EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMERCIAL …

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Original Research Article

EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMERCIAL CHARCOAL

PRODUCTION AND SOCIOECONOMIC VARIABLES IN NASARAWA STATE,

NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA.

ABSTRACT

Charcoal is no longer a source of energy to only rural households but also a demanded

commodity in urban areas around the world which has resulted in the commercialization of

its production, particularly rural dwellers of developing countries such as Nigeria. Given the

observed growing significance of charcoal in rural and urban livelihoods in Nasarawa State,

this paper examined the relationship between commercial charcoal production and

socioeconomic characteristics of the people involved in the activity. The study employed

descriptive survey using both qualitative and quantitative data drawn from primary and

secondary sources. Questionnaire was administered to 450 respondents randomly sampled

from commercial charcoal producers drawn from 6 communities and 3 LGAs of Nasarawa

State. Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were also conducted and the data obtained

were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics in Microsoft Excel and SPSS

(version 23). Results showed that commercial charcoal producers in the study area were

mostly between 21 and 50 years with dominance of those between 31 and 40 (30.9%) while

those above 50 years were least represented (6. 9%).There was slight dominance of women

(52.4%) among the producers and the they were mostly primary (44%) and secondary

(35.6%) school certificate. Majority (48.2%) had household size of 4 – 6 and more than half

(52.9%) were married and earned 20,000 naira and below on monthly basis (46.4%). There is

strong relationship between the socioeconomic status of the respondents and commercial

charcoal production in the study area. Their socioeconomic status proved to have served

significant motivation to their rising involvement in the activity. Also alternative economic

activities that guarantees quick monetary rewards and is all age and gender engaging as well

as requires no special skill and huge capitals for a start, should be planned for and

introduced in the study area by the State Government.

Key Words: Charcoal, Commercial, Socioeconomic, Savannah, Woodland.

1. INTRODUCTION

Nature has made several resources available for man’s utilization. Unfortunately, man’s need

is insatiable and consistently growing in scale thereby posing danger to available natural

resources which includes forest resource. Charcoal is one of the most utilized product of

savannah woodland which is a natural resource, studies have shown that charcoal is no longer

a source of energy to only rural households but also a demanded commodity in urban areas

around the world which has resulted in the commercialization of its production, particularly

among poor and rural dwellers of developing countries such as Nigeria [1]. In line with Pedro

[2], any intervention that will be made to protect ecological system while also enhancing

income through commercial charcoal production must seek to understand the nexus between

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socioeconomic status of the people and commercial charcoal production activity. Given that

socioeconomic indicators are relative to locations/places; it is imperative to examine the

indicator variables as they affect commercial charcoal production in specific area of interest.

This would make interventions projects more effective, efficient and sustainable given that

developing nations are often devoid of multiple sources of income and hence, rural dwellers

tend to over depend on forest resources as source of income.

The impact of wood fuel and its derivative (charcoal) gotten from forested woodlands, on the

energy requirements of developing nations cannot be underscored. It supplies about 95

percent of the cooking energy needs in the developing countries [3]. Inspite of the benefits

derived from the forest and forest products, the world’s forest is rapidly depleting. The rate of

dependence on the savannah woodlands has exposed the forest to degradation, these has

attracted concerned sectors of the world government in finding ways to curtail this increasing

menace against nature. The United Nations Forum on Forest [4], addresses issues of

biodiversity degradation, sustainable production and women empowerment as outlined in

goals numbers 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).

Although Africa’s forests support the direct livelihood of 60 million rural people (providing

food, medicine, fuel, fibre, non-timber forest products as well as social and cultural

functions) and less directly support 40 million people living in urban centres in the forest

domains [5], deforestation is continuing at alarming rates in many countries [6].

Approximately 30% of the wood harvested for fuel in Africa is used for charcoal production

and between 2004 and 2009, global wood charcoal production increased by 9%. This is due

in large part to the increase in wood charcoal use in developing African countries, unrelenting

charcoal and fuel wood demand from around the world –especially, rapidly rising demand

from Europe, USA and China.

This means that the forests of developing countries (Particularly, Nigeria which ranks second

to Brazil among top ten wood charcoal production countries) are being harvested at

unprecedented rates [7]. Often, this is done unsustainably or not in accordance with local

laws. Road-building by logging companies has also opened up remote areas of forests to

poaching and illegal logging.

