Socio-economic impacts of charcoal production in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Many households in developing countries experience low energy consumption and this make them depend upon wood fuels for their energy. This study examined socioeconomic impacts of charcoal production in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State, Nigeria. Two Local Government Areas were selected based on the accessibility and the availability of charcoal farmers among ten Local Government Areas. Results show that 74% of the respondents were male while 26% were female that are into production of charcoal in the study area. 37.5% of the age range (41-50) of respondent produces more charcoal than other age range. The respondent did not go beyond primary school educationally and they are all married. However, respondents with over 11-20 years of experience in the production of charcoal have higher percentage of frequency. Some of the problem faced by the producers of charcoal in Oke Ogun area are scarcity of trees, wildfire, government disturbance and transportation. Trees commonly used for production are from inherited farms and most of the trees used are Butyrosopermum paradoxium, Dialium guineense, Terminalia glaucencens, Khaya ivorensis. Production is once in a month and later exported. Energy provision is a basic human need and consumption is closely related to the level of a country"s development.