Fish Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Information and Communication Technologies During COVID-19: A Case of Ibadan, Nigeria

Coronavirus has disrupted aquaculture activities at all levels. The pandemic has had effect on farmer’s input, output, market, revenue, and contact with Extension officers. To reduce the growing effect of the pandemic, the use of Information Communication Technologies has become necessary as farmers can get easy access to extension agents and monitor farm activities while reducing exposure to the virus. Hence, this research was conducted to determine fish farmer’s willingness to pay for improved Information Communication Technologies in bridging the gap caused by the Coronavirus outbreak. The study used cross-sectional survey with data collected from Ibadan, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 40 farmers. Primary data was analysed using StataSE13.0 and the results revealed that; 80% of farmers were affected by Coronavirus and acknowledged that Information Communication Technologies play a role in their activities (55%). The probit regression revealed that the scale of operation, age of farmer, household size, status in the household, and usage of Information Communication Technologiess were found to be statistically significant determinants of farmer’s willingness to pay. These points to the fact that improved Information Communication Technologies are relevant to sustain aquaculture output in the face of Coronavirus. The study recommends that the government, the ministry for aquaculture, and stakeholders in aquaculture should support small-scale in the form of training, credit and provision of support systems to help them acquire and use improved ICTs.

Corporate governance and extent of corporate sustainability practice: the role of investor activism

Purpose Following the unceasing pressure on companies to adopt sustainable business practices to mitigate climate effect, this study aims to examine corporate governance (CG) attributes and role of activist investors in influencing extensive sustainability practice for firms in the developed and emerging climes. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel ordered probit regression analysis for 368 companies over 2016 to 2019, the study examined CG attributes that drive extensive corporate sustainability practice. The study addressed endogeneity bias using STATA Extended panel ordered probit regression model with endogenous covariates. Findings The result showed CG attributes is critical for firms, and activist investors play a critical role in driving extensive sustainability practice. Findings further reveal the extent of adoption is relatively low in the emerging climes but showed sign of improvement over the years examined. Research limitations/implications The study focused mainly on larger firms operating in different sectors globally. Hence, findings cannot be generalized for small sized entities. Practical implications The study provides an insightful explanation regarding the extensive sustainability practices and the vital role assumed by activist investors. Social implications The increasing number of companies responding to Carbon Disclosure Project and consequent improvement in scores indicates a corporate commitment to ensuring a sustainable future. Originality/value This research offers significant insights to the extent discussion on attributes of CG critical for sustainability practice. The findings ascertain useful tools to aid the continued adoption of sound sustainability practices around the globe.

The Influence of Technical and Contextual Variables of the Last Stroke on Point Outcome in Men’s and Women’s Singles Badminton

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of the technical and context-related variables of last strokes in rallies on the point outcomes of both men’s and women’s players in elite singles badminton matches. A total of 100 matches during the 2018 and 2019 seasons were analyzed, and the data of 4,080 men’s rallies and 4,339 women’s rallies were collected. The technical variables including strokes per rally, forehand strokes, overhead strokes, and defensive action, and the context-related variables including game status, result against serve, importance of rally, and importance of set, were modeled with Probit regression modeling as the predictor variables. The binary variables of “winner or not” and “error or not” were considered the response variables. The results showed that defensive actions had the greatest impacts on the winners and errors of both the men’s and women’s singles players, and the forehand and overhead strokes were negatively associated with the winners and errors of the women’s singles players and the winners of the men’s singles players. No significant effects were found for the strokes per rally on the winners and errors of the men’s singles players, while significant effects were found for the women’s singles players. The context-related variables appeared to have positive effects on the winners and negative effects on the errors of both sexes. These findings can provide important insights for coaches and players to evaluate their performances of last strokes in rallies and to improve training interventions and match tactics and strategies.

Socioeconomic Determinants of Female Development in the Rural North West Province of South Africa

Women engagement and reward systems are vital for rural development as they have a direct consequence on the improvement, equality, as well as accelerating agricultural productivity generally, and increasing food supply in particular at the local and national levels. The study highlighted the contribution of the Award Incentives and Competition (AIC) programme in enhancing women farmers’ economic strength. It also looked at how influence, change and technological know-how could improve women farmers’ participation in development programmes. It provided an overview of the determinants of female entrepreneurship development in rural North West Province using a quantitative survey method approach. One hundred and fifty-six women farmers, who were randomly selected from all districts in the province and different enterprises out of 520 eligible women farmers, participated in the study. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential (Probit regression) model. Based on empirical data, the Probit regression model estimates suggested that the educational status, creation of temporary and permanent jobs, and extension sources were some of the determinants of entrepreneurial development in the study area. The study recommends that policymakers continue to advocate for education as female farmers need to participate in development programme(s).

