CHARCOAL PRODUCTION, ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AND RURAL-LIVELIHOOD: CRITICAL EVIDENCE FROM COMMUNITY PERCEPTION IN ADAMAWA STATE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjoest.v6i4.251Keywords:
charcoal production, environmental degradation, rural-livelihoods, community perception, sustainable energy policyAbstract
Environmental protection in Nigeria and indeed most developing nations has never been a top priority due to the fact that economic losses arisen from environmental degredation especially as a result of charcoal production often occur long after the economic benefits have been realized. Nigeria is among the largest producers and consumers of charcoal worldwide. This has resulted in continued unsustainable harvest of the few remaining trees for charcoal production in Adamawa State, that has led to devastating environmental impacts on the livelihood of the rural poor where most of the inhabitants of these communities relied on this natural resource. Multi stage and purposive sampling techniques were employed in interviewing 172 respondents for this study. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results on socio-economic characteristics revealed that majority (62.8%) of the respondents involved in exploiting the trees for charcoal production were males with a mean age of 33 years. Most respondents were married (63.4%) and having a mean household size of 7 individuals and mean annual household income was ₦216,570. Tree species such as Prosopis africana, Anogeisus leiocarpus and Ziziphus mauritiana were frequently exploited having a mean value of 4.7 and 4.6 respectively. The chi-square analysis revealed a significant relationship (P<0.05) between the perceived impacts of charcoal production and gender, age, educational level while marital status, household size, occupation and income of the respondents are not significant (P>0.05) in the study area. Charcoal production has become a lucrative business and major source of income to support rural livelihood.
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