In addition, the economic hardship, poverty, unemployment and increase in the price of oil

witnessed in past few years, have necessitated the need for people to find alternative means of

making a living in respect of domestic cooking energy in Nigeria. During the colonial

periods, large number of people used firewood as domestic energy fuel, after the colonial era;

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there was a change in status quo, people embarked more on the use of electricity, fossil fuels

such as kerosene and gas as cooking energy.

Nowadays, millions of households use charcoal as domestic and outdoor recreational cooking

energy as a result of epileptic power supply, scarcity and increase in the price of oil and gas.

According to UNDP [8], an estimate of 2.5 billion people lack access to modern energy

services. They rely on traditional biomass sources such as wood fuel (and its derivatives),

agricultural residues, and animal dung to meet their basic energy needs [9]. These activities

are leading to destruction of forest cover, a situation aggravated by illegal commercial

logging [10]. FAO [11] indicates that between 1990 and 2005, Nigeria lost 35.7% of its forest

cover and only 12.2% of the country’s land is currently forested while 350,000 hectares of

land in the country are lost to desertification annually.

In 2010, Nigeria had 8.9Mha of forest cover, extending over 9.8% of its land area. It provides

refuge for everything from rare and endangered plants and animals to ferocious militias

accused of brutal crimes against humanity. In 2016, it lost 72kha of forest, equivalent to

5.4Mt of CO₂ of emissions [12]. It is difficult to imagine that such vast ancient woodlands

are at risk of extinction. But they are disappearing at an alarming rate. According to the UN

Food and Agriculture Organization [13], indigenous (also known as “old-growth”) forests in

Africa are being cut down at a rate of more than 4 million hectares per year which is twice

the world’s deforestation average. Furthermore, the Federal Government of Nigeria [14]

estimates that, about 150 trucks transport charcoal to markets within and beyond North

Central region per week. Households produce about 25 maxi bags of charcoal per month and

sell about 95 percent of the output either within or outside the region.

This poses a worrying threat to the natural existence of tree biodiversity in the study area and

the assertion (i.e. threatened forest) is underpinned by the Resource Watch Agenda’s claim

that extractions from the forest outpace the rate of forest replacement [15]. With Nigeria

losing about 3.5 percent of its forest yearly, which is between 350,000 and 400,000 [16]

hectares of forestland, the World Bank has extended Nigeria Reducing Emissions from

Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Readiness Programme to Nasarawa State.

Given the observed growing significance of charcoal in rural and urban livelihoods,

particularly in Nasarawa state, the attention of several authors has been recently drawn to the

environmental consequences and socioeconomic implications of its production. [17] studied

the environmental and socio-economic correlates of charcoal production in Oriire Local

Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria. Also, [18] looked at “subsistence living and global

climate change: implications of bio-charcoal production for farmers in rural areas of

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Nigeria”. They used a 25-item questionnaire to examine socio-economic implications of

charcoal production for farmers of rural communities in Nigeria. [19] studied the impact of

charcoal production on the sustainable development of Asa Local Government Area, Kwara

State, Nigeria. In their study, they use questionnaire, focus group discussions and interviews

to conduct a survey on the inhabitants and producers to explore their views on method of

production and the effects on their health and environment respectively and [20] looked at

socioeconomic implications of charcoal production and marketing in Nigeria.

Saving Nasarawa’s forest from the chainsaw and axe of encroaching humanity is essential to

the health and productivity of much of the national economy as forests are known to play the

roles of watersheds, defences against soil erosion and regulators of local weather conditions.

Hence, this paper examined the relationship between commercial charcoal production and

socioeconomic characteristics of the people involved in the activity in a bid to devise a means

of making the activity sustainable.

2. MATERIAL AND METHOD

The study was carried out in Nasarawa state. The state has an approximate land area of about

27, 271.50 square kilometres and located in the basement complex of north-central Nigeria

between longitude 6º 45’ 03’’ and 9º 45’ 03’’ of the Meridian and latitude 7º 45’ 00’’ and 9º

35’ 00’’ of the Equator. It shares geographical boundaries with Kaduna state in the north,

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the west, Kogi and Benue states in the south, Taraba and

Plateau states in the east. Nasarawa State has a population of 1,926,221 as the current

projected population with a population density of 75/km2 (190/sg mi) making it one of the

most densely populated States in the country [21]. The vegetation of Nasarawa state is

Guinea savanna and the floristic composition is heterogeneous with a variety of species.

