Effects of Social Capital on Forest Management Practices among Food Crop Farmers in Oyo State Forest Reserves, Nigeria

Abstract

Forest management is essential to Nigeria’s economic and ecological development. Decline and desertification are results of the difficulties farmers faced. Social capital fortifies the cooperative approach to mitigating these associated problems. This study looked into how Oyo State food crop producers’ social capital affected their ability to manage their forests. In order to gather data, standardised questionnaires were used to choose 223 respondents using multistage random selection techniques. The objectives were examined using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Farm size, agricultural experience, distance from the farm, number of years spent in school, and use of extension services all affected the adoption of forest management practises (FMP). Gender, the heterogeneity index, the collective labour participation index, meeting attendance, and membership index density are all instruments that have a combined positive and substantial effect on FMP. FMP is favourably and strongly correlated with each of these variables. According to this study, an average respondent’s influence on farm management increases with the size of the association to which he belongs. In the meanwhile, it was discovered that the Decision Making Index and the Meeting Attendance Index, which have positive and negative relationships with farm management, respectively, were not statistically significant in explaining this influence on farm management.