperative so as to provide rules and regulations that will guide and check the excess practices of Onibaranda in the study locations, as this will enhance customer satisfaction, sellers’ profits and smooth continued operation of Onibaranda.

This empirical study represents the first attempt to examine the structure and praxis of Onibaranda in Ibadan.

Automated flow line manufacturing systems are becoming more and more relevant in industry, especially in the food and beverage sector. Improving the efficiency of automated flow line manufacturing systems is the core objectives of all companies as measured by the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) index. The purpose of this paper is to carry out an innovative micro downtime data collection and statistical analysis in the food and beverage sector; it introduces a numerical indicator called “Cost Performance Indicator-CPI” to estimate the performance improvement of investment activities. Moreover this analysis will be used as a basis to carry out a new simulative model to study micro downtime of automatic production lines. In addition, the presented micro downtime data collection and statistical analysis will be used to construct a new simulative model to support improvement activities.

Descriptive and statistical analyses are carried out about OEE, time to repair (TTR) and time to failure (TTF) data. The least efficient production line is identified and principal causes of inefficiency are investigated. Micro downtime (downtime lower than 15 minutes) covers 57 percent of inefficiency. Investigations are carried out into the three principal machines affected by this inefficiency. The study then investigates the causes of micro downtime of these machines using ad hoc data collection and analysis. The probability distributions of TTF and TTR are evaluated and an analysis of micro downtime causes and a cause-effect is carried out. The most attractive investment in terms of recoverable OEE (1.44 percent) and costs is analyzed through the calculation of a CPI. One of the conclusions is to recommend the introduction of a payback period with a variable contribution margin.

This study get the basis for the construction of a new simulative model based on ad hoc micro downtime probability distributions, applied in automated flow line manufacturing systems. It gives an effort to downtime analysis in automated production lines and a guideline for future analysis. Results of this study can be generalized and extended to other similar cases, in order to study similar micro downtime inefficiency of other production lines. The statistical analysis developed could also potentially be used to further investigate the relationship between the reliability of specific machines and that of the entire line.

The case study presents a new detailed micro downtime data collection and statistical analysis in the beverage sector with the application of a numerical indicator, the CPI, in order to drive future actions. In addition, the presented micro downtime data collection and statistical analysis will be used to construct a new simulative model to support improvement activities. Moreover, results can be generalized and used as a basis for other micro downtime analyses involving the main causes of inefficiency in automated production lines.

Family planning is one of the services that has positive influence on the social welfare and health of the mothers and directly contributes to reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality. Family planning is a major health issue in Africa and it has degenerated more into socioeconomic problems like poverty, overpopulation, delinquent children, and so on. Studies have shown that family planning is safe to use but this has remains obscure to most women in developing countries such as Nigeria. Fewer numbers of women have knowledge and access to family planning but majority of Nigerians failed to adopt the habit as a result of many factors such as education, age, culture, religion, income, and health status which influence their attitude toward family planning among others. Social Action Theory was used as the theoretical guide in examining the behavior, attitude, and perception of women toward family planning as well as to give a clear knowledge about the importance of family planning on individual, family, and society at large. This chapter reveals that population explosion, malnutrition, and diseases such as HIV (and other diseases) are trending in Nigeria. Hence, it was recommended that every health worker should engage more in community-based awareness and enlightenment on the utilization of family planning; also, there is a need to intensify information dissemination and educational campaigns through the media. Furthermore, importance should be placed on modern contraceptives.