Farmers’ Perception and Adoption of Forest Conservation Practices in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The practice of shifting cultivation by farmers in Kaiama Local Government of Kwara State is been inhibited by the dedication of their farm lands used for various agricultural activities to national park, thereby resulting in the depletion of soil nutrients caused by continuous cropping on the available land. Thus, the study examines farmers’ perception and adoption of forest conservation practices in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State (The case of Kainji Lake National Park). Purposive random sampling was used to select three wards dedicated to the national park viz; Gwanabe 1, Kemanji and Wojibe. Primary data were gathered through the administration of questionnaires to 160 randomly selected farmers from each of the 8 communities in the three wards. Descriptive statistics, Likert-Scale and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The result shows that land acquisition was mainly (66%) through inheritance. Furthermore, rotational fallow is practiced by majority (79%) of the farmers. The perception of farmers on forest conservation practices shows that scattered trees on farm land is highly adopted (4.8) and perceived as profitable (3.0) and compatible (3.0). The result of the regression analysis shows that age, education, extension contact, farming experience, cooperative membership among others significantly influenced the adoption of forest conservation practices. The acquisition of tertiary education, training of extension staff and formation of farmers’ cooperative society among others were recommended.