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Figure 1: Nasarawa State Showing the LGAs

Source: Reproduced from Nigerian McMillian Atlas Map

Based on the number of producers identified to be involved in commercial charcoal

production in each of the six study communities, the Krejcie and Morgan's sample size

determination table [22] was used to select appropriate samples for the study. The number of

producers identified in each community and its associated sample size are presented in table

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Table 1: Sample Size Determination

LGA Community Population Sample Size

Akwanga Aricha 85 70 Gudi 85 70

Doma Agwashi 55 48 Idadu 90 73

Karu Songo-Gitata 120 92 Saningye-Panda 130 97

Total 450

Source: Reconnaissance Survey/ Krejcie and Morgan (1970)

This paper utilized both qualitative and quantitative data. The data collected were in line with

the aim of the paper. The study drew from both primary and secondary sources of data.

Primary data on socioeconomic status of the people involved in commercial charcoal

production; the reasons why they engage in charcoal production; the preferred tree species for

the production and reasons, were sourced for the study. Secondary data were obtained from

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publications, annual and quarterly reports and books (hard and soft copies) that deals with the

concepts and issues of charcoal production and tree biodiversity. Reconnaissance survey was

carried out in the study area prior to the administration of questionnaire, conducting of

interviews and focus group discussion. This enabled familiarization with, as well as obtaining

of first-hand information about the study area through observation and casual interactions

with the people.

Questionnaire containing both open and closed-ended questions was used as a tool for data

collection. It was administered to commercial charcoal producers in the study area and to

ensure thoroughness, respondents were enlightened on how to answer the questionnaire, and

were also assisted in the case of personal disability or language barrier. A total 450 copies of

the questionnaire were administered to the sampled respondents.

In addition, interviews and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were conducted to enhance the

data collected through questionnaire. The focused group discussion was conducted amongst

three groups of producers based on age categories with gender balance comprising of 8 – 12

participants in each group having younger generation producers (30 years and below), middle

age producers (31 – 45 years) and older generation producers (46 years and above). Two

FGD sessions per age group were conducted in each of the selected communities in the study

Area.

The acquired data was analysed using descriptive (tools: frequencies, means, percentages and

cross-tabulation) and inferential (tools: chi-square) statistics. The raw data collected from the

field was coded and analysed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (office 2016) and SPSS

version 23. The results of the analysis were presented in form of tables and charts.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Age Distribution of Respondents

The age distribution of the respondents is shown in figure 2. Majority (78.2%) of the

respondents were between the ages of 21 and 50 years. Those between 31 and 40 years

constituted 30.9% of the respondents, followed by those in the age bracket of 41 – 50 years

(24.2%) and those between the ages of 21 and 30 years (23.1%). Those who were 20 years

and below accounted for 14.9% while the rest 6.9% constituted those whose ages were above

50. It is not a surprise that majority of the charcoal producers in the study area were between

the ages of 21 and 50 since the age category depicts the active periods of human life, given

especially that the activity of charcoal production is an energy demanding venture. The

implication is that more trees are likely to be cut for the purpose of commercial charcoal

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production since most producers are energetic to embark on consistent production which

guarantees their economic wellbeing. This finding is corroborated by those of [23] and [24]

who also in their study discovered dominance of the active age categories in charcoal

production.

Figure 2: Age Distribution of Respondents

Source: Data Analysis 2018

Furthermore, age distribution of the respondents based on Local Government Areas revealed

that in Akwanga, majority (36.4%) of the charcoal producers were within the ages of 21 – 30

years. Those who were 20 years or below accounted for 26.4%, followed by 20.7% who were

between 31 and 40 years of age. Those between ages of 41 and 50 and those who were above

50 years accounted for 12.1% and 4.3% of the sampled charcoal producers in Akwanga

respectively. There was evidence of child labour among charcoal producer in Akwanga and

this could be attributed to high participation of women in the activity within the area as most

women tend to use their children to augment their energy and ensure effective production.

This implies that commercial charcoal production is an all age and gender engaging activity

and with the growing economic hardship in Nigeria and Nasarawa State in particular, it is

likely that more rural dwellers in the study area will tend towards the forest for survival given

that there is no age/gender restriction, hence more pressure on the forest woodland and the

need to accesses the sustainability of their production processes and device/advice sustainable

approaches if need be and also provide alternative economic activities in the study area.

