• Energy Research

Semi-arid areas show climatic variability on a spatio-temporal scale. There are few studies on the long-term trends and intensity of this variability from East Africa. We used National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration re-analysis climate data (1979–2009) in this study. Rainfall exhibited a non-significant long-term trend. The climate of the area is variable (coefficient of variation-CV >35.0%) with spatio-temporal oddities in rainfall and temperature. A rise in minimum (0.9 °C), maximum (1.6 °C) and mean (1.3 °C) temperature occurred between 1979 and 2009. There were more months with climate variability indices below the threshold ( 2.6) were experienced between 2004 and 2009 than between 1984 and 2003. We consider that the use of spatio-temporal climatic informati...

Using the case of the Fadama Graduate Unemployed Youth and Women Support (GUYS) programme, this study investigated the impact of agricultural training programmes on youth agripreneurship performance in Nigeria. A total of 977 respondents comprising of 455 participants of the programme and 522 non-participants were sampled across three states in Nigeria. Data were collected using a well-structured questionnaire programmed on Open Data Kit (ODK). Data were analysed using the Endogenous Treatment Effect Regression (ETER) model. The probit model results revealed that participation in the programme was significantly influenced by age, years of formal education, marital status, current residence, employment type, and perception of training. The empirical analysis showed that after controlling for endogeneity, participation in the programme led to better performance which was measure in terms of average income from agripreneurship activities. These findings highlight the significance of training in improving the performance of young agripreneurs and suggest the need to encourage and out-scale programmes such as the Fadama GUYS, both in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa as they can contribute to better performance of youth-owned agribusiness firms.