• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

      EFCC Arraigns Bauchi Accountant General Over N8bn Fraud as Court Sentences…

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • Customs Partners US Mission to Prevent Expanded Visa Ban

      Nigeria Customs Partners China on Smarter Ports, Officer Training, Reforms

      Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Bashir Adewale

      Customs Moves Against 223 Importers in N379bn Permit Breach

      Bashir Adewale Adeniyi Customs Boss

      How Customs is Tightening Borders to Stop Illicit Cash Flows –…

      Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

      Codeine, Tramadol Worth ₦20.5bn Seized as Customs-NAFDAC Cooperation Deepens

  • National
    • Tinubu’s Greek gift by Festus Adedayo

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Intercepts Cocaine, Tramadol Hidden in Vehicle Side Mirrors, Arrests Multiple…

      ICPC Boss, Musa Adamu and CG Customs, Bashir Adeniyi during his courtesy visit to ICPC office in Abuja

      Customs, ICPC Partner to Curb Smuggling, Boost Revenue Through Transparent Enforcement

      Police Spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi Promoted to DCP

      Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Bayo Ojulari

      Purported Resignation: Who are after NNPC Boss Bashir Ojulari

    • Government
      • IPI Nigeria Demands Immediate Reopening of Badegi FM, Threatens to List…

        Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Bayo Ojulari

        Purported Resignation: Who are after NNPC Boss Bashir Ojulari

        The Paramount Ruler of Oka-Akoko, His Imperial Majesty Oba (Dr) Yusuf Adebori Adeleye, OON, the Olubaka of Oka

        Olubaka of Oka Praises Foundation for “Best Oka Day” Festival

        Dr. Emmanuel Ojukwu and representatives at NIPR FCT the meeting

        NIPR FCT Chapter Focuses on Crisis Communication and Professionalism

        Mohammed Idris Malagi, Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation

        FG Reacts to Niger Governor’s Closure of Badegi FM

  • Security
    • Troops Kill 3 Terrorists in Borno, Recover Weapons, Motorcycles

      NDLEA Logo

      NDLEA Intercepts Cocaine, Tramadol Hidden in Vehicle Side Mirrors, Arrests Multiple…

      ICPC Boss, Musa Adamu and CG Customs, Bashir Adeniyi during his courtesy visit to ICPC office in Abuja

      Customs, ICPC Partner to Curb Smuggling, Boost Revenue Through Transparent Enforcement

      Police Spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi Promoted to DCP

      After ₦250m Ransom Demand, Security Guard Arrested for Murder of Caregiver,…

  • Features
    • Tinubu’s Greek gift by Festus Adedayo

      CG Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

      Customs Just Wrote Nigeria’s Energy Rulebook

      Okello Oculi

      Okello Oculi: A Pan-Africanist Asteroid Burns out Forever By Is’haq Modibbo…

      Leon Usigbe

      Death, you can’t be Proud of this By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem 

      Tinubu’s Plateau Gambit – Yilwatda, 2027, and the Return of the…

  • State
    • IPI Nigeria Demands Immediate Reopening of Badegi FM, Threatens to List…

      Troops Kill 3 Terrorists in Borno, Recover Weapons, Motorcycles

      After ₦250m Ransom Demand, Security Guard Arrested for Murder of Caregiver,…

      court Judiciary

      Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign

      Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

      Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

  • Event
    • The Paramount Ruler of Oka-Akoko, His Imperial Majesty Oba (Dr) Yusuf Adebori Adeleye, OON, the Olubaka of Oka

      Olubaka of Oka Praises Foundation for “Best Oka Day” Festival

      court Judiciary

      Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 students

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 Students in Evergreen, SimplifiedIQ’s Education Program

      Comptroller General Customs Bashir Adewale and his staffs with the representatives of the European Union, the German Embassy

      Customs Unveils Renewable Energy Handbook, Strengthens EU-Germany-GIZ Partnership

      University of Maiduguri

      UNIMAID Mass Comm becomes Faculty of Communication and Media Studies

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Features The Gender Lens on the Role of Women in Forestry and Conservation
  • Features

The Gender Lens on the Role of Women in Forestry and Conservation

By
Rukayat I. Olanrewaju
-
April 22, 2019
Children Child Right
Children child right

The Gender Lens on the Role of Women in Forestry and Conservation
By Rukayat I. Olanrewaju

The United Nations envisaged that by year 2030, women all over the world will have a voice and be heard and will be fully participate with equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life, women will have equal right to all economic resources including ownership and control of land in accordance with national laws.

In Nigeria, women account for over 49% of the total population with 51.4% rural population. Logically over 20% of women in Nigeria live in the rural area and depend on environmental resources (forests) for their daily needs. These women have vital role in the conservation and maintenance of a sustainable ecosystem due to their closeness to this resources. They have intuitive abilities when it comes to the sustenance and management of forest resources because they are the major forest users who depends on the forest for the basic daily needs of their family. They are the herbalist, the gatherer and collectors of forest products. These women have a repository of valuable medical plants and trees, the parts to be used and how it is used, this knowledge is transferred from one generation of women to another thus preserving these indigenous knowledge.

Women’s involvement in forests is motivated by the numerous benefit they derive for their household and communities. Rural women make livelihood from the collection sales of forest products such as vegetable, fruits, soup condiments, staking materials, fodder, fuel wood, medicinal herbs and other products such as sponge, basket weaving, brooms and rattan therefore they have greater stake in forest rehabilitation and management. With the incidence of massive forest destruction, climate change and biodiversity loss, women are the ones that bears the brunt of these development. They have to go further to get herbs for their ailing children, walk to far away streams to fetch water for family needs because the nearby stream is now dried up, search further for choice edible non timber forest products for their family’s daily food needs. They also have to walk further in search of firewood to cook meals and warm their homes. But unfortunately in programmes and projects involving forest dwellers and users, the voice of the key stakeholders ‘the women’ are not heard, neither is their right to the forest acknowledged.

The contribution of women to forest management and conservation is greatly influenced by the sociocultural norms, gender segregation in public places, social perceptions of women’s roles, women’s lack of bargaining power and men’s entrenched claims and control over natural resources. African culture encourages male dominance as such men have greater advantage over women in our society. They are the decision makers while the women are relegated to the “kitchen” limiting their access to education, contracts, credit facilities and other resources. From the cultural point of view, most communities considers it inappropriate for women to attend village meetings where decisions are made. Women are accorded lower status in the society.

Read Also:

  • IPI Nigeria Demands Immediate Reopening of Badegi FM, Threatens to List Governor Bago in Black Book
  • Tinubu’s Greek gift by Festus Adedayo
  • Troops Kill 3 Terrorists in Borno, Recover Weapons, Motorcycles

The male is viewed as the sole decision maker and as such his opinion is recognised as the stance of his household irrespective of the woman’s viewpoint. Women are usually absent and in some cases under-represented in community forest meetings.
Women especially those living in the rural areas are directly involved in the utilisation and conservation of the environment due to the traditional role imposed on them by the society. Provision and preparation of food, cleaning the house, gathering of fuel wood, fetching of water and care and early education of the children are deemed the women’s fort. In the rural communities, hunting and fishing is the domain of the men but the women collects edible forest plants and medicine. These women tend to have significant knowledge of forest product mix that can contribute to household dietary needs.

These women dominate the collection, processing and marketing of non-timber forest products and are also the keepers of home gardens. In some communities in Nigeria, women do not have right to land ownership and thus can’t make decisions on land use and are also barred from entering and utilising some forests that are tagged as sacred.
In spite of this restrictions, women still carry out silvicultural operations on trees around their homesteads and those on their husband’s farms thus contributing to the sustainable tree management, environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. They are active in afforestation and are also actively involved in nursery development.

The state of the economy has pushed men to migrate from their villages to urban centres to search for supplementary source of income, this development has pushed women into agroforestry, and cultivation of forest products to supplement the food needs and income of their household. These women make great contributions to forestry and agroforestry value chains. However their contribution is not recognized by policy makers and extension services.
In recent times, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has been creating awareness and educating women on agroforestry and non-timber forest product value addition.

They have recorded great success in the Philippines. In Zimbabwe and Kenya, women’s group manage forest resources management projects through woodlot ownership, tree planting, nursery development and agroforestry. In East Africa, it is mostly the women that plant and tend agroforestry fodder shrubs. In Nigeria, the National forestry policy of 2006 made provision for gender issues in section 3.3.22, but including gender equality in the policy isn’t enough, there should be a clear cut strategy for the inclusion of women in every aspect of forest management and conservation.
Forest policy makers should focus on designing inclusive forestry and agroforestry programmes that will recognise women as forest users, acknowledge their knowledge, experience and take into account their specific needs. They should also endeavour to achieve gender balance in forestry issues, encourage and enable women’s full participation in decision making within forestry association at all levels from the rural communities to the national level and integrate gender into forest policy framework and support women’s active participation in policy process.

