Conservation and socio-economic valuation of Raphia hookeri in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

Five rural communities were selected from each of the three existing geopolitical zones of Ekiti State, Nigeria. In each community, five palm wine tapers (i.e. Producers), five palm wine sellers (i.e. Retailers), ten palm wine drinkers (i.e. Consumers), five landowners and groups of residents were interviewed with the aid of semi-structured matrix to identifying the socio-economic benefits derivable from Raphia,  its cultivation constraints and also define villagers’ indigenous knowledge about the species. Data were obtained from the respondents on the frequency and number of Raphia taped per day, volume of palm wine produced and volume offer for sale, palm wine consumption pattern, Raphia cultivation and tenure regime relating to Raphia trees. The respondents were observed to be of diverse socio-economic classes and the socio-economic features were not considered as pre-requisites to the respondents’ consciousness about palm wine in the study area. Over 60% of the producers tapped between 5 and 10 Raphia trees in a day with over 90% of the tapers tapping twice in a day with the peak period for palm wine production being the dry season. Quite often, some of the trees tapped were located on other people’s land and the landlords were usually given a proportion of the wine as royalty. 49% of the wine producers tapped between 50 and 150litres of palm wine daily and a tree is tapped for an average of 24 days. 65% of the wine producers offered between 25 and 75% of the palm wine produced for sale from which an average daily income of 250 Naira is derived. The average volume of palm wine sold by most of the retailers varied from 50 to 100litres and average daily incomes of between 250 and 750 Naira are derived. These incomes are greater than the Nigerian minimum daily wage of 166 Naira. Most consumers consumed between 2 and 5litres of palm wine in a day with most of them consuming palm wine more than two times daily. The myriad problems hindering palm wine production and Raphia hookeri cultivation were identified. Ecological strategies that could enhance Raphia cultivation in the study are were prescribed.