Determinants Of Unwillingness To Practice Farm Forestry Among Households In The Humid Zone Of Nigeria

Abstract

Public sector dominance of forestry practices across

the globe impedes realization of local and

international forestry development targets despite

huge local and international investments in the subsector.

The need for private forestry practice as

compliment to public initiatives on forestry

development therefore becomes imperative. This

paper reports the bottlenecks for private farm forestry

practices among households in the humid zone of

Nigeria where environmental hazards necessitate

urgent tree planting initiatives. Groups/individuals

with stakes in forestry were identified through

stakeholder analysis across selected communities in

Imo State, Nigeria. Relevant information was

obtained using a set of questionnaire, which are

supplemented with FGDs and IDIs. Baseline data on

household forestry-based activities were obtained

and analysed using Chi-square test of independence

and logit regression models. Unwillingness by

indigenous residents and local-based farmers was

significantly influenced by their household sizes and

conservation awareness. Traditional/religious

leaders, landlords (landowners) in both communities

surveyed correspondingly expressed resilience to

propagate or condone forestry/conservation practices

in their domain. Local-based farmers and indigenous

residents in the study area expressed fear for any land

use change that may contravene existing norms and

practices. A robust and integrated grassroots’

motivation approach towards re-orientations of

different categories of stakeholders’ mindset is

therefore recommended to encourage private sector

forestry entrepreneurship in the study area.

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