Analysis Of Economic Benefits Of Rural Communities\' Participation In Sustainable Agroforestry Practices In Central Cross River State

Abstract

The paper X-rayed the extent of involvement of rural communities participation in the sustainable agroforestry practices in central cross River State, Nigeria. With increased population and fixed supply of land, there has been undue pressure on the use of land. The situation is exacerbated by commercial and industrial exploitation of forest resources, which has not benefited the rural poor. The adopted likert scale was used to determine the level of participation of rural communities in agroforestry practice, which was significant at 0.05 level when data were analysed using the ANOVA and Fishers Least Significant Difference (LSD). The gross margin analysis, share contribution approach and the value marginal product tool were combined to determine the economic rate of returns to land for farmers involved in agroforestry. The total returns was N803000 and cocoa contributed 80% of the total profit, and plantain / Bannana 18% and palm oil 2% respectively.
It is recommended that farmers should be seriously engaged in agroforestry practices to enjoy output and profit maximization effects.


Keywords: Economic benefit, communities\' participation, Agro forestry

Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 4 (2) 2006: pp. 13-23