eChapters

10.1. Challenges and Opportunities in SMEs

The Nigerian transport system faces great challenges and also offers several opportunities. The predisposing factors include:

• The size of the country: With area coverage of 923,768.64 km2, spanning longitude 30E-160E and latitude 40N-140N Nigeria is a comparatively large country. It is inhabited by over 140 million people. Transportation is a crucial instrument for linking the country economically, socially and politically.

• Nigeria’s vast natural resources: Nigeria is endowed with petroleum, gas and solid mineral resources. The country is also blessed with abundant agricultural and forest resources, which vary by the three ecological zones of the country. The country is endowed with a highly productive open sea with abundant and diverse marine resources within her coastline of 852km bordering the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Guinea and her maritime area of 46,000 km. This variation is a factor in spatial interdependence. Transport plays an important role in the exploitation and distribution of these resources and in the reduction of spatial inequality and in poverty alleviation.

9.1. Challenges for Nigeria

Nigeria, at independence in 1960, was largely a producer and net exporter of primary products. The six major agricultural products then were cocoa, rubber, palm oil, groundnut, cotton and palm kernel. Although there existed mining and quarrying activities, these were of negligible percentage and never counted for the economy as a whole. In other words, agricultural produce and raw materials constituted the sole foreign exchange earner for the country. Specifically, the Nigerian state as an exporter of agricultural goods had 69.4% of its total GDP for the year 1963/64 comprising the six aforementioned agricultural commodities (Olaloku, 1979:8).

The trend of having agriculture as the main foreign exchange earner for Nigeria stopped in the early 1970s when the country was suddenly awash with petrol dollars arising from the quadruple increase in the price of oil in the world market. From 1972 onwards, oil gained ascendancy over all other commodities as the largest contributor to the GDP, and also as a major foreign exchange earner. There was substantial increase in oil production accompanied by a sharp increase in the global market price of high-grade crude oil from low price of $3.8 per barrel in October 1973 to a skyrocketing price of $14.7 per barrel in January 1974. This trend continued till 1981 when the price of crude oil attained a high level of $38.77 per barrel. Within the same period, total revenue from oil rose correspondingly from ? 1 billion to ? 4 billion while external reserves increased from ? 180 million to ? 3.7 billion in 1975 (Osaghae, 1998:96).

8.1. Major Obstacle to Nigeria Economic Growth

In Nigeria, high transport prices are rightly seen as a major obstacle to economic growth of the region. This has been documented in several studies. One of them (Amjadi and Yeats, 1995) even concluded that, in Nigeria, transport costs are a higher trade barrier than import tariffs and trade restrictions. In this paper, it is analyzed, identified and quantified the factors behind Nigeria’s high prices of road transport, with the purpose of helping policy-makers adopt appropriate actions to reduce transport prices to domestic and international trade. Before the presentation of the results, a distinction has to be made between logistics costs, transport prices, transport costs and vehicle operating costs in order to avoid the usual confusion. This distinction is useful because prices may or may not reflect transport cost:

7.1. Rural Poverty in Nigeria

The Federal Republic of Nigeria has a population of more than 160 million - the largest in Africa - and a fast-growing economy. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, contributing about 40 per cent of GDP. The agriculture sector employs approximately two-thirds of the country’s total labour force and provides a livelihood for about 90 per cent of the rural population. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, yam and cowpea - all staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also a major producer of fish. Yet it is a food-deficit nation and imports large amounts of grain, livestock products and fish. Nigeria’s huge agricultural resource base offers great potential for growth. Recent government policies have started to show results: The agricultural sector reportedly grew by 7 per cent a year between 2003 and 2007, and at a slightly lower rate in recent years. Still, the area of land under cultivation could be doubled. Of an estimated 71 million hectares of arable land, only about half is presently under production. And there is substantial scope for an increase in irrigation, which now covers only 7 per cent of irrigable land. Irrigation and other inputs would substantially increase average yields for major staple crops, which are below those in other developing countries.

