RURAL-URBAN INTERDEPENDENCE ON FUEL WOOD IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

This study examined the rural-urban interdependence on fuel wood in Anambra State, Nigeria using cross-sectional data. The study used purposive and random sampling techniques for the selection of 120 gatherers that constituted respondents for the study. The study employed descriptive and relevant inferential statistics for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that out of the 14 indicators of the importance of forest examined in the study, the respondents were aware of 11 as importance of forest to people in the study area. The linear regression analysis with an R2 of 0.702 showed that about 70% of the total variations in the income from fuel wood were caused by the specified independent variables in the model. On ruralurban interdependence on forest, (79%) of money and income related benefits flow from urban to rural areas; (88%) of benefits relating to innovative ideas on forestry management and conservation flow from urban to rural areas, about (68%) of forest related market information spread from urban areas to the people in rural areas while about (55%) of awareness of the importance of forest and its related products flow from the urban to rural. About (78%) of benefits in the form of forest related job opportunities spread from rural to urban areas. Using a factor loading of 0.30, the factors that constrain rural-urban flow of fuel wood in the area were: sociofinancial; infrastructural/institutional; and distributive factors. The result of the probit model with an R2 of 0.892 indicated that about (89%) of the total variations in the decision of the respondents to either invest in forest development or not were caused by the specified independent variables in the model. Based on the above findings, it was recommended that government should ensure the provision of good feeder and major road network between rural and urban areas in the state, that for smooth flow of fuel wood, marketing channels should be encouraged in order to hasten distribution of the fuel wood among others.