Livelihood diversification choices of forest dwellers in Onigambari Forest Reserve, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the livelihood diversification choices of forest dwellers in Onigambari Forest Reserve, Oyo State, Nigeria. A multi-staged sampling technique was used to select ninety-five (95) respondents while data was collected using structured questionnaires. The data generated from the survey were analysed using descriptive statistics and a multinomial logistic regression model. The descriptive result revealed that a slight majority (52.63%) of the households were headed by males and that the average age of the respondents stood at 54.4 years with 86.32% of them having a formal education. Farming is the predominant occupation in the study area with the majority (54.74%) of the household engaged in a combination of farm and non-farm activities, 30.53% of them engaged in only non-farm activities. The factors influencing the choice of non-farm strategy are: having at least secondary education (p<0.01) which was positive and significant while the gender of household head (p<0.01) was negative and significant. Concerning the choice of the combination of farm and non-farm strategy as a livelihood option, marital status (p<0.01) and having at least secondary education (p<0.05) were positive and significant while age of household head (p<0.01) was negative and significant. The study, therefore, recommended the promotion and intensification of technical and financial capacity of the dwellers to undertake conservation-friendly diversification approaches as an alternative strategy to minimize forest exploitation and dependence.