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The Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, encompassing districts such as Gadchiroli, Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Wardha, and Amravati, hosts over 40% of the state’s Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), including Kolam, Katkari, and Maria Gond. With a PVTG population of approximately 2.74 lakh out of Maharashtra’s 6.68 lakh, Vidarbha is a critical site for examining the empowerment of Scheduled Tribes (STs) through decentralization efforts. Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Vidarbha face significant social exclusion and limited access to opportunities despite the one-third reservation in Panchayati Raj. Their low participation in socio-political and economic activities raises concerns about their development. This paper examines the socio-economic conditions of tribals in Vidarbha, their political participation, and their involvement in decision-making processes. Vidarbha’s experience challenges the establishment narrative of decentralization as a panacea, urging a reevaluation of how power is truly devolved to India’s most vulnerable. Decentralization’s potential to empower Vidarbha’s STs hinges on mitigating these gaps. Strengthening Gram Sabhas, improving infrastructure delivery, and ensuring land rights are critical. While government commitment is evident, execution weakens, leaving tribal empowerment incomplete amidst persistent socio-economic marginalization. The study concludes that despite welfare measures and constitutional protections, the efforts of the Central and State Governments have had minimal impact. Strengthening the role of Gram Panchayats can improve service delivery and mitigate the challenges in implementing tribal-specific schemes. Structural barriers, limited political agency, and socio- conomic disparities dilute its impact, leaving tribal communities on the margins.

Keywords: Panchayati Raj, Scheduled Tribes (STs), PESA, FRA.

As Nigeria grapples with inflation and external shocks, understanding the drivers of commodity price movements has become increasingly important for policymakers. This study investigated the impact of food imports on commodity prices in Nigeria from 2020 to 2024 using an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to analyze both short- and long-run relationships. The results show that food imports and money supply have a significant positive long-run effect on commodity prices, as increased liquidity stimulates demand. Inflation also contributes positively in the long run, although it exerts a negative influence in the short term due to supply shocks, geopolitical instability, and other transient factors. Crude oil prices emerge as a key driver, positively affecting commodity prices in the long run through increased government spending and inflationary pressure. However, in the short run, higher oil prices raise production costs, dampening price levels. Interest rates negatively affect commodity prices in the long run by curbing investment through higher borrowing costs, while their short-run effect is negligible. Insecurity does not have a significant long-term impact, suggesting market resilience, though it triggers short-term supply disruptions and price volatility. Inclusive, the study highlights the influence of macroeconomic variables particularly inflation, oil prices, and money supply on Nigeria’s commodity market. Despite short-run volatility driven by factors like insecurity and cost-push pressures, the market shows long-term stability. The study urges Nigerian policymakers to adopt a clear inflation-targeting framework, enabling the Central Bank to stabilize commodity prices and manage inflation through flexible monetary tools.

Keywords: Food, import, commodity prices, ARDL, ECM, money supply.

This study investigates the influence of technological advancement, renewable energy consumption, and CO? emissions on agricultural productivity in Nigeria. Recognizing the pivotal role agriculture plays in Nigeria’s economic development and food security, this research explores how institutional quality influences the effectiveness of technology, clean energy, and environmental factors in enhancing agricultural outcomes. Employing the Dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (DARDL) model, the analysis captures both the short-run and long-run dynamics among the variables using annual time series data from 1990 to 2023. The findings reveal that technological advancement and renewable energy consumption positively impact agricultural productivity, while CO? emissions exert a negative influence. Importantly, institutional efficiency significantly moderates these relationships, enhancing the positive effects of renewable energy and technology while mitigating the adverse impact of CO? emissions. The study underscores the importance of strengthening institutional frameworks to optimize the benefits of technological and environmental interventions in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. Policy recommendations are provided to support institutional reforms and sustainable agricultural practices.

Keywords: Technological Advancement, Green Energy, CO? Emissions, Agricultural Productivity, Institutional Efficiency, Dynamic ARDL, Environmental Sustainability, Nigeria.
JEL CODES: N57, O13, Q10, Q21.

Despite its abundant potentials in agriculture, food security remains a major challenge for Nigeria, with food production and access mostly influenced by factors such as technological, socio-economic, environmental, and infrastructure. This study empirically examined the determinants of food security in Nigeria by utilizing Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and Canonical Cointegrating regression (CCR) for robustness check. Annual time series data from 1990 and 2023 was used. The results revealed that technological innovation and economic growth promote food security significantly, while FDI inflows shows a positive but insignificant impact on food security, which may be associated with its high concentration in extractive sectors. Similarly, expansion in agricultural land has an insignificant impact on food security. On the contrary, CO2 emissions significantly reduce food security in Nigeria, underscoring the negative environmental consequences of CO2 emissions related climate change on food security. The effect of energy consumption as a moderator highlights that availability of energy access enhances the favorable roles played by technological innovation and economic growth in enhancing food security. However, energy moderated FDI inflows, agricultural land expansion, and CO2 emissions are unfavorable to food security in Nigeria. These outcomes suggests that there is need for integrated policies aimed at promoting the adoption of modern agricultural technologies, attract sustainable agriculture-centered foreign investments, expand rural infrastructure such as access road, and electricity, and promote climate-resistant agricultural practices to mitigate agricultural losses related to climate change environmental risks.

Keywords: Technological innovation, food security, energy consumption, Nigeria, environmental quality, agriculture.
JEL Codes: O33, Q16, Q18, Q43, Q54.