COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF GENDER ROLES IN

AGROFORESTRY MANAGEMENT IN ORLU LOCAL GOVERNMENT

AREA OF IMO STATE, NIGERIA

{72 PAGES}
 ABSTRACT

The study assessed gender roles in agroforestry management in Orlu Local

Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study identified the
agroforestry practices used by farmers in the study area; ascertained the roles of
male and female farmers in agroforestry; identified various uses of agroforestry;
and identified constraints militating against involvement in agroforestry. A total of
150 agroforestry farmers constituted the sample size for the study. Data for the
study were collected using structured questionnaire and frequency, percentage
score, mean statistics, and t-test were used in data analysis. Result showed that the
average age of the farmers was 50 years. The majority (59%) of the farmers were
male and 49% married. The respondents were literate as majority (43%) of them
had acquired secondary school education. Average household size of the farmers
was 8 persons. Average farmland of farmers was 3 hectares. The majority (71%) of
the farmers had no access to credit, and (81%) had no contact with extension
agents. The majority (98%) of the farmers practiced taungya system of
agroforestry. However, the highest roles played by men farmers were pruning
(98%) and planting (92%) while that of women farmers were expansion of food
crop farm (92%) and marketing of crop products (89%). Poor access to credit
(94%) was the major constraint that militated against agroforestry in the study area.
The hypothesis showed that the roles played by men and women in agroforestry
were statistically different at 5% level of probability. It is therefore recommended
that government should encourage agroforestry farmers via agricultural credit
guarantee scheme and development programmes.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv
ABSTRACT v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
LIST OF TABLES x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background Information 1
1.2 Problem Statement 4
1.3 Objectives of the study 6
1.4 Hypothesis of the study 7
1.5 Significance of the study 7
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 8
2.1 Concept of agroforestry 8
2.1.1 Components of agroforestry 11
2.2 Agroforestry practices in Nigeria 14
2.2.1 Multipurpose tree lot 15
2.2.2 Taungya system 15
2.2.3 Integrated taungya 15
2.2.4 Home gardens 16
2.2.5 Alley cropping 17
2.2.6 Border tree planting 18
2.2.7 Windbreaks (Shelterbelt) 18
2.2.8 Forest farming 19
2.2.9 Riparian forest buffers 19
2.2.1 Improved fallow 20
2.3 Benefits of agroforestry practices 20
2.3.1 Enhancing soil fertility 20
 2.3.2 Soil conservation 21
2.3.3 Enhancing water use efficiency 21
2.3.4 Microclimate improvement 22
2.3.5 Biodiversity conservation 22
2.3.6 Bio-drainage 23
2.3.7 Carbon sequestration 23
2.3.8 Agroforestry for bio-fuel and bio-energy production 24
2.3.9 Agroforestry for food and income 24
2.3.10 Agroforestry as a climate change adaptation strategy 25
2.4 Constraints to Agroforestry Practices 25
2.4.1 Lack of advocacy/agricultural policies for agroforestry practices 25
2.4.2 Low awareness of agroforestry practices 26
2.4.3 Low production knowledge 26
2.4.4 Inadequate research in agroforestry 27
2.4.5 Unquantified economics 27
2.4.6 Poor market information and connections 27
2.4.7 Labour shortages/labour cost 28
2.4.8 Lack of key infrastructure 28
2.4.9 Lack of production materials 29
2.4.10 Land and tree tenure 29
2.4.11 Lack of incentives 30
2.4.12 Poor and inadequate extension services 30
2.4.14 Socio-cultural factors 31
2.4.15 Lack of coordination between sectors 32
2.4.16 Lack of involvement of farmers during the programme development 32
2.4.17 Low Production due to competition between trees and crops 32
2.4.18 Long period to obtain the yield of agroforestry 33
2.4.19 Land scarcity 33
2.5 Strategies for Improving Agroforestry Practices 33
2.5.1 Promote education and research efforts 34
2.5.2 Organizing workshop for farmers 34
 2.5.4 Provide financial support and the right climate for income generation 35
2.5.5 Policy reforms 35
2.5.6 Promote communication between researchers and policy makers 36
2.5.7 Provision of credit facilities 36
2.5.8 Provision of incentives to farmers 36
2.5.11 Strengthening research, extension and farmers’ linkage/communication 37
2.5.12 Awareness creation 38
2.5.13 Provision of quantifiable economic information 39
2.5.14 Minimizing competition between trees and crops 39
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 40
3.1 Study Area 40
3.2 Population and sampling procedure 42
3.3 Instrument for data collection 43
3.4 Method of Data Analysis 43
CHAPTER FOUR: RESTULTS AND DISCUSSION 44
4.1 Socio-economic characteristics of farmers in the study area 44
4.1.1 Sex 45
4.1.2 Age (Years) 45
4.1.3 Marital Status 45
4.1.4 Educational Level 46
4.1.5 Household Size 46
4.1.6 Size of Farm 47
4.1.7 Farming Experience 47
4.1.8 Access to credit 47
4.1.9 Extension Visit 48
4.2 Types of agroforestry practices used by the farmers 49
4.3 The roles of male and female farmers in agroforestry 51
4.4 Uses of agroforestry 53
4.5 Factors militating against agroforestry practices in the study area 54
4.6 Test of Hypothesis 56
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 57
5.1 Summary of the findings 57
5.2 Conclusion 58
5.3 Recommendations 58
REFERENCES 60
APPENDIX I 67
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background information

