ASSESSMENT OF INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITIES AMONG FOREST FRINGE COMMUNITIES IN CROSS RIVERS STATE OF NIGERIA

This study assessed the different income generating activities as well as factors that influenced choice of such activities among forest communities in Cross Rivers State of Nigeria. One hundred copies of structured questionnaire were used to obtain information from respondents in the study area. Two Local Government Areas (LGAs) were purposively selected for the study, due to their agrarian and forest-based nature. Five communities were then randomly selected from each of the LGAs and ten copies of questionnaire were randomly administered in each community. Both descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages as well as inferential statistics such as Multinomial Logistic Regression were used in the study. From the study, it was discovered that the average household size, age, farm size and household income were 4; 36.5; 1.75Ha and N39, 330 respectively. It was also observed that the respondents engaged in different income generating activities which are then categorized into On-farm only activities, Non-farm only activities as well as Non-farm+ On-farm activities. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the respondents engaged in only farming activities with only 20% of them engaging in non-farm activities alone; while 43% of the respondents combine farm activities with non-farm activities. The results of the Multinomial Logistic Regression show that age, educational qualification, access to extension services, total household monthly income, farming experience, farm size as well as availability of forest were variables that significantly influenced the respondents’ choice of livelihood strategies at 5% level of significance.