Despite Nigeria’s plentiful agricultural resources and oil wealth, poverty is widespread in the country and has increased since the late 1990s. Some 70 per cent of Nigerians live on less than US$1.25 a day. Poverty is especially severe in rural areas, where up to 80 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, and social services and infrastructure are limited. The country’s poor rural women and men depend on agriculture for food and income. About 90 per cent of Nigeria’s food is produced by small-scale farmers who cultivate small plots of land and depend on rainfall rather than irrigation systems. The poorest groups eke out a subsistence living but often go short of food, particularly during the pre-harvest period. The productivity of the rural population is also hindered by ill health, particularly HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Nigeria: Economic and Non-Economic

6.1. Issues in Growth and Development in Nigeria

Nigeria has attempted through various reform programmes to better the lots of her citizens by providing dividend of development, such as education, health, social infrastructure. Broadly speaking, the features of an underdeveloped economy create obstacles in the way of economic development, and hamper economic progress. These features emerge out of economic, social, political, religious and institutional factors. It would be wrong however to conclude that only economic factors are responsible for poverty or economic backwardness of a country. Non-economic factors are equally responsible for the under development of an economy. The factors discouraging economic development may be classified into economic and non-economic factors which are:

Enterprises

5.1. Worldview on the Issue of Small and Medium Enterprises

Research on successful and unsuccessful new and young growing enterprises can aid understanding of growth processes and barriers to growth. Research on how the growth of new enterprises can be better supported, particularly through education at colleges and universities also would be useful. Hence, all over the world increasing attention is being paid to the potential of university education to facilitate high growth enterprises. For example, research has demonstrated that a high-growth entrepreneur in Europe is better educated than other entrepreneurs and the general population. In Europe, most founders of technology based enterprises have a university degree. Research carried out in Germany has shown that enterprises started by individuals with university degrees tend to grow faster than enterprises founded by n on -academics (Egeln, 2000). (Ley, 2006) states that, Research is also needed on how to motivate and nurture the entrepreneurial potential of female students who traditionally may be less inclined to found and manage innovation-oriented high-growth firms. Another group of specific interest is ethnic and immigrant entrepreneurs, who - though often not innovative in the beginning - may introduce novel business practices and subsequent product and service innovations within established communities.

4.1. Issues in Employment
4.1.1. What is employment?

Employment is a relationship between two parties, usually based on a contract, one being the employer and the other being the employee.

(a) Employee

An employee contributes labor and expertise to an endeavor of an employer and is usually hired to perform specific duties which are packaged into a job. In most modern economies, the term “employee” refers to a specific defined relationship between an individual and a corporation, which differs from those of customer or client. Other types of employment are arrangements such as indenturing which is now highly unusual in developed nations but still happens elsewhere.

3.1. Approaches for Promotion Entrepreneurship Programmes in Nigeria

This book used the following typology of approaches:

1. Start: Stimulating local business start-ups that enter into new local markets, there - by avoiding the trap of yet another ‘me-too’ enterprise with low revenues. Promote business start-ups as a way of creating additional jobs and incomes, and promoting competition and structural change. However, these startups often lack innovative business ideas. Instead they enter sectors with a low entry threshold, but with high competition from other companies. Stimulating local start-ups that apply IB models could encourage players to enter new markets that are not yet saturated with competitors, while at the same time serving development goals. Possible target groups for this approach include university students, NGOs or experienced business people who create a spin-off company or leave their company to engage in a totally new business. In a country or sector where IB models are still rare, the first questions that arise are why this is the case, and whether potential markets exist for the use of IB models. Questions to ask include

