SOCIO–ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF PRIVATE SECTORS PARTICIPATION IN FOREST PLANTATION DEVELOPMENT IN ,

BY

OSO-OMOLAYO, FUNMILAYO KEMISOLA (FWT/10/2800)

DECEMBER, 2015.

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the level of awareness and involvement of the private sector in forest plantation development, investigated the extent of forest plantations established by the private sector, examined the socio-economic importance of private sector participation in forest plantation development and identified the constraints to private forest plantation development in Ekiti-State, Nigeria. The study was limited to four Local Government Areas (Ekiti East, Ekiti West, and Ado) in Ekiti State, which were selected based on the abundance of tree growers. Six towns/villages with the highest private forest plantations were selected from each local government areas (LGAs). Ten (10) respondents were selected in each town/village and semi-structured questionnaire administered to them. Also, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was used to obtained additional information while secondary data were obtained from Ekiti State Forestry Department, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. The results show that majority of private plantation owners were males which accounted for 87.5% in Ekiti East, 91.2% in Ekiti West, 97.4% in Gbonyin and 96.8% in Ado LGAs of the respondents while married people represented 87.5% in Ekiti East, 94.5% in Ekiti West, 97.4% in Gbonyin and 100% in Ado LGAs with formal education and age range of 41-50 years. Farming was the primary occupation of most of the respondents. The major silvicultural operations like land clearing, thinning, pruning, weeding, beating-up, fire tracing, seed procurement, etc were carried out by the respondents. Furthermore, the majority of the private forest plantation investors procured their land through family inheritance, while others purchased the land or through community land. The respondents procured the planting stocks through various means such as from government sources, collection of wildlings, and purchase of seedlings while some raised the seedlings on their own. There is a growing involvement and participation of private tree growers in forest plantation development in Ekiti State. The total area of private forest plantations established in Ekiti State is one thousand, six hundred and six hectares (1606 ha). There were indications that private forest

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Forest plantations are defined as forest stands established by planting or/and seeding in the process of afforestation or reforestation; they are either of introduced or indigenous species which meet a minimum area requirement of 0.5 ha; tree crown cover of at least 10 percent of the land cover; and total height of adult trees above 5 m (FRA, 2000). According to

Onyekwelu et al. (2006), the area of global forest plantations has witnessed a phenomenal growth since the middle of the 20th century. By the year 2000, the global forest plantation area was estimated at 187 million hectares (Table 1), which represented an increase of about

950% between 1980 and 2000 (Onyekwelu et al., 2006). By 2014, global plantation forest area was reported to have grown to 264 million hectares and accounted for 7% of total global forest area (FAO, 2014). The average annual rate of forest plantation establishment and re- establishment is 5 million hectares (FAO, 2014).

Table 1: Area of global forest plantation by the year 2000

Region Total area (‘000 ha) Annual rate (‘000 ha/year)

Africa 8,036 194

Asia 115,847 3,500

Europe 32,015 5

North and Central America 17,533 234

Oceania 3,201 50

South America 10,455 509

World Total 187,087 4,492 Full text of this document can be accessed by visiting the Post Graduate Research Unit of Albert Ilemobade Library, FUTA or contact the Reference Librarian via [email protected]