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A discussant in Aricha community of Akwanga LGA stated that: “As you have seen from the

production sites, charcoal production involves lots of activities which allows people of

different ages to participate including children as young as 6 years of age”. Plate 1 shows

some of the roles children plays in charcoal production in Akwanga.

On the contrary, in Doma LGA, the dominant age group among charcoal producers was 31 –

40 years which accounted for 29.8% of the sampled respondents in the area. This was

followed by those between ages 41 and 50 (28.1%), 21 and 30 (19.0%), 20 and below (14.0%)

and then those who are above 50 years (9.1%). Also in Karu, those who were between 31 and

40 (39.2) were mostly involved in charcoal production, followed by those between 41 and 50

(30.7%), 21 and 30 (15.9%), above 50 years (7.4%) and then those below or equal to 20 years

of age (6.9%).

Plate 1: Use of Children in Charcoal Production Process at Gudi Community (9°0′52.499″N

8°16′9.827″E).

Source: Authors’ Photography (2018)

3.2 Gender Distribution of the Respondents

The gender distribution of the respondents is presented in figure 3. It was revealed that out of

the 450 charcoal producers sampled for the study, 236 representing 52.4% were female while

the male counterpart accounted for 47.6%. The dominance of female in the charcoal

production business was mostly noticed in Akwanga Local Government Area where out of

140 sampled respondents, 64.3% were female and 35.7% male. This highlights the important

role of women in the charcoal production venture and could be attributed to the culture and

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religious believe in the area which permit women to engage in such venture as well as lack of

alternative economic ventures that best suits their gender. This high presence of women in

commercial charcoal production within the study area indicates increasing involvement of

people of diverse gender in the business due to the quick financial reward as found in this

study. This in turn poses adverse effect on the surrounding woodlands as their operations were

found to be solely based on traditional method which requires more trees to be cut to ensure

lucrative production. This finding disagrees with that of [24] who found that more males were

involved in charcoal production than women and also that of [25] who reported that charcoal

production in the Chicale Regulado, Mozambique is dominated by males (77%) and that high

number of women in the population was not expected due to the physical nature of the

activity. This could be due to differences in culture, religious believe and economic

opportunities between the study locations. Plate 2 shows the presence of women in

commercial charcoal production in Akwanga production area.

Figure 3: Gender of Sampled Charcoal Producers

Source: Field Data Analysis 2018

Conversely, more male producers than female were observed in Doma and Karu Local

Government Areas (LGA). Out of the 121 sampled respondents in Doma LGA, 54.5% were

male and 45.5% female whereas in Karu LGA, out of 189 respondents, males accounted for

52% and female 48%. The dominance of male in these two locations could be attributed to the

tedious nature of commercial charcoal production which requires a lot of energy as well as

gender roles and responsibility based on the local culture. [26] found that cultural factors

pertaining to religion, human strength and land dictated gender roles.

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Plate 2: Women Participating in Commercial Charcoal Production at Gudi Community

(9°1′1.969″N 8°15′25.034″E)

Source: Authors’ Photography (2018)

3.3 Educational Attainment of the Respondents

Table 2: Educational Status of Charcoal Producers

Level Akwanga Doma Karu Total

Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq %

Tertiary 14 10.0 5 4.1 14 7.4 33 7.3

Secondary 55 39.3 31 25.6 74 39.1 160 35.6

Primary 64 45.7 56 46.3 78 41.3 198 44.0

No Formal Education 7 5.0 29 24.0 23 12.2 59 13.1

Total 140 100 121 100 189 100 450 100

Freq. = Frequency, % = Percentage

Source: Field Data Analysis, 2018

The educational attainment of charcoal producers in the study area as presented in table 2

shows that the producers were comprised mostly of primary school (44%) and secondary

school (35.6%) leavers. There were also quite a large number of those who had no formal

education accounting for 13.1% of the total respondents while the remaining 7.3% consisted

of those who had attained one form of tertiary education or the other. The educational

attainment of commercial charcoal producers in the study area indicates that they may not be

well informed about the consequences of their actions and inactions as it concerns vegetation

cover. This implies increasing trend of forest degradation as most of the producers approaches

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the use of forest resources (trees) for their business with the common-goods attitude. The

general pattern of educational attainment was also mirrored in the three LGAs except for

Akwanga where those who had attained tertiary education (10%) were found to be more than

those who had no formal education (5.0%). This could be due to the presence of colleges of

education in the area which most of the respondents hinted to have attended. Those who had

attained primary and secondary levels of education in the LGA accounted for 45.7% and