2.1. Place of SME in Remeding The Nigerian Economic Paradox

This can best be explained by the two-gap economic model. The Two-Gap Models of development are contained in the Post-Keynesian growth models designed by Harrod and Domar. They tried to identify the pre-conditions for the economic growth of market economies. These two preconditions are es- sentially rooted in the Nigerian economy and these are (1) Internally: inad- equate savings would definitely translate to investment. The GAP between these two is called saving constraints (SAVING GAP). Closing this gap re- quires SME-financing. (2) Externally: inadequate foreign exchange arising from inability to export vis-à-vis high importation will lead to short fall in foreign exchange. The GAP between these two is called foreign exchange constraints (TRADE GAP) which can be corrected by facilitating the establishment of indigenous enterprises through a national embrace of the SME-initiatives. Ni- gerian leaders resorted to foreign aid assistance from developed countries, multilateral and bilateral international organizations to salvage the economy from total collapse; but, we can’t continue to carry the begging bow as our benefac- tors only give us fish and don’t teach us how to catch fish.

1.1. Definition of Small-scale Enterprises

According to Shonekan’s keynote address at the Faculty of Business Administration Conference (1992), captured with the theme: “Management of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria.” He said,

“While it is difficult to have one universal definition of SMEs since there are usually many non-constant factors and variables, the spin-off industries are usually small or medium scale. In practical terms, SMEs constitute the bedrock of our national economy. They are our industrial feedstock, the engine of production for the bigger industries. The thriving economies of the world have a record of carefully structured SMEs. In Japan for instance, the bulk of manufacturing is at the small and medium scale levels. This situation also obtains in the ‘Asian Tigers’ (i.e. Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, etc).”

When dealing with the evaluation of the feeds and calculating the requirements of energy and protein for ruminants, it becomes necessary to inter convert values among different systems and units. Since the accuracy of conversions/equivalents and formulae used for calculating the requirements vary with different systems/constants used, the conversion factors and formulae given here can be used only as guidelines for routine purposes in laboratory or farms in feed formulation.

Body condition scoring (BCS), although subjective in nature, is the only practical method of evaluation of body energy stores in dairy cows. The method of body condition scoring, originally proposed by Edmonson et al. (1987) and recommended by the NRC (2001) is described here. This method uses a 5 point scale, with BCS of 1 being extremely thin and a score of 5 being extremely fat. This system includes a combination of both visual appraisal and manual palpation on 8 separate body locations. Figure 1 shows the suggested BCS chart based on these locations. The assessor can score the cows using this chart with a fair accuracy, without much previous experience of scoring the cows. The scoring method is recommended for HF and Holstein crossbred cows.

Loss of BCS is expected during early lactation when a cow is mobilizing body fat in support of energy needs for lactation. Typical observed changes in BCS range from 0.5 to 1.0 condition score units during the first 60 days postpartum. A 1-unit decrease in BCS for a cow weighing 650 kg at calving (BCS 4) would provide 698 MCal of ME.That amount of ME is sufficient to support 564 kg of 4 per cent fat corrected milk.

Sampling of Milk for Analysis

A careful and accurate sampling is of utmost importance for the analysis of milk. It is a fundamental principle of sampling that the quantities withdrawn, must be proportional to the quantities contained in the respective containers and uniform throughout in its composition.Thorough mixing of milk must first be ensured either by stirring or by shaking gently. If milk from an individual animal is to be sampled, the sample should be taken from the middle of vessel containing the whole amount of milk. If the sample bottles have been standing for sometime, resulting in the separation of fat in the cream layer or lumps of fat appear, the bottles may be heated in a water bath upto 40°C to melt the fat before mixing. Milk should not be shaken very violently under any circumstance as it may result in an uneven distribution of fat.

Determination of True Protein

Apparatus

Wide mouth stoppered bottle, water bath plus those used for total nitrogen (crude protein) determination.

Reagents

1. Saturated solution of potash alum.
2. Stutzer reagent-Dissolve 40g of CuSO₄ in 2 litres of water in a wide mouth stoppered bottle. Add 10ml of glycerine and sufficient quantity of 30 % NaOH to make the solution alkaline (Litmus paper). Shake the contents and allow to settle. Discard the supernatant liquid. Collect the precipitate on a filter paper and transfer it to glass mortar with the help of spatula. Add 3ml of glycerine and a little water in the mortar and triturate the precipitate with a glass pastle. Transfer the triturated material to a wide mouth stoppered bottle, add 600ml of water, shake well and filter. Repeat the process till the precipitate (filtrate) is free from alkali and sulphate. Collect the precipitate and add 30ml glycerine. Dilute the emulsion to 320ml with water and preserve in a container.

