Economic adversity, scarcity, joblessness and upsurge in the price of oil have dictated the need for people to find alternative means of making a living in respect of domestic cooking energy in Nigeria. Therefore, this work examined charcoal production in both Makurdi and Guma LGAs of Benue state to ascertain its impact, contributions to rural livelihood and efforts in replanting trees felled for charcoal production. Villages involved in charcoal production were identified using snowball sampling techniques. A Multi-stage Sampling Technique was employed to select respondents for data collection as personal interview and semi-structured questionnaire were used. Twelve villages were selected purposively from four Council Wards out of eleven in Makurdi LGA, while six villages were selected from two Council Wards out of ten were ten in Guma LGA. Three charcoal producers and marketers were selected in each village for administration of questionnaire. Results revealed that males (85.4%, 83.7%) were higher than females (14.6%, 16.3%) in Makurdi and Guma LGAs, respectively. Youths between ages of 21-30 years (27.1% and 32.6%) in Makudri and Guma with highest level of secondary education were foremost in the business. Prosopis africana was the most preferred tree species for charcoal production in the area. Despite fewer number of Council Wards chosen in Guma LGA, yet, respondents felled as much as 132 trees per week for charcoal production against 109 trees felled in Makurdi LGA which sum up to 241 trees felled per week. The results also reveal that on weekly bases, 22 charcoal producers in Makurdi earned N25,000, while 18 in Guma LGA earned between N11, 000 - N15, 000 from charcoal business. The result further revealed that, respondents met family needs as feeding, paying school fees and purchase of motorcycle. The major health hazard encountered by respondents in Makurdi and Guma LGAs was fire burn (50% and 25%), respectively. Efforts in replanting trees in the study area was minimal through plantation forestry and agroforestry. In conclusion, charcoal production was observed to improve socio economic benefits to people. However, alternative source of livelihood should be provided for the people to mitigate the adverse effect of deforestation.Key words: Charcoal, deforestation, livelihood, Prosopis africana, wood species, Key words: Charcoal, deforestation, livelihood, Prosopis africana, wood species,

The antibacterial activity of compounds isolated from the stem bark and sawdust of Erythrophleum suaveolens were evaluated. Extraction of the pulverized plants materials was carried out using hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol. Extracts were fractionated using column chromatography and fractions were examined using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy. Antibacterial activities against Acidobacterium capsulatum, Actinobacterium sp., Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Bacillus subtili, Ralstonia solanacearum, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas syringae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis were also carried out. A novel triterpene, 21-acetoxylupenone and betulin were identified in the fractions from the stem bark of E. suaveolens while cycloeucalenol and stigmasterol were obtained from the sawdust extract fractions. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was resistant to all control antibiotics but was inhibited by 21acetoxylupenone and cycloeucalenol with 23 mm and 24 mm diameter of Zones of Inhibition. Acidobacterium capsulatum, Actinobacterium sp., Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Ralstonia solanacearum, and Proteus mirabilis were completely inhibited at Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of 50 µg/mL, while Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas syringae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were completely inhibited at MBC values of 100 µg/mL. Thus E. suaveolens stem bark and saw dust isolates can be used in the control of plants diseases where these pathogens are the causative agents.

Anadelphia afzeliana was assessed for antimicrobial activity as an alternative to synthetic chemicals. A. afzeliana was collected from Orkar village, Gboko, Benue State. The specimen was pulverized. Methanol, ethyl acetate, and n-hexane solvents were used for extraction. Each solvent measured 1800 ml was added to 300 g of A. afzeliana. The mixture was left to soak for 48 hours. Extract was filtered and allowed to dry by evaporation. Dried extract was mixed with silica gel to run column chromatography. Compounds were analysed by Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Concentrations of 200, 100, 50 and 12.5 µg/m were constituted for antimicrobial sensitive test on ten wood bacteria and nine fungi. NMR showed the presence of stigmasterol (C H O). Antifungal 29 48 test revealed A. fumigatus, C. puteana, G. sepiarium, P. schweinitzii, Rhizopus spp. and S. rolfsii as sensitive to stigmasterol at zones of inhibition (ZOI) of 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 20 mm, respectively. Antibacterial showed A. proteobacteria, B. subtilis, B. proteobacteria, E. faecium, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and P. mirabilis sensitive at ZOI of 30, 28, 29, 26, 27, 23, and 23 mm, respectively. Minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of 25 µg/ml completely inhibited Alpha proteobacteria, Bacillus subtilis and Beta proteobacteria while Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of 50 µg /ml completely killed A. proteobacteria, B. subtilis, and B. proteobacteria. MIC of stigmasterol at 50 µg/ml completely inhibited Coniophora puteana, Gloeophyllum sepiarium, Phaeolus schweinitzii, Rhizopus spp. and Sclerotium rolfsii while at 100 µg/ml of Minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC), Phaeolus schweinitzii and Rhizopus spp. were completely killed. A. afzeliana proved potent in the control of wood fungi and bacteria. MFC and MBC for tested pathogens were observed to be most effective at 50 µg/ml and is therefore recommended as concentration for A. afzeliana compound in the control of fungi and bacteria infections.

This study assessed charcoal production in Gwer west and Gwer east Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Benue State, Nigeria. It was aimed at to identifying charcoal producing villages, preferred wood species used, market channels, awareness of the implication of environmental and socioeconomic benefits of charcoal production. Snowball sampling technique was used to identify charcoal producing villages. Mult-stage sampling technique was employed to select respondents for data collection. Five villages were randomly selected and visited in each LGAs, in each village, five charcoal producers were chosen. 150 copies of semi-structured questionnaire were used in the two LGAs. Data collected were analyzed with descriptive statistics and one way ANOVA. Results show that there were more male than female in charcoal production business. In Gwer east, preferred wood species for charcoal production were in the order of Prosopis africana (33%) >Khaya senegalensis (27%) >Terminelia avicenniodes (20%) > vitellaria paradoxa (13%) > Burkia africana (7%). In Gwer west, the order of wood preference was Prosopis africana (29%) >Anogeissus leiocarpus (24%) >Burkia africana (19%) >Afzelia africana (14%) >Vitellaria paradoxa Original Research Article

Extracts and compounds from the sawdust and stem bark of Erythrophleum suaveolens were studied for antifungal activity. The plant materials were extracted using hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol to obtain the crude extracts. Column chromatography over silica gel was used to purify the extracts and obtain pure compounds. Betulin and 21acetoxylupenone were obtained from the stem bark and cycloeucalenol from the sawdust. The compounds were very active on most of the fungi with zones of inhibition between 18 to 23 mm. Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) was highest at 50 µg/mL against Aspergillus fumigatus, Coniophora puteana, Fibroporia vaillantii, Fomitopsis pinicoca, Gloeophyllum sepiarium, Phaeolus schweinitzii and Rhizopus spp. whereas antifungal activity was least at MFC of 200 µg/mL. The study demonstrated that E. suaveolens stem bark and sawdust isolates possess antifungal activity and could be used in the control of the soft-rot, brown-rot, wet rot and white-rot of wood and diseases caused by wood fungi.