Contributions of some non-timber forest products to household income of rural dwellers in Onigambari Forest Reserve, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The communities surrounding the forest reserve get their daily income from the sales of some of the non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as a means of survival for them and their house hold without proper documentation. The study described the socio-economic characteristics of the rural dwellers in the study area and determined the income made from some of these NTFPs. Data was generated through the use of structured questionnaires administered to 120 randomly selected rural household heads. Data obtained were described using frequency counts, percentages and mean scores; the relationship between dependent variables and independent variables of the study was tested using binomial test and logistic regression. Finding reveal that, non-timber forest products gathering in Onigambari was male dominated (72.3%), 78.1% were married and 38.1% had formal education. Contribution of income from non-timberforest products to total income of respondents in the State was 59.46%. It was concluded that the non-timber forest products contribute significantly to rural household income at Onigambari forest Reserve Area of Oyo State, Nigeria