One of the challenges facing Nigeria is the production of sufficient food and fiber
to meet the needs of her ever-increasing population. With rapid population increase
and land-use pressure, natural fallows and shifting cultivation have been reduced to
below the minimum threshold required for the system to sustain itself. These have
led to land shortages and continuous arable cultivation without fallowing. As a
result of this, land does not have enough time to replenish its fertility (Thangata,
Hildebrand and Gladwin, 2014).

Attempts to resuscitate land and hence promote yield with the use of chemical
fertilizers have resulted in soil toxicity and environmental pollution. It is
imperative to introduce practices that would not only be an additive to traditional
land-use practices, but also ensure the sustainability of production and social
acceptability without damage to the ecosystem (Cheng-Wei et al., 2014).

Agroforestry practices represent such land-use practices as they offer a solution to

the problems posed by the high demand on land and stands as a means of halting
the vicious cycle of deforestation, soil erosion and other environmental problems
facing Nigeria. It is one of the sustainable agricultural practices in soil fertility
management that uses natural resource management principles to replenish soil
fertility (Macaulay, 2014).

Agroforestry is an ancient practice in sub-Saharan Africa where farmers

deliberately integrate and retain trees in their farmland. According to National
Agroforestry Center (NAC) (2015), agroforestry is defined as a dynamic,
ecologically-based natural resources management system that through the
integration of trees on farmlands and range lands diversifies and sustains
production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land
users at all levels. Beliveau et al. (2017) sees agroforestry as the system of farming
which combines agriculture with forestry in a rational approach and maintenance
of sustainable production systems on the same piece of land, either simultaneously
or sequentially. It is a collective name for all land-use systems and technologies in
which woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) are deliberately
combined on the same management unit with herbaceous plants (crops or pasture)
and/or animals, in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal-sequence.
Agroforestry involves the combination of trees and crops that increase the
medicinal, environmental, and economic value of land with the much needed profit
and food security. It includes both traditional and modern land-use systems where
trees are managed together with crops and/or animal production systems in
agricultural settings (Rotich et al., 2017).

Agroforestry practices have the potential of improving agricultural land use

systems, providing lasting benefits and alleviating adverse environmental effects at
local and global levels. This technique as practiced in Nigeria has the potentials to
address slash and burn agriculture and anthropocentric (human induced) forces that
are responsible for degradation. It provides a tool for accelerated economic
improvement in rural livelihoods in a country where over half of the population
resides in the rural areas (Sahilu, 2017). It can help to ensure sustained productivity
of the natural resource base by enhancing soil fertility, controlling erosion and
improving the micro-climate of crop lands, nutrient recycling, carbon
sequestration, bio-drainage, bio-energy and bio-fuel and providing grazing lands. It
is a land use option that increases livelihood security and reduces vulnerability to
climate and environmental change. It is more profitable to farmers than agriculture
or forestry for a particular area of land because it has the potential to provide rural
households with food, fodder, fuel wood and other products. By providing farmers
with a means of producing fuel wood, timber, building poles and other forest
products on farmland, agroforestry can significantly reduce the demand on forests
and natural woodlands. It could therefore supplement forest restoration strategies
(Sahilu, 2017).

Agroforestry is also highly needed, especially by rural farmers in sub-Saharan

Africa where there are small land holdings and high cost of inputs and poor market
structures (Mukadasi and Maxwell, 2008). In traditional land-use practices,
agroforestry is important in maximizing and diversifying the productivity of highly
fertile lands. As a land-use formula, it serves the diverse needs of individual
farmers in harnessing the natural resources around them, as this cannot be
reconciled by the traditional cropping system. Agroforestry equally provides raw
materials for large-scale processing industries such as foods and beverages,
confectioneries, flavorings, perfumes, medicines, paints and polishes, paper,
packaging cases for industrial products and other purposes (Alao and Shuaibu,
2011).

The rapidly expanding population and consequent pressure on land for socio-
economic, agricultural and industrial development as well as increasing human
interference on the forests and the environment have put the future of Nigerian
forest and agricultural lands in great danger (Bifarin, Folayan and Omoniyi, 2013).
As observed by Desalu et al. (2012) increase in population has equally led to heavy
dependence on fuel wood especially by rural people and urban poor in developing
countries like Nigeria leading to increased deforestation.

