Analysis Of Income Effects Of Forest Products Activities Among Rural Households In Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Like in other developing areas, rural communities and households in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria especially in Enugu state depend on forest resources to meet a variety of livelihood objectives including food security, social security, income and employment generation, risk management and essential subsistence goods. Forests activities provide household inputs, such as fuel, fodder and food that are used directly by the household; input into agricultural system such as fodder and mulch and products that are sources of household income. This study examined the economic importance and implication for rural poverty alleviation of exploiting forest products in Enugu State. The study was started initially with 144 respondents but 120 were finally used for the analysis. This study shows that majority of the house hold heads were between the age of 31 and 50 years and the study also revealed that majority of the household heads are males and they engage mainly in different combined operation in forest enterprises. Furthermore, the study found that lack of access to modern technology, forms in which products are marketed; among other factors were major reasons that weaken income generation from the forest products by rural households. In the regression results, access to credit, access to forest extension services and relatives composition of forest output were statistically significant at 5% level in explaining the observed variability in the dependent variable based on double logarithmic model. Keywords: Income, forest products activities, rural householdsJournal of Agriculture and Social Research Vol. 7 (1) 2007: pp. 23-33