Isolation, identification and virulence of indigenous entomopathogenic fungal strains against the peach-potato aphid, Myzus persicae Sulzer (Hemiptera: Aphididae), and the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Background As different biogeographic strains and isolates of entomopathogenic fungi vary in their genetic, enzymatic and pathogenic characteristics, this study assessed the virulence of 2 indigenous strains of Beauveria bassiana (Balsam) Vuillemin and Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschn.) Sorokin (Ascomycota, Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae), isolated from naturally infected insect cadavers, against the 3rd instar nymphs of Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and 3rd instar larvae of Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) using leaf-dip and larval-dip methods, respectively. Results Both fungal isolates exhibited considerable pathogenicity against M. persicae and S. frugiperda. Mortality in all bioassays was conidial concentration and exposure time dependent and increased significantly along with both factors (R2 = 0.86–0.99 for B. bassiana and 0.82–0.94 for M. anisopliae). Moreover, M. anisopliae isolate appeared more virulent to S. frugiperda larvae than B. bassiana isolate, while the later fungal isolate was more lethal to M. persicae nymphs than the former one. At the highest conidial concentration (1.0 × 109 conidia/ml), M. anisopliae caused maximum mean mortality of S. frugiperda (88%) and M. persicae (65%) and B. bassiana exhibited maximum mean mortality of S. frugiperda (76%) and M. persicae (94%). Moreover, probit regression analyses showed LT50 values for M. persicae of 4.57 and 6.86 days at 1.0 × 109 conidia/ml for the isolates of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae, respectively, while LC50 values were 7.75 × 106 and 8.70 × 107 conidia/ml after 10th day of application, for the isolates of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae, respectively, against M. persicae. Similarly, LT50 values for S. frugiperda were 7.75 and 7.03 days for 1.0 × 109 conidia/ml concentration and LC50 values were 2.84 × 107 and 8.84 × 105 conidia/ml at 10th day data for the isolates of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae, respectively. Conclusion Overall study results demonstrated the effectiveness of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae against M. persicae and S. frugiperda, respectively. However, field evaluations of these indigenously isolated promising fungal strains against these insect pests.

Impact analysis of coffee production in reducing poverty in Aceh Tengah

The plantation is a strategic sector in poverty alleviation. In the Aceh Tengah district, coffee is one of the leading plantation commodities that can increase the pace of the regional economy. Gayo coffee has a distinctive aroma and has a high price. Although generally, the people there are active in producing coffee, there are still poor people. It is necessary to analyse the impact of coffee production in reducing poverty in farming communities in Aceh Tengah district. This study uses a probit regression analysis method to see the characteristics of coffee farmers with significantly different non-coffee farmers. It then uses a Propensity Score Matching (PMS) analysis to see the impact of coffee production in reducing poverty farming communities in Aceh Tengah district. This study indicates that the characteristics significantly differ between coffee farmers and non-coffee farmers are age, education, access to food, eating little food, and assets having a motorbike. The per capita consumption of coffee farmers is not higher than that of non-coffee farmers, but the holdings of coffee farmers are more than those of non-coffee farmers.

The performance of tramway service from the users' viewpoint: A comparative analysis between two Moroccan cities

The Moroccan government has recently promoted sustainable public transport projects such as tramway services namely in the two largest cities of country, Casablanca and Rabat-Salé. Since its launch, the tramway service is in-creasingly present in citizens' daily lives in both cities. To maintain its attractiveness, operators and transport authori-ties should examine the performance of tramway service from user’s point of view. That is, an in-depth understanding of how passengers perceive service quality and what make them satisfied. The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of tramway service in the two cities based on the opinions of a sample size of 613 and 435 individuals in each city. The outcome of this peer comparison allows to determine the strengths and weaknesses of provided service and identify priorities for improvement in each city. Regarding the methodology, we adopted a two-step approach to achieve our research purpose. The first stage intends to compare users' perceptions regarding Service Quality Attrib-utes (SQAs) and overall satisfaction and to identify any significant differences between the two cities. To this end, we applied, in the first stage, a student t-test of two independent samples. The second stage employs an ordered probit regression model to identify the most important SQA; i.e., which most influence the overall satisfaction, and improve-ments priorities for the current service tramway. The results showed that, in average, passengers found service quality as good and are satisfied with tramway service in both cities. Tram vehicles’ is the best appreciated service attribute in both cities while Comfort in Rabat-Salé and Lines’ connectivity in Casablanca are the least appreciated. Moreover, the service performance of Rabat-Salé tramway exceeds that of Casablanca tramway in terms of service Availability, ser-vice Reliability, Fares level, Tram vehicle, Drivers’ competence, Lines’ connectivity, and overall satisfaction. On the other hand, we found that among top six important attributes, Reliability and Administrators should be prioritized for improvement in Casablanca; and staff, Lines, Comfort, and Administrators in Rabat-Salé. Results showed that im-provements in all these service aspects would increase significantly overall user’s satisfaction.

Zoom vs. Google Classroom: Which is likely more effective for supporting students’ learning in mathematics?

[English]: The purpose of this study is to predict the probability of successful mathematics online learning using two platforms; Zoom Meeting and Google Classroom, towards students’ learning outcomes. The sample used was sixty-four grade 11 students. Data was collected through a test on matrix topics and then analyzed using probit regression. The results of the analysis show that the student's probability of success to achieve better learning outcomes using Zoom Meeting is 12.46% higher than Google Classroom. In this case, Zoom Meeting can be used as a virtual face-to-face platform, so that the teaching and learning process can be more communicative and interactive compared to Google Classroom, where its use is limited to the delivery of learning content only. Therefore, online learning using Zoom Meeting in mathematics is more recommended because it has a higher chance of improving students’ learning outcomes. [Bahasa]: Penelitian ini bertujuan memprediksi peluang keberhasilan pembelajaran daring matematika menggunakan platform Zoom Meeting dan Google Classroom terhadap hasil belajar siswa. Sampel yang digunakan sebanyak 64 siswa kelas XI. Pengambilan data dilakukan dengan tes hasil belajar pada materi matriks kemudian dianalisis menggunakan regresi probit. Berdasarkan hasil analisis, diperoleh peluang sukses siswa terhadap hasil belajar menggunakan platform Zoom Meeting 12,46% lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan Google Classroom. Zoom Meeting merupakan platform yang dapat digunakan sebagai sarana tatap muka maya, sehingga pembelajaran dapat lebih komunikatif dan interaktif dibandingkan dengan Google Classroom yang penggunaannya dibatasi untuk penyampaian konten pembelajaran saja. Dengan demikian, pembelajaran daring menggunakan Zoom Meeting lebih direkomendasikan karena berpeluang lebih tinggi untuk meningkatkan hasil belajar matematika siswa.

An analysis of the effect of procurement practices on public institutions: an examination of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (mmdas) in the Ashanti region of Ghana

Governments in both affluent and developing countries employ procurement strategies to decrease costs, resulting in large cash outflows that have a substantial influence on their economy. However, especially in the public sector, public procurement practices are usually disregarded in terms of their impact on an organization's success. As a result, utilizing Metropolitan, Municipal, and Distract Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana's Ashanti Region as case study institutions, it is unavoidable to investigate public sector procurement practices and their impact on organizational performance. The survey study design was used to map out the data collection process. A purposively sampled cohort of 113 people was used to administer the questionnaire. Using the Probit Regression Model, the study claims that procurement practices such as planning, sourcing, and contract management have a substantial positive link with organizational success. Given the interdependence of all dimensions of procurement practices, procurement practitioners are urged to give each factor proportionate attention to improve organizational performance.

The determinants of Financial Inclusion and Digital Financial Inclusion in India: A Comparative Study

The access to the Önancial services and digital financial services in India has not yet transformed into their frequent use. Therefore, the present paper provides a comparative analysis of the individual level determinants for few main indicators of the two main dimen- sions of Önancial inclusion and digital Önancial inclusion: access and use, based on binary probit regression analysis using World Bankís 2017 Global Findex data. The paper concludes that education and workforce participation are positively associated with the access to Ö- nancial services and digital financial services and also with the use of most of the financial services and digital financial services. Another interesting result is that being a woman and poor reduces the probability of using mobile banking but do not a§ect traditional banking.