39.3% respectively. In Doma, majority (46.3%) of the respondents had primary education,

followed by 25.6% with secondary education, 24% with no formal education and 4.1% who

had attained tertiary educational level. Similarly, in Karu, 41.3% had primary education,

39.1% secondary, 12.2% had no formal education and those with tertiary education accounted

for 7.4%. The large number of respondents in the primary education category coupled with a

significant number who had no formal education is an indication that charcoal production has

been considered as self-employment by the majorities who have not been employed and have

failed to advance their education. The findings on educational attainment concur with [27]

who argued that charcoal producers in Uganda have the lowest level of education. It also

affirms the theory of social cost which explains that the actions of charcoal producers are

driven by an undesirable effect – poverty.

3.4 Distribution of Respondents by Household Size

Table 3: Household Size of the Respondents

Number of Persons Akwanga LGA Doma Karu Total


1 – 3 26 18.6 10 8.3 31 16.4 67 14.9

4 – 6 81 57.9 40 33.1 96 50.8 217 48.2

7 – 9 27 19.3 32 26.4 35 18.5 94 20.9

10 - 12 4 2.9 31 25.6 16 8.5 51 11.3

Above 12 2 1.4 8 6.6 11 5.8 21 4.7

Total 140 100 121 100 189 100 450 100


It was observed that the inhabitants of the study area believed strongly in extended family

system, hence their household size was determined by the husband, wife(s), children and

relatives. Table 3 shows that almost half of the respondents (217) representing 48.2% had

family sizes of 4 - 6 persons, followed by 20.9% who had family sizes of 7 – 9 persons. Those

who had family sizes of 1-3 persons accounted for 14.9%, those from family sizes of 10-12

persons represented 11.3% while the rest 4.7% were those whose family sizes were above 12

persons. Findings from the study indicates that large family sizes serve as major sources of

labour for commercial charcoal production. The implication is increased pressure on the forest

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resources existing in an already fragile ecosystem of the study area evidenced by the

deforested environment.

3.5 Marital Status of Respondents

The marital status of sampled commercial charcoal producers is presented in the figure 4. It

was found that more than half (52.9%) of the commercial charcoal producers in the study area

were married, 24% were single while 18.9% were those who had lost either their wives or

husbands. The rest constituted 3.6% who has been separated from their spouse and 0.7% who

are having other forms of marital relationships. In Akwanga, 48.6% were found to be married,

followed by 32.1% who were single, 14.3% widows/widowers while those who were

separated from their spouse and those who indicated other kinds of marital relationship

accounted for 3.6% and 1.4% respectively. In Doma, 57% were married, 22.3% were

widows/widowers, and 19% were single while 1.7% were separated. The marital status as

observed in Karu indicated that 52.9% were married, 21.2% were single and 20.1% have lost

their spouse to death, while those who were separated and those who have other forms of

marital status accounted for 4.8% and 0.5% respectively. This high rate of marriage among

commercial charcoal producers confirms the statement by one of the FGD participants in

Doma production area that: “most of us are married and have at least two or more children,

we therefore must do whatever we can to ensure that our families are being provided for.

Commercial charcoal production is a quick rewarding activity with consistent demand, it can

be started with no or very minimal capital and requires no special skill, hence the reason for

our involvement in the activity”.

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Figure 4: Distribution of Respondents by Marital Status


3.6 Monthly Income of Respondents

Table 4: Distribution of the Respondents by Monthly Income

Income (naira) Akwanga LGA Doma Karu Total


20,000 and below 62 44.3 68 56.2 79 41.8 209 46.4

21,000 – 49,000 59 42.1 48 39.7 78 41.3 185 41.1

50,000 and above 19 13.6 5 4.1 32 16.9 56 12.4

Total 140 100 121 100 189 100 450 100

Source: Field Data Analysis

Table 4 presents the monthly income of commercial charcoal producers in the study area. It

was found that about half (46.4%) of the producers earn 20,000 and below, on monthly basis.

