Non-timber forest products’ marketing in Nigeria. A case study of Osun state

Abstract

Research on markets and marketing of some non-timber forest products (NTFPs) was carried out in
selected locations of Osun State. The NTFPs considered are chewing sticks such as Massularia
acuminata and bush meat like Thryonomys swinderianus, representing both the flora and fauna aspects
of NTFPs, respectively. Five Local Government Areas were randomly selected, namely; Odo-otin,
Boripe, Iwo, Irewole and Atakunmosa for the research purpose. A total of 300 questionnaires were
administered, 150 questionnaires for each of the NTFPs. Each NTFPs was further subdivided to
production, marketing and usage or consumption with 50 questionnaires for each unit. It was gathered
from the result that M. acuminata tops the list of the well favoured chewing sticks. Other types of
chewing sticks that rank high include fagara ( Zanthophylum zanthoxonoides) and Ira (Rauwolfia
vomitora). Bush meat is also cherished by people most especially in urban centres where it is regarded
as a delicacy. Despite the preference of bush meat, the rate of consumption is still low relative to other
animal protein sources. Apart from these two NTFPs, several others of economic, nutritional and
medicinal importance exist. A list of some of them is made with their uses. NTFPs are grossly affected
by seasonal changes and this in turns affect their availability and prices. In all, considering NTFPs in
the light of economic gain alone will be parochial even though analysis for the marketing of the two
NTFPs shows that they are viable business ventures. The values should extend beyond the economic
gain to other values which are i