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Background: Mental health problems disproportionately affect young people in developing countries. However, there is limited research on help-seeking behaviours and the social support systems that improve mental wellbeing among vulnerable youth populations. Objective: This mixed-methods study aimed to examine the relationship between social support reciprocity and mental health among young informal construction workers in Nigeria, a population at high-risk for occupational and socioeconomic stressors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 686 informal workers to measure reciprocity, mental health-related quality of life, and covariates. In-depth interviews with 32 participants provided qualitative context. Results: Quantitative analyses showed 25% of participants reported poor mental health. Reciprocity positively predicted mental health after controlling for covariates. Qualitative findings revealed reciprocity occurs directly between individuals as well as indirectly through trade unions and religious groups. Indirect exchanges through groups helped address limitations of direct support due to limited resources. Conclusions: This study fills important gaps in understanding how social relationships impact mental health in developing country contexts. Findings emphasize the role of collective action and community-based support systems in promoting mental wellbeing among vulnerable populations. Insights can inform culturally relevant, systems-level mental health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal ready-to-eat food vending is an important, cheap, convenient, accessible and readily available urban food supply sector that has become an increasingly important part of the diets of people in developing cities in Africa and throughout other contexts in the Global South. Over decades, despite challenges associated with health and hygiene, street foods have been informally accepted as part of the urban food supply system, particularly among the urban poor. Despite the importance of street foods to food security and employment needs in urban Nigeria and elsewhere, very little is known about the governance arrangements (whether formal or informal) revolving around their food provisioning practices. The paper explores governance arrangements that steer and shape food provisioning practices in Ibadan, Nigeria. Taking a social practice approach, the paper analyses the interconnections between governance and ready-to-eat food vending practices. It doing so, it draws on insights generated through a qualitative study incorporating in-depth interviews and participant observation methods to understand different governance arrangements revolving around food vending practices. The findings reveal that formal and informal governance structures are jointly steering and shaping practices of informal ready-to-eat food vending. They furthermore highlight the crucial role informal middlemen fulfill in informal food governance chains. These insights provide new avenues for thinking about food governance of urban food supply systems in terms of co-governance between formal and informal actors. They also provide empirical evidence that can aid policy application and implementation on urban food supply systems going forward. The paper concludes by discussing the potential of a co-governance informal food sector framework that recognizes and encompasses the formal-informal nature of the food sector. Such an approach recognizes and involves informal middlemen in the governance of informal ready-to-eat street food vending embedded in a larger framework of food system governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic has undermined the functionality of formal and informal economies globally, with developing countries suffering the social, political and economic effects of the pandemic. Economic downturns in the global south, including Nigeria, have given rise to declining state control in the face of human insecurity. This study, hinging on the neoliberal political economy thesis, examines the economic crisis and declining state control the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown engendered in managing the security situation in Nigeria. The study, utilizing the dominant qualitative methods, comprising interviews, focus group discussions, and documented evidence, highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown disproportionately affected the people, mainly poor people, households and communities in different parts of the country. The failure of the government to engage in an effective social protection policy generated discontent and led to criminal activities undermining security in Nigeria. The study concludes that the insecurity and economic crisis the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown engendered have weakened the state's authority in Nigeria. The study suggests that engaging effective social protection policy presents an opportunity for mitigating security challenges to bring about socioeconomic stability in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Militancy is a continuing process in many developing regions where entrepreneurial activities in the informal economy have the potential to transform lives leading to sustainable development through local initiatives. Often militancy originates in protest against global encroachment and defending the livelihoods of local communities. Yet this leads to detrimental effects on such initiatives. The study focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Niger Delta in Nigeria and looks at how the lessons learned may be used in other developing regions facing similar issues. Findings suggest how violent conflict resulting in an adverse impact on enterprise development can be mediated by collective actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used annual time series data in the examination of the relationship among shadow economy, financial market inclusion and economic growth in Nigeria both in the short and long-run periods for our econometric analysis. The time series data covered the period 1990 to 2017. The simple Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) complemented with the unit root and cointegration tests were applied. The OLS results indicated that the shadow economy facilitates the growth performance of financial market inclusion process in Nigeria. However, the short-run results show that only the one past lagged value of the shadow market statistically explains the financial market inclusion development in Nigeria. The study recommends that short-run financial market inclusion policies should be avoided to prevent the adverse effects of the shadow economy on the inclusive finance development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With their inherent economic and infrastructure challenges, developing countries must assess commuters' travel behaviour and establish whether consumers' desire for sustainable transportation is feasible or merely wishful thinking. Using a qualitative research design, these issues were explored based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 72 participants across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Findings suggest that the desires and dreams of the commuters are great, and they want to reduce their journeys, work from home, and do online shopping. However, when they consider the inherent challenges, they can only hope for a better future. COVID-19 has impacted the ownership or use of motorised and non-motorised transport, but this is also influenced by affordability, convenience, and awareness. Likewise, there are long-term effects on home and work location choices, but this is further influenced by the large informal economy of the country, job accessibility and the infrastructural developments across the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]