This is followed by 41.1% who earn between 21,000 and 49,000 and 12.4% who earn 50,000

and above. The high number of producers in the 20,000 and below and the 21,000 – 49,000

earning category could be attributed to the poor governance of the charcoal sector in the study

area, which allows middle men to exploit the producers as revealed in an interview with some

of the producers. The World Bank [28] as cited by [29], suggested that although commercial

charcoal production is a major source of income among developing economies, the charcoal

sector is still being poorly governed. In Akwanga LGA, 44.3% of the charcoal producers

constituted those earning 20,000 and below on monthly basis, 42.1% earns between 21,000

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and 49,000 while 13.6% earn 50,000 and above. In Doma, more than half (56.2%) of the

producers earn 20,000 and below, 39.7% earns between 21,000 and 49,000 while only 4.1%

earns 50,000 and above. Similar to earnings in Akwanga, 41.8% of the sampled respondents

in Karu earns 20,000 and below, 41.3% earns between 21,000 and 49,000 while 16.9% earn

50,000 and above. The high number of producers in the 50,000 and above earning category at

Akwanga and Karu could be attributed to the locations where they sell their products as most

respondents from both LGAs claimed to sell their charcoals in Abuja and Keffi. A particular

Chinese man in Karu LGA owns a company that produces and exports charcoal out of the

country and also distributes to far places within the country, such as Lagos and Port-Harcourt.

This finding implies that the almost immediate monetary reward from commercial charcoal

production is strong attraction of people in the business hence exerting more pressure on

already stressed ecosystem of the study area.

3.7 Distribution of Roles in Commercial Charcoal Production by Gender and Age

Group

The chi-square and cross-tabulation result of the test of association between the roles

commonly performed by commercial charcoal production and their gender and ages are

presented in tables 5 to 8.

Table 5: Chi-Square Result of Commercial Charcoal Production Roles by Gender

Value Df

Asymp. Sig. (2-

sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 162.379a 5 .000

Likelihood Ratio 199.728 5 .000

Linear-by-Linear Association 94.163 1 .000

N of Valid Cases 450

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Table 6: Roles and Gender Cross-tabulation

Gender

LGA Role Male % Female % Total

Akwanga cutting of tree 23 100 0 0 23

Stacking of logs 34 81 8 19 42

Covering of stacked logs with sand/grasses 43 35.2 79 64.8 122

Burning and monitoring of charcoal 40 31.3 88 68.8 128

Raking and separation of dirt/debris from newly

formed charcoal

24 27.6 63 72.4 87

Packing/bagging of charcoal 42 33.1 85 66.9 127

Doma cutting of tree 37 100 0 0 37

Stacking of logs 43 100 0 0 43

Covering of stacked logs with sand/grasses 49 51 47 49 96



formed charcoal

24 33.3 48 66.7 72


Karu cutting of tree 44 100 0 0 44

Stacking of logs 70 97.2 2 2.8 72




formed charcoal

44 55 36 45 80


Total cutting of tree 104 100 0 0.0 104

Stacking of logs 147 93.6 10 6.4 157




formed charcoal

92 38.5 147 61.5 239



Table 6 show the relationship between gender and the various roles performed in the process

of commercial charcoal production within the study area. The Pearson Chi-Square result of

the association between gender and roles shows that there was a statistically significant (p-

value < 0.01) association between gender and the roles performed by commercial charcoal

producers. Furthermore, a cross-tabulation of gender and roles in commercial charcoal

production as presented in table 7 shows that cutting of tress for charcoal production and

stacking of woods at the kiln location were mainly the role of men. Out of the 104

respondents who engaged in tree cutting and wood stacking, 100% and 93.6% were male

respectively. Although covering of the stacked wood with grasses and/or sand proved to be a

female dominated role in the State, the situation was quite different in Karu LGA. Overall,

out of 378 respondents who engaged in the role, 54% were female while the male counterpart

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accounted for 46%. In Karu LGA, out 160 participants in the role, 51.3% were male while

48.8 were female.

This situation confirmed the statement by a discussant from Songo-Gitata community that:

“Women here mostly engage in less energy demanding roles of charcoal production process

in order to meet their small-small needs such as buying of their toiletries, hence they only sell

their labour to main producers whenever such needs arises. Also, those who engages in the

production proper often contract out the energy sapping aspects of the production males”.

