Non-wood forest products (NWFP) form a significant natural resource component for the poor. They are a neglected little known common property sustaining the rural sector. NWFPs occur in all the ecological zones of the country and they are composed of biotic and abiotic resources of wild species of plants and animals plus soil minerals. NWFPs occur in greater variety of products than timber. Moreover, they have shorter frequency of harvest cycle, smaller yield per unit area in the forest and higher monetary value per unit weight.
NWFPs exhibit peculiar biological and ecological characteristics which make their conservation practices difficult. NWFPs are not fully known and hence they are poorly documented. One plant species is used to meet various end uses in different locations and ecological zones. Nevertheless, NWFPs remain central to the sustenance of Nigerians in rural areas.
The major NWFP are classified into woody and non-woody products. There is no complete list of NWFP in Nigeria. However, this study has documented from literature, 42 species of fruit trees, 20 species of vegetable plants, 12 species of spices, 16 species of mushrooms, 14 species of edible seed bearing plants, 3 species of oil trees and 6 species of alcoholic plants. These data exclude numerous biotic species of medicinal value, frogs, insects, snails, reptiles, mammals, birds, fish etc. NWFP is central in traditional culture and used as material for dyes, toxins, gum, wrapping leaves, mat weaving, chewsticks, household utensils, agricultural tools and fuel-wood.
The consumption pattern of NWFP is highly influenced by socio-cultural and economic factors in vogue in the respective locations they are in use. The push factors for their utilization include taboos, social acceptance, level of utilization, demand and tenure issues. The species are fully recognized at local level and are harnessed to meet household food security and as dependable sources of income.
Trade in NWFP is organised both at the local and urban levels. NWFPs respond to market failures because they are not reflected in GDP calculations. Prices of NWFP fluctuate but they are higher during the off season than in the producing season. The middle men fix prices for the goods and sustain the trade both in rural and urban areas.
Data collection on NWFP is constrained by many factors. These include information loss, poor storage facilities, inadequate inventory, high rate of poaching, low level forest management and mode of resource harvesting. Despite these set-backs, improvement in data collection can be attained through intensive research, involvement of local communities in the conservation of NWFP and partnership in the development of forest resources.
NWFP are a dependable source of income and food supply in the rural areas. However NWFP is a diminishing resource because the land base is under pressure of depletion from agriculture and public infrastructures. The management of NWFP is difficult because there is no complete list due to poor research, poaching, poor harvesting methods and little management attention to non-timber products.
Nevertheless, the application of intensive research and smallholder farmer involvement in in situ conservation will improve the situation. Data collection mechanisms can be put in place through a nation wide ethnobiological survey, adequate staff training and improved funding of forestry programmes.
Non-wood forest products (NWFP) are defined as forest materials derived from soil mineral, water, fauna and flora resources other than round wood (sawn wood). The NWFP are classified into non-wood and non-timber products. The non-wood products are derived from wild animals, herbs, leaves, latex, gum, resins, ropes, fruits, seeds, fungi, fodder, forage, gravel, clay, limestone and natural salt. The woody but non-timber products include poles, fuel-wood, charcoal, rattan canes, sponge, chewsticks, bamboo's and others.
The NWFP occur naturally in all the ecological zones in the country; through the mangrove forest and coastal vegetation, fresh water swamp forest, lowland rainforest, moutane areas to the savannah ecozones (derived savannah, guinea savannah, Sudan savannah and sahel savannah). The numbers, types, population and diversity of species which occur in the ecological zones vary in accordance to inherent genetic characteristics, land use practices, edaphic conditions and environmental influences
The availability of NWFP in any ecozone is a function of the richness of the vegetation in terms of the structure of species occurring in it and the use of biotic species by the rural population. However, the ecological zones in the country have been subjected into various changes due to human interference with the natural environment particularly land extensive agricultural production. For example, the land devoted to food crops alone rose from about 7.6million ha in 1970 to 35.5 million ha in 1995 (Agboola, 1987; FORMECU, 1985). The second main cause of vegetation changes is the high dependence on the natural vegetation for food, medicine, shelter, income generation and other socio-cultural activities.
The biotic resources on which NWFP are derived exhibit some bio-ecological characteristics, which make data collection and their conservation difficult. The species occur in narrow ecological ranges and respond to irregular flowering and fruiting in the same and different locations. NWFPs are not fully known and poorly documented. However, NWFPs remain central to the socio-economic and cultural wellbeing of rural communities in Nigeria.
The sustainable conservation and management of NWFPs have been difficult to streamline in Nigerian forestry for various reasons. These include:
(i) over 90% of the NWFP respond to market failures. Consequently, they are not taken into account in GDP calculations. Thus the value of the forests in economic terms is only about 1.3% of the GDP calculations. By implication therefore only about 10% of the budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector is made available to forestry development.
