Rural Fuelwood Exploitation in Mbo Local Government Area – A Nigerian Coastal Settlement

Abstract

The exploitation of fuelwood among the rural and coastal fishing communities in Nigeria has been an inevitable consequence of human existence. This has been intensified by the inhabitant's inaccessibility to other sources of energy. The major consequence of this has been the depletion of major forest resource as well as environmental degradation. Through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and empirical surveys, investigations were carried out in eighteen out of sixty rural communities of Mbo LGA of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Several variables of socio economic activities such as occupation, household size, quantity of fuel wood used, level of income and total number employed in fuelwood business were measured and correlated with volumes of fuelwoods production in those settlements. Four hundred adults including men, women and youths involved in fishing, farming, and trading and river transportation were interviewed. The questions centred on fuelwood use, trade and how it affects the local economy. Result show that 90% of the total local energy requirement is from fuelwood, the average per capita production rate of fuelwood in the local area is 0.38m 3 and the average per capita consumption rate is 0.36m 3. Major areas of local consumption include domestic energy, fish smoking and canoe making.

Small-scale fisheries in the context of traditional post-harvest practice and the quest for food and nutritional security in Nigeria

“…The practice is also time-consuming and considered wasteful due to the small quantities of fish that are smoked at a time [45]. Exploitation and consumption of firewood for fish drying and other uses is a contributory factor to continued deforestation in the country, particularly in the arid Northern region where this practice is contributing to desertification [47]. Although heat treatments may impact on the nutritive values of traditionally preserved fish, the overall quality has been demonstrated not to have significant differences from the fresh or raw fish [1,2].…”

Impact of Charcoal Production on Physical and Chemical Properties of Soil in the Central Gonja District of the Northern Region, Ghana

“…The increase in population in many developing countries has not seen an increase in alternative energy supply over the period, making fuel wood and charcoal use unavoidable (Chidumayo, 2011;Ikurekong et al, 2009;Kammen & Lew, 2005). As a result, the traditional energy source (fuel wood and charcoal) remains the most used (Malimbwi et al, 2004;World Bank, 1992).…”

Accessibility to Domestic Energy among Rural Households: Case Study of Damboa Wagaram Ward of Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria

“…The exploitation of fuel wood by the inhabitants of any area is an inevitable consequence of human existence. This is because fuelwood is a vegetal resource which provides the main source of domestic fuel for both the rural and urban households (Ikurekong et al, 2009). It has been estimated that about 50% of the world's population depend on fuelwood or other biomass fuel for cooking and other domestic uses, with a daily per capita consumption of about 0.5kg to 1.00kg of dry biomass (Twindel and Wier, 1986) and an average annual per capita consumption of 0.77m3, or 0.18 in Africa (WEC/FAO, 1999).…”