Furthermore, burning and monitoring of charcoal burning aspect of the production process

shows that both gender was very well represented with slightly male dominance. Out of 427

participants, 53.9% were male while the rest 41.6% were female. This slight male dominance

of male in this role was also reflected in Doma and Akwanga production areas. However, in

Akwanga, more women were found to be engaging in the role where out of 128 participants,

68.8% were female and 31.2% were male. This could be attributed to the high involvement

of women in the business as observed in the LGA coupled with more socio-cultural freedom

that is being enjoyed by women in the area as indicated by a discussant from Gudi

community during FGD. Conversely to the case of tree cutting and wood stacking, the raking

and separating of dirt from formed charcoal was found to be female dominated role with

61.5% female participant out of 239. Packing/bagging of charcoal was similarly dominated

by women in the study area, out of 378 participants, 57.9% were female. This finding implies

that although there is a pronounced involvement of women in commercial charcoal

production in the study area, they were mostly concerned with less tedious aspects of the

production process as male participants assisted them with such roles. This is in corroboration

with the findings of [24], [30], [26] and [31] who found that women in commercial charcoal

production often contract the tedious aspects of the production process to payed labour or rely

on the services of adult male member of their families.

Table 7: Chi-Square Result of Commercial Charcoal Production Roles by Age

Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 173.218a 20 .000

Likelihood Ratio 207.345 20 .000

Linear-by-Linear Association 6.071 1 .014

N of Valid Cases 450

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Table 8: Roles and Age Group Cross-tabulation

Age

LGA Role 20 and below 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 50 Above 50 Total

Akwanga cutting of tree 15 (65.2) 1 (4.3) 4 (17.4) 3 (13.0) 0 (0.0) 23

Stacking of logs 19 (45.2%) 7 (16.7) 6 (14.3) 10 (23.8) 0 (0.0) 42

Covering of stacked logs with sand/grasses 26 (21.3) 38 (31.1) 28 (23.0) 30 (24.6) 0 (0.0) 122

Burning and monitoring of charcoal 23 (18.0) 38 (29.7) 37 (28.9) 30 (23.4) 0 (0.0) 128

Raking and separation of dirt/debris from newly formed charcoal 18 (20.7) 33 (37.9) 32 (36.8) 4 (4.6) 0 (0.0) 87

Packing/bagging of charcoal 20 (15.7) 41 (32.3) 37 (29.1) 29 (22.8) 0 (0.0) 127

Doma cutting of tree 6 (16.2) 24 (64.9) 5 (13.5) 2 (5.4) 0 (0.0) 37

Stacking of logs 7 (16.3) 19 (44.2) 13 (30.2) 4 (9.3) 0 (0.0) 43





Karu cutting of tree 11 (25.0) 14 (31.8) 12 (27.3) 7 (15.9) 0 (0.0) 44

Stacking of logs 13 (18.1) 23 (31.9) 16 (22.2) 9 (12.5) 11 (15.3) 72

Covering of stacked logs with sand/grasses 26 (16.3) 21 (13.1) 16 (100) 67 (41.9) 30 (18.8) 160




Total cutting of tree 32 (30.8) 39 (37.5) 21 (20.2) 12 (11.5) 0 (0.0) 104

Stacking of logs 39 (24.8) 49 (31.2) 35 (22.3) 23 (14.6) 11 (7.0) 157






18

Table 8 shows that there is statistically significant association between the ages of

commercial charcoal producers and the roles they performed. The Pearson Chi-Square result

was significant at p-value < 0.01. Furthermore, Table 8 presents the breakdown of the roles

different ages engaged in. Out of the 104 participants of tree cutting those within the ages of

21 and 30 years (37.5%) dominated the role, followed by those whose ages were 20 and

below (30.8%), 31 – 40 years (20.2%) and 41 – 50 (11.5%). In Akwanga LGA, those who

participated in tree cutting were mostly (65.2% out 23 participants) 20 years and below, while

in Doma and Karu LGAs, it was those between 21 and 30 years of age and they accounted for

64.9% of 37 and 31.8% of 44 participants respectively. Similarly, the role of stacking the cut

wood for burning was mostly dominated by people of younger ages in the study area. Out of

the 157 participants, 31.2 % were those between 21 and 30 years, 24.8% were 20 years and

below, 22.3% were 31 – 40 years while the least age group that participated in this role were

those between 41 and 50 (14.6%) and above 50 years (7.0%). This is in conformity with the

statement by a discussant from Idadu community that:

“Even though people of different ages participate in this work, some aspects of the work can

only be accomplished by young people who are energetic and very active. For example, older

people cannot go through the rigours of tree cutting/transporting as well as carrying logs

around for the purpose of stacking, hence they often rely on the services of younger

producers to accomplish such tasks”