(ii) Because of the poor knowledge of species in terms of utilization, biology and ecology their management becomes difficult to coordinate and harmonize at regional and national levels. Therefore, except for few materials, most NWFPs cannot be captured at the national level.
(iii) Most of the NWFP are derived from species which occur from the wild. The species are conserved under in situ conservation programmes within the contest of common property resource utilization. According to Osemeobo (1991), common property resources are influenced by: (a) tenure systems in vogue in various communities, (b) taboos that determine their utilization, harvest, social acceptance and their various end uses and (c) traditional and cultural user rights.
The response of agricultural policies to economic reforms and trade policies towards market oriented regimes have increased pressure on the utilization of the Nigerian NWFP (World bank, 1996). For example while other sub-sectors within agriculture are gaining more lands from natural forests, NWFPs are loosing the land base and their recognition. Most of the NWFP are treated as intangibles with free access and little restriction.
The worth of NWFP in Nigeria is difficult to estimate as the prices placed on them are often localised and vary from one area to another. Moreover, the value placed on NWFPs is often lower than the cost of replacement (Osemeobo, 1992a) hence the value of NWFP are at best social costs. Because the markets have failed to reflect the full value of NWFP due to under-pricing, market prices do not reflect their full marginal opportunity cost to society (Salau,1991).By implication because most NWFP are treated as free goods, they are overused, degraded and hence they respond to market failures.
The ecological and climatic characteristics are presented in Table 1.The occurrence of NWFP vary within and among the various ecozones based on their richness and intensity of utilization by government and rural communities.
The terms of reference for this study were to:
(i) collect the available current data on Non-wood Forest Products (NWFP) in Nigeria and report on its present status;
(ii) compile especially the available in-country information on the most important NWFP like bushmeat (including insects) medicinal plants (especially chewsticks), forest foods e.g. Gnetum africana and Irvingia geboneneis, gum arabic and shea butter;
(iii) analyse the past, present and possible future trends of these NWFP for local consumption, trade and exports;
(iii) analyse constraints and necessary steps of improvement related to statistical data collection on NWFP.
Based on the terms of reference, the following objectives emerged for the study. These were to:
(a) define NWFPs and give an overview of the occurrence, distribution, management and economics of NWFP;
(b) document the major NWFP occurring in the country;
(c) analyse the trends in the consumption and trade in NWFP; and
(d) identify and analyse the constraints and improvement in statistical data collection for NWFP in the country.
Data were collected through secondary and primary sources. Secondary data were obtained from published materials from textbooks, journals, commissioned technical papers and others.
Primary data were collected to fill the gaps in the secondary data. A structured questionnaire was combined with discussions with NWFP collectors, sellers and users of NWFP from selected households in the various ecozones.
Collected data were subjected to rigorous statistical analyses to establish sound basis for the inferences made. Both descriptive and analytical statistics were employed in the report.
Table 1: Climatic data of major ecozones
Major ecozones |
Annual rainfall (mm) |
Rainy days per year |
Minimum temp. |
Maximum temp. |
Mean annual temp. |
Altitude (m) |
Fresh water swamps and coastal vegetation |
3,000 - 4,400 |
290 |
21oC |
32oC |
25oC |
0 - 15 |
Lowland Rainforest |
2,000 - 3,000 |
250 |
20oC |
36oC |
25oC |
15 - 150 |
Derived Savannah |
1,500 - 2,000 |
220 |
15oC |
36oC |
25oC |
150- 600 |
Jos Plateau (Montane) |
1,300 - 1,500 |
185 |
13oC |
31oC |
22oC |
1,200 |
Mambilla Plateau (Montane) |
1,500 - 1,800 |
200 |
10oC |
30oC |
20oC |
1,500 - 1,850 |
Sudan Savannah |
800 - 1,000 |
90 |
14oC |
38oC |
27oC |
300- 700 |
Southern Guinea Savannah |
900 - 1,200 |
200 |
18oC |
36oC |
27oC |
150- 200 |
Northern Guinea Savannah |
1,000 - 1,300 |
180 |
14oC |
35oC |
25oC |
600-700 |
Sahel Savannah |
200 - 400 |
80 |
13oC |
40oC |
27oC |
300- 700 |
Source: NAERLS 1992
Figure 1: Classification of forest products
NATURAL FOREST ECOSYSTEMS |
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Tangible Forest Products (e.g. Plants, animals an soil minerals) |
Intangible forest products (e.g. Shade, soil protection and forest influences) |
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Non-Timber Forest Products |
Woody Products |
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Non-wood Products |
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Floral Products |
Faunal Products |
Chewsticks, fuelwood charcoal, agricultural tools, ceremonies and festivals |
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Medicine, foods fodder, gum dyes, toxins etc. |
Medicine, food festivals Ceremonies food etc. |
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