DATE / TIME:

June 30, 2016    10:00 - 12:00

Location:

Accra

The United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) respectfully invites the general public to a seminar. The seminar aims at sharing information with stakeholders on research being conducted by two of the Institute’s visiting scholars.

Date: 30^th June,  2016

Time: 10-12pm

Venue: UNU-INRA Office, 2nd Floor, International House, University of Ghana campus, Legon, Accra

Details of the Seminar

Technical and Environmental Efficiency of SMEs in Agro-processing in Cameroon, by Dr. Totouom Armand

Due to their high dependency on fossil fuel/combustible for production, industries have been identified as significant contributors to environmental degradation. To understand the opportunities for greening SMEs in agro-processing in Cameroon, this study analyzes their technical and environmental efficiency for the use of environmentally detrimental inputs. Using a stochastic frontier approach to analyze data on 334 SMEs, we found an average technical efficiency score of 0.711 and an average environmental efficiency score of 0.1071. Even if results do suggest a significant difference in technical efficiency between rural and urban SMEs, it highlights the superiority of rural SMEs over urban SMEs in terms of environmental efficiency. A regression carried out to identify the determinants of environmental efficiency suggests a negative and significant impact of age and lack of equipment. Implications of the research for environmental policies are discussed in the paper.

Impact of Green Infrastructure on Agricultural Labour Productivity in Nigeria, by Dr. Kabir Kayode Salman

Green Infrastructure (GI) is important in improving Labour Productivity (LP) given its roles in ecosystems protection that facilitate farmers’ activities and crop production. However, the impact of GI on the dwindling productivity growth is not yet documented in Nigeria. This was explored in this study using Nigerian General Household Survey data of 2012/13. The impact was modeled using bootstrapping quantile regression. The Result shows that more than half of the farming households were endowed with low GI and this had affected nutrient availability of the soil. The LP differed across land ownership status and GI endowment. The LP was higher (₦66.87/hour) for households with high GI than the low GI category (₦26.56/hour). The impact was 41.49 and 0.42units for the 75th and 10th quantiles, respectively. Enabling policies towards improving awareness of GI should be integrated into land use and agricultural planning to improve the growth potentials of the farming households.

About the Speakers

Dr. Totouom Fotue Luc ARMAND, a lecturer from the University of Dschang-Cameroon, holds a Ph.D. in environmental economics, from the University of Yaoundé II. His main research interests are Applied Econometrics, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Health Economics, Development Economics, and Gender issues. He has authored several publications and has been involved in several research projects with institutions such as the CEEPA, the AERC, and the PEP.

Dr. Kabir Kayode Salman obtained a Ph.D degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is currently a senior lecturer in the same Department. He has taught resource economics, human capital management, econometrics and research methodology. His research interests are Rural Economics, Political Economy, Impact Assessment, Policy and Development. He had worked with IFPRI, AERC and FARA. He is a member of AGRODEP and Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists.