Understanding commitment to agroforestry a crosssectional study among a sample of Nigerian farmers

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Abstract
Agroforestry plays a vital role in reconciling food production with forest biodiversity conservation. There is a need for a systematic investigation into the benefits and ecological considerations that underlie the commitment of smallholder farmers to agroforestry systems. This study therefore aims to investigate the relative importance of farmers' attitudes towards forest loss and the perceived benefits of agroforestry in influencing their commitment to agroforestry. The research was conducted among a group of farmers in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria, using a cross-sectional survey in which structured questionnaires were administered to 400 crop farmers selected through clustered purposive sampling. Respondents' agreement with sets of relevant statements was elicited and used to assess variables. The independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to examine the significance of the difference in respondents' commitment to agroforestry across subgroups of gender and age/education, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between variables. The results show that 57.8% of respondents exhibited a 'high' commitment to agroforestry. Gender, age, and education had significant effects on commitment (p < 0.05). There was no significant relationship between attitude towards forest loss and commitment to agroforestry (r = 0.038, p > 0.05), whereas perceived benefits showed a strong positive correlation (r = 0.426, p < 0.05). Being male, middle-aged, and poorly educated are predisposing factors for a lower commitment to agroforestry among farmers. Furthermore, the ecological benefits or forest restoration potential of agroforestry have a limited influence on the motivation to commit to agroforestry in the study area. The importance of ecologically sustainable agriculture or the restorative potential of agroforestry appears to be poorly recognized by farmers in the study area.

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