By: Fasoro O. A.; Ajewole O. I.;
Abstract:
The rapid increase in demand for forest products has contributed to the loss of natural forests in Nigeria. As a
result, private investment in forest plantations is critical for increasing wood supply and promoting sustainable
forest development. This study, therefore, investigatesthe willingness of non-plantation owner forest stakeholders
(NPOFS) to invest in forest plantation development (FPD). A total of 750 NPOFS were selected using multistage
random sampling. Three states were purposively selected: Oyo, Ogun, and Ekiti, based on the prevalence of
private forest plantation owners in the states. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were employed
to analyse the data. The mean age of NPOFS was 43years, 53.3% were men and 91.3% had formal education.
Twenty-eight percent of the respondents indicated that lack of capital and land insecurity were reasons for not
investing in FPD while 11.9% of respondents iterated that were they not interested in FPD. Respondents stated
that the factors that can arouse and direct their interest toward FPD include: the prospect of guaranteed returns
after retirement (46.7%), global environmental issues (11.9%), as an alternative source of income (27.7%) and
protection of their land from plunderers (3.6%). Respondents (47.8%) suggested that providing targeted incentives
could encourage private investment in FPD. Logistic regression showed that as age increases by one unit,
willingness to invest in FPD decreases by 81.5 percent; however, this was statistically significant. The study found
that non-plantation owner forest stakeholders were willing to invest in FPD; thus, government and environmental
conservation organizations should spearhead projects and programs that provide incentives to encourage private
investment in forest plantation.
Keywords: Plantation development; private investment; forest stakeholders; sustainability;
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