GENDER INVOLVEMENT IN THE COLLECTION AND SALES OF NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS (NTFPs) IN FOREST COMMUNITIES OF ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study accessed gender involvement in collection and sales of non – timber forest products (NTFPs) in Ondo State Nigeria. To achieve this, Multistage Sampling Technique was used to collect data for the study. One out of the two forest reserves in mangrove/freshwater zone was randomly selected; four out of the thirteen forest reserves were randomly selected from the rainforest zone, and the only one forest reserve in derived savannah was selected. Four forest communities were randomly selected from each forest reserve. Ten household respondents (five male and five female) were then randomly selected and administered with semi-structured questionnaire in each of the community. In addition, one key informant was purposively selected from each community and interviewed. The result of the study showed that NTFPs were widely collected from the forest reserves for household consumption and to generate income by the people in the study area. Generally, females were more involved in the collection and sales of NTFPs than the male counterparts in the study area. The chi-square test conducted (p<0.05) showed that there is a significant relationship in gender of the respondents on the collection and sales of NTFPs while the income generated by respondents from NTFPs is dependent of gender in the study area. The NTFPs commonly collected for sales in the study area include: fuel wood, wild animal (bush meat), wild fruits, mushroom, snails, raffia palm wine, honey, vegetable leaves, wrapping leaves. Others are bamboo, medicinal plants, chewing sticks, and poles. The problems faced in the collection and sales of NTFPs by the respondents were the same but vary in their severity among the two genders in all the three vegetation zones. It was discovered that more female respondents faced the problems of long distance and transportation than the male counterparts on collection and sales of NTFPs in the study area. Government should provide alternatives to some of the NTFPs and encourage community and individual woodlot for fuel wood production. Motorable road network for transportation and improved market in the forest communities should also be constructed to boost the sales of NTFPs in the forest communities and urban markets.