Socioeconomic Uses of Non-Timber Forest Products among Urban Dwellers in Oyo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study assessed the socioeconomic importance of   Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) among  the urban dwellers  in Oyo State. Two hundred and thirty (230) structured questionnaires were administered at household level. Both random and proportionate sampling techniques were adopted. Data were sourced on the basis of senatorial districts. The three senatorial districts are Oyo South, Oyo Central and Oyo North with a population size of 1,764,217, 1,906,814 and 1,909,863 respectively. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents; the multiple regression analysis was employed to determine the factors affecting the utilization of NTFPs. The result of the multiple regression coefficient of 0.79 indicates that 79% of the independent variables explain the dependent variable. Therefore educational level, marital status, household size and household income explain significant variation in the level of utilization of NTFPs in the study area, while variables such as age and sex were not significant in determining the variation in the level of the utilization of NTFPs. Some of the reasons given by the respondents for using the NTFPs include cheapness, availability and accessibility and some of the sources where they obtain the NTFPs were given as market, hawkers, forest and friends. Efforts should therefore be made by government and relevant research institutes to train the people on the domestication of these NTFPs to achieve sustainability, Pharmaceutical involvement to make more refine herbal or medicinal products, and  create more awareness about efficacy of  NTFPs in nutrition and  medicine.

Keywords: Nontimber forest products, Utilization, Urban Dwellers,