Another female discussant from Aricha added: “I cannot carry heavy logs, so I tip my

younger male children or neighbours to assist me stack the woods which I usually purchase

from operators I cannot also cut the trees by myself”

Although the role of covering stacked logs with sand/grasses was quite spread across the

various age groups in the study area, it was observed to be mostly performed by those in the

41 – 50 years’ age bracket (28%), followed by 31 – 40 years (25.9%) and 21 -30 years

(22.5&). Similarly, burning and monitoring of the charcoal burning process was also

dominated by same age groups as in covering of stacked logs. Out of 427 participants, 28.6%

were between 31 and 40 years, 28.1% were between 41 and 50 years and 23.2% were in the

range of 21 – 30 years. In the same vain, out of 239 respondents who participated in raking

and separation of dirt/debris from newly formed charcoal, 39.7% were between 31 and 40

years, 23.8% accounted for those in the 21 – 30 years’ age group and 18.8% 20 years and

below. Furthermore, dominance of same age groups was recorded for packing/bagging of

charcoal product. Out of 378 participants, those between 31 and 40 years accounted for

29.6%, followed by those between 41 and 50 years (27.5%) and those who were 20 years and

19

below (23.0%). This finding indicates that the more tedious aspects of commercial charcoal

production are handled by those within the active age brackets and the participation in

different production roles decreases with increase in age. [24] noted that due to the tedious

nature of commercial charcoal production, its operations are mostly carried out by energetic

adults within the productive age bracket. Plate 3 shows some of the roles in charcoal

production processes and the participating gender and age groups in the study area. Plate 4 in

addition to what plate 3 reveals also shows scenes of questionnaire administration, interviews

and FGD.

Plate 3: Stages of Charcoal Production Process at Saningye-Panda (9°14′34.579″N

7°50′14.961″E).

Source: Authors’ Photograph 2018

20

Plate 4: Second to Last Stages of Charcoal Production Activity at Gudi, Akwanga LGA

(9°1′1.969″N, 8°15′25.034″E and 7° 51' 49.963" N, 8° 20' 40.214" E).

Source: Authors’ Photograph 2018

21

4. CONCLUSION

Commercial charcoal producers in the study area were mostly between 21 and 50 years with

dominance of those between 31 and 40 (30.9%) while those above 50 years were least

represented (6.9%). The use of child labour in the production process was common in

Akwanga production areas. Respondents’ sex distribution revealed slight dominance of

women (52.4%) among commercial charcoal producers in the study area, however, there were

slightly more men than women in Karu and Doma production areas. The producers were

mostly primary (44%) and secondary (35.6%) school certificate holders with a significant

number of those with no formal education (13.1%).

Majority of the commercial charcoal producers were found to have household size of 4 – 6,

that is, 57.9% in Akwanga production areas, 33.1% in Doma and 50.8% in Karu.

Cumulatively, it was 48.2% while those with household size above 12 (4.7%) were the least

represented. More than half (52.9%) were married, 24% were single while the rest had either

lost their spouse or in one form of relationship or the other. Most (46.4%) of the producers

earn 20,000 naira and below while a few earn 50,000 naira or above on monthly basis. There

were more high income earners in Karu (16.9%) and Akwanga (13.6%) production areas than

those of Doma (4.1%).

There is strong relationship between the socioecomic characteristics of the respondents and

commercial charcoal production in the study area. Their socioeconomic status proved to have

served significant motivation to their rising involvement in the activity. Continued rise in the

uncontrolled wood species extraction for commercial charcoal production without

corresponding measures towards restoration or conservation, will reduce the capacity of trees

cover to provide pasture, control soil erosion, medicine and energy requirement for society

and livestock in study area.

Policies that aim to decrease consumption such as deployment of more efficient cook stoves

are certainly well intentioned and logistically practical. However, the decreased consumption,

and therefore decreased demand, will further exacerbate the standard of living for the

numerous rural charcoal producers. Driving down the price and physical demand of charcoal

is likely to stifle the charcoal production markets, on which a large and currently unknown

percentage of the rural population relies.

Therefore, regulatory system should be organised among the commercial charcoal producers

and registered formally so that they can access incentives for acquiring sustainable

technologies for charcoal production. This will reduce the quantity of tree species felled. Also

alternative economic activities that guarantees quick monetary rewards and is all age and

22

gender engaging as well as requires no special skill and huge capitals for a start, should be

planned for and introduced in the study area by the State Government.

23

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EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMERCIAL …