Investigating the Relationship between Awareness and Ecotourism Engagement among Academic staff in the Faculty of Agriculture Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined awareness of ecotourism among academic staff in the faculty of agriculture, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto using semi structured questionnaire to elicit information on socioeconomic factors, awareness, participation in ecotourism, constraints to participation in ecotourism and perception of respondents towards ecotourism. Complete enumeration was used to administer questionnaire to eighty respondents (N=80) belonging to seven departments: Agricultural economics (n=10), Agricultural extension and rural development (n=08), Animal science (n=15), Crop science (n=12), Fisheries and Aquaculture (n=09), Forestry and Environment (n=09) and Soil science (n=16). Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square and ordinal regression. Results showed that majority of the respondents are male (96.3%) and married (98.8%). Majority have PhD (78.7%) with 10-20 years lecturing experience. Most of the respondents are aware of ecotourism (90%) and they got the information through academic line (52.2%) but only 36.3% have ever embarked on ecotourism trip. Busy office schedules were the major problems that affect respondents’ participation in ecotourism (55%). A significant relationship exists between age and respondents’ participation in ecotourism activities (χ2 =13.137). Ordinal logistic regression results showed that age (1.315) and educational qualifications (1.671) are significant predictors of respondent’s perception towards ecotourism (R2=0.27). Travels to ecotourism destinations are quite poor among the members of academic staff in the faculty of Agriculture in Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, despite their level of education and their stance on biodiversity conservation practices. Academic staffs in tertiary institutions are encouraged to make use of their annual leave to embark on ecotourism trip.