Management of forest resources by women: a case study from the Olokemeji Forest Reserve area, southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

The environmental impact of the Nigerian economic Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) on the livelihood of the rural dwellers has been little studied. A study was conducted amongst 10 villages in the Olokemeji area of Oyo State, Nigeria using standardized interviews of 200 household heads.The oil boom of the 1970s in Nigeria drove many male heads of households in the study area to the cities, but the collapse of the urban unskilled labour market in the 1980s brought men back to the villages. However, by 1990, renewed dominance of female-headed households in the study area has followed further male emigration. Changing roles of women in managing the forest environment are indicated over the three time periods and I argue that female-headed households attempt to conserve and improve the state of the environment more than their male counterparts. This is achieved through the cultivation of less nutrient-demanding crops such as cassava and yam, and using environmentally-friendly farming systems such as terracing and taungya.