The amount of feed or nutrient intake by an animal which is not excreted in the faeces is considered to be digested by the animals. The depiction of digested feed/nutrient as percentage of intake is known as digestibility coefficient. However, this does not represent the true value of digestibility of a feed or nutrient because during the period of recording some part of digested material is returned to the digestive tract after absorption in the body and excreted in the faeces. In addition to this some secretions of the digestive system and debris of epithelial cells are also eliminated in the faeces. These errors are quite large and highly variable for the nitrogenous constituents and minerals in the feeds. Due to these factors the determined digestibility coefficient is known as apparent digestibility coefficient. For the determination of digestion coefficient, only daily intake of feed or nutrients and faecal void values are recorded.

The availability of nitrogenous nutrients and minerals is more accurately determined by their retention (balance) in the body. Therefore, for the determination of the retention of nitrogen and minerals,metabolism trials are conducted. The routes of elimination of these constituents from the body are faeces, urine, expired air, skin secretions and milk (in case of lactating mammalian species). In a conventional balance study the loss of nutrient (s) through skin, being quantitatively little, is ignored. However, in case of some very specific study, collection of skin secretions and materials like shed hair and scurf are collected. For the collection of skin secretion (sweat) a special absorbant suit is used. In all routine balance studies, on male animals quantity of intake and void in faeces and urine are only taken into account.

Nutritional significance of tannins in feeds and fodders

Tannins are widely distributed in many types of browse plants, tree leaves, forages and feed ingredients. The structure of tannins are not completely well defined but they are polymers of phenolic and aliphatic hydroxy compounds. Although tannins and related polyphenols are considered as protein binders and, protease and cellulolytic inhibitors, they can also exert beneficial effects on rumen fermentation. There are two forms of tannins viz., hydrolysable and condensed. Hydrolysable tannins are considered to have less deleterious effects on protein digestion since these types of tannins might get hydrolysed under acidic gastric condition and release bound proteins. Attempts have been made to utilize this to advantage in protection of proteins from rumen degradation.The condensed tannins are resistant to hydrolytic degradation. The reduction in digestibility due to condensed tannins is not clear whether it is due to specific interference with cellulases or precipitation of proteins.

Certain feed ingredients have been incorporated as a source of tannins, in the diets of ruminants to benefit ruminal fermentation and performance. Inclusion of Bengal gram husk as a source of tannins in the diet of sheep prevented potentially digestible carbohydrate in the rumen, but digested post ruminally (Sreerangaraju et al., 2000).

Infra red (IR) spectroscopy is an analytical technique that serves both qualitativeandquantitativedetectionoforganicconstituents.NearInfraRed spectroscopy (NIRS) is actually a regression technique. Its predictions are based on correlations between spectral information (light absorption) and reference data fed to the spectroscopy. The principle of a NIRS machine is that a feedstuff is illuminated with light of a specific and known frequency (or wavelength) in the near infrared region. The chemical bonds in organic molecules absorb or emit infrared light when their vibrational state changes. In the near IR part of the spectrum, large changes in vibrational state are observed (overtones). In the near IR, ‘overtones’ are observed (larger than expected energy transitions that occur when molecules get ‘over excited’) resulting in broad, less well defined peaks.The characteristics of these peaks make quantification difficult as the areas of the peaks are difficult to determine and,typically,indirect (statistical) technique have to be applied to obtain usable data.Water and the C-H bonds absorb strongly in the near IR region,as do the N-H and O-H bonds,but most other have only a weak peak or none at all. The absorption of light by the feedstuff is then measured as thedifferencebetweentheamountoflightemittedbytheNIRSmachineand the amount of light reflected by the sample. Modern equipment typically uses monochromators, specially constructed mirrors that reflect light in a wavelength-dependent manner, thus allowing exposure of the sample to a single wavelength at a time. This allows samples to be scanned over the entire near IR region (they are also referred to as scanning instruments). However, as the monochromator relies on mechanical positioning of the mirror for its wavelength accuracy, the spectra generated are less reproducible from machine to machine.