Continuous depletion of the forest reserve base and agricultural land has major
effects on the agricultural segments of Nigeria economy (Akpabio et al., 2008). It
causes a decline in the productive capacity of soils, accelerated erosion, destruction
of wildlife habitats and loss of plant genetic diversity, climate change, landslides,
soil degradation, and unfavorable hydrological changes. With continuous
deforestation, the humid forest of Southeastern Nigeria which is richly endowed
with many under-utilized and neglected plants (such as Irvingia wombolu, Irvingia
gabonensis, Pentaclethra macrophylla, Piper guineense, etc.) that have high
nutritional, economic and medicinal values for man could become extinct
(Nzekwe, Onyekwelu and Uju, 2008).

According to Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 report by Food and

Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2010) Nigeria is classified among the countries
with low forest cover of less than 2.3% of the total land area. It further reported
that between 1990 and 2010, Nigeria had lost 47.5% of its forest cover, or around
8,193,000 ha and it is considered as the highest in Africa. Considering the rate at
which the country has been losing her forest and agricultural land areas, there is
need for human input and enhancement of soil fertility for global food security and
environmental sustainability. Therefore, the drive towards ensuring food security
should be channeled towards developing agricultural practices and systems that
will be environmentally-friendly and also focus on productivity on the long term
rather than immediate production and accruing returns (Bankole, Adekoya and
Nwawe, 2012).

1.2 Problem Statement

Improved production systems are necessary for a proper land-use which ensures
environmental sustainability. Improved agroforestry production cannot be achieved
without the immense involvement or improved innovation of man and woman in
the society. There is need for a developed agricultural production particularly the
agroforestry in order to relieve pressure on natural resources and ensure sustainable
agricultural development. Agroforestry holds great promise for contributing to
sustainable land–use systems which can overcome the problem of land degradation
and the “food crisis” which is a pressing problem in Nigeria (Kang and Akinnifesi,
2000).

According to Enete and Amusa (2010), women are key players in the Nigerian
agricultural sector, especially within rural communities. They contribute between
40% and 65% of all hours spent in agricultural production and processing and also
undertake 60 to 90% of the rural agricultural product marketing, thus providing
more than two thirds of the workforce in agriculture (Sabo, 2006).

Women play significant roles in agricultural production, processing and marketing

in Nigeria (Enete and Amusa, 2010; Galiè et al., 2013; MuGeDe, 2017; Akter et
al., 2017). Available literature show that men have continued to dominate farm
decision making, even in areas where women are the largest providers of farm
labour (Oseni et al., 2013; Alston et al., 2018). Women have more or less been
relegated to playing second fiddle in farm decision making. This could be counter-
productive, because, there is bound to be conflict when women, as key players,
carry out these farm tasks without being part of the decision process, especially
when the decisions fail to recognize their other peculiar household responsibilities.

Previous efforts at estimating gender roles in agriculture have tended to

concentrate on evaluating their empowerment status and contributions to food crop
production (Enete and Amusa, 2010; Malapit and Quisumbing, 2015; Akter et al.,
2017; Alston et al., 2018). There has been little or no farm-level information
regarding gender roles in agroforestry, in view of male and female dominance in
cash crop environment like agroforestry households (Umeh; 2011; Buttoud et al.,
2013; Nwosu, 2014). This paper aims to bridge this information gap by comparing
the level of contributions of women and men in agroforestry activities in Orlu, Imo
State, Nigeria.

From the foregoing, the present study tends to assess the roles played by both men
and women farmers in the practice of agroforestry in the study area. To achieve the
result, the study intends to provide answers to the following questions:

i. What are the socio-economic characteristics of farmers in the study area?

ii. What are the agroforestry practices used by farmers in the study area?
iii. What roles do the male and female farmers play in agroforestry
management?
iv. What are the various uses of agroforestry?
v. What are the factors militating against agroforestry practices in the study
area?

1.3 Objectives of the study

The broad objective of the study was to comparatively assess gender roles in
agroforestry management in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria.
The specific objectives included to:

i. describe the socio-economic characteristics of farmers in the study area;

ii. identify the agroforestry practices used by farmers in the study area;
iii. ascertain the roles of male and female farmers in agroforestry management
in the study area;
iv. identify the various uses of agroforestry in the study area; and
v. identify barriers militating against involvement in agroforestry practices in
the study area.

1.4 Hypothesis of the study

Ho; There is no significant difference in the roles played by men and women
farmers in agroforestry management in the study area.
Ha; There is a significant difference in the roles played be men and women
farmers in agroforestry management in the study area.

1.5 Significance of the study

To agriculturist, this study will provide information on the practices of agroforestry
to overcome the inefficiencies of forest products and services in the state. It will
also provide knowledge to the agricultural students on the improvement of
agroforestry practices and efficiency of forest products through the responses of
both male and female farmers. Again, this study will appraise the policies of the
government towards agroforestry management with a view to improving
agriculture in the state. However, to extension agents, this research material will
give insight into the roles of gender in the practice of agroforestry. It will equally
add to the existing literature on the subject matter by providing in-depth
knowledge to researchers for future related research works.
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