The successful implementation of forest management programmes depend largely on the involvement of women because women as nurturers tend to maximise the utilization of natural resources for the family more than men who are most likely interested in how resources could contribute to their personal welfare. Unless the contribution of women to forest management and conservation is recognized, supported and encouraged sustainable forest management would remain elusive. There is an adage that says that, “he who wears the shoes knows where it pinches”. Women shouldn’t be left out in processes centred on forest conservation and management from the grassroots to the national level but rather should work side by side with their male counterparts in a complementary manner.

Rukayat I. Olanrewaju
Ph.D. student of Forest Management,
University of Ibadan.

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • The Gender Lens on the Role of Women in Forestry and Conservation
Previous articleINSECURITY: Gov Sani-Bello Seeks Collaborative Measure of Stakeholders
Next articleThird-Estate Sponsors 30 Graduates to acquire ICT knowledge, Solar Installation skills
Rukayat I. Olanrewaju
Rukayat I. Olanrewaju
http://www.PRNigeria.com

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Tinubu’s Greek gift by Festus Adedayo

CG Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

Customs Just Wrote Nigeria’s Energy Rulebook

Okello Oculi

Okello Oculi: A Pan-Africanist Asteroid Burns out Forever By Is’haq Modibbo Kawu

Leon Usigbe

Death, you can’t be Proud of this By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem 

Tinubu’s Plateau Gambit – Yilwatda, 2027, and the Return of the Machiavellian Strategist By Abdullahi O Haruna Haruspice

Ozumi and a recipient of a wheelchair

Wheels of Hope: How a Simple Gift is Reshaping Lives at Sa’adatu Rimi University By Ozumi Abdul

Late Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari and Mansur Liman

“Buhari: A Blunt, Honest Leader Who Laughed at His Own Predicament”

Intelligence Synergy: Reshaping Nigeria’s Security Architecture, By Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

When Media Saves Lives: How NEMA is Equipping Journalists for Disaster Risk Communication in Kano/Jigawa

Young Muhammadu Buhari jnr

A Young Buhari’s Poetic Tribute to a Leader By Yushau A. Shuaib

A Brotherhood Beyond Blood- Seyi Tinubu’s Rare and Humble Support for Yusuf Buhari By Abdullahi O Haruna Haruspice

Late President Muhammadu Buhari

Critique of Renaming University of Maiduguri after Muhammadu Buhari By Dr Umar Ardo

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Log in to leave a comment

Recent Posts

  • IPI Nigeria Demands Immediate Reopening of Badegi FM, Threatens to List Governor Bago in Black Book
  • Tinubu’s Greek gift by Festus Adedayo
  • Troops Kill 3 Terrorists in Borno, Recover Weapons, Motorcycles
  • NDLEA Intercepts Cocaine, Tramadol Hidden in Vehicle Side Mirrors, Arrests Multiple Suspects Nationwide
  • Customs, ICPC Partner to Curb Smuggling, Boost Revenue Through Transparent Enforcement
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
IPI Nigeria Demands Immediate Reopening of Badegi FM, Threatens to List Governor Bago in Black BookTinubu’s Greek gift by Festus AdedayoTroops Kill 3 Terrorists in Borno, Recover Weapons, MotorcyclesNDLEA Intercepts Cocaine, Tramadol Hidden in Vehicle Side Mirrors, Arrests Multiple Suspects NationwideCustoms, ICPC Partner to Curb Smuggling, Boost Revenue Through Transparent EnforcementPolice Spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi Promoted to DCPPurported Resignation: Who are after NNPC Boss Bashir OjulariWill Presidential Gifts Follow as Nigerian Female Basketballers D’Tigress Reach 5th Consecutive AfroBasket Final?After ₦250m Ransom Demand, Security Guard Arrested for Murder of Caregiver, Toddler in Abuja SchoolOlubaka of Oka Praises Foundation for "Best Oka Day" FestivalNIPR FCT Chapter Focuses on Crisis Communication and ProfessionalismTroops Eliminate Dozens of Terrorists, Arrest 578 Suspects in July OperationsFG Reacts to Niger Governor’s Closure of Badegi FMInformation Ministry Inaugurates Anti-Corruption Unit to Deepen TransparencyIG Boosts Police Intelligence Capacity with New Tech, Training for Technical Intelligence Unit
X whatsapp