Samples those are relatively transparent, such as most gases and liquids, can be assayed easily from the light transmitted (transmittance). For opaque solid samples, however, many problems arise. IR light can only travel through a few microns of opaque material. A few microns, however, can be very difficult to work with, especially when the non-homogeneous nature of most agricultural products is considered. Thus, the major challenge in applying IR spectroscopy to solid samples is sample presentation. For this technique, the sample is put into a cup and illuminated with IR light. This light can have three different fates; it can be reflected off the surface of the sample, it can enter the sample where it may be absorbed if it encounters a bond that matches the light’s frequency or, if it does not encounter such a bond, it can bounce back out of the sample. The light bounced back (or reflected) from the sample is captured and its intensity measured.

The potential of atomic absorption spectrometry/spectrophotometry/ spectroscopy for determination of metallic elements was first realized by Alan Walsh during 1950. The standard equipment termed as atomic absorption spectrometer/ spectrophotometer (AAS) has now gained a reputation in the field of analytical chemistry for determination of very small concentrations of metallic elements and metalloids. As little as 0.01 ppm of many elements can be determined through this tool. Recently, the Zeeman background correction technique has further enhanced the quality of the results obtained from the flame-less graphite furnace atomizer. Combining the very latest in AA technology with the most powerful computing and software available many manufacturers have developed several designs/models of AAS based on flame or flame-less technique.

Cotton (Gossypium) seed meal (CSM), the by-product of cotton seed oil industry, is widely used as an animal feed. However, its utilization as an animal feed is limited due to the presence of gossypol, a polyphenolie binaphthyl aldyde, which is toxic to non-ruminants such as poultry and swine and young ruminants such as calves and lambs. The gossypol (free gossypol, FG) present primarily in the pigment glands of cotton seed, is mostly converted to bound gossypol due to condensation of aldehyde group with free amino groups of proteins to form a schiff base. Formation of schiff base though results in the detoxification of gossypol to some extent, it also lowers the nutritive value by reducing the availability of lysine, the limiting amino acid of cotton seed. Thus, bound gossypol, consequently total gossypol (TG) (free plus bound) content is an important factor of cotton seed meal.

In spite of its high protein (CP, 34-36%) content, castor bean meal as such is not used as livestock feed due to the presence of toxic factors viz., ricin, ricinine and allergen. Of the three, ricin is the most detrimental to animals. In order to detoxify the castor cake, a number of physical and chemical methods are employed. The efficacy of the treatments is assessed, based on the qualitative and quantitative changes in ricin content. Of all the detoxification methods, autoclaving (15 p.s.i., 60 min) and lime (4% w/w) treatments completely destroy the toxin. (Anandan et. al., 2005).

Estimation of Ricin

The raw and detoxified samples can be analysed for the toxin, ricin as per the method of Kabat et al. (1947) with modifications as suggested by Waller and Negi (1958).

Extraction of Ricin

The solvent extracted castor cake sample of 500 g is extracted with 2.5 l of water acidified with HCl to a pH of 3.8 by shaking the contents in a conical flask for 6 h. The contents are allowed to settle and are then filtered trough Whatman filter paper No.1 . The residue is treated with 1.5 l of distilled water, shaken for 3 h and filtered through the same paper. A second treatment with water is given to the residue and filtered again through the same filterpaper.

This filtrate contains all the ricin and portions of ricinine that are soluble in cold, dilute HCI. It is evaporated to a small volume by vacuum distillation below 40 °C. The filtrate is saturated with sodium chloride and centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 20 min. to separate the precipitate containing only ricin.