VOL. 4, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER 2009 ISSN 1990-6145 ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science © 2006-2009 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. www.arpnjournals.com EXTENSION AND FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FOR RURAL WOMEN ON FOREST EXPLOITATION Agbogidi O. M. 1 and Ofuoku A. U. 2 1 Department of Forestry and Wildlife, Faculty of Agriculture, Delta State University, Asaba Campus, Delta State, Nigeria 2 Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Delta State University, Asaba Campus, Delta State, Nigeria E-Mail: omagbogidi@yahoo.com ABSTRACT This study examined the extension and forestry development training for rural women on forest exploitation with a view to enhancing their participation in forestry activities in the Central agro-ecological zone of Delta State, Nigeria. Three hundred and fifty women involved in forest related activities were randomly chosen from 10 forest communities purposively selected. Structured interview schedule was used to elicit information from the respondents about the necessary preparation, pre-training, training and post-training steps for the improvement of women’s participation in sustainable forest activities. Data collected were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics using frequency counts and percentages. Chi-square was used to test for significant differences between the means. The results showed that the training needs indicated by the respondents included alley farming, controlled bush burning, chemical application, financial management and record keeping. Significant relationships were observed between the degree of involvement in forest activities and preference of training personnel (x 2 = 88.05; P<0.05) as well as time of training (x 2 = 52.21; P <0.05). Appropriate recommendations were given along the findings. This study has established that training of women in forest exploitation has a high significant effect on increased forestry development by enhancing their involvement in forest activities. Keywords: forest, training, rural women, development, exploitation, extension. INTRODUCTION With changes in climatic conditions, which is believed to be as a result of man’s activities exerting pressure on the global flora and fauna, much attention is currently drawn to forest protection. Women are the closest set of people to the forest as they are direct users and consequently collect almost all the resources that are available in the forests (Agbogidi and Okonta, 2003; Prakash, 2003; Agbogidi et al., 2005). Ajayi et al. (1997) stated that the participatory role of women in the collection of non-timber forest resources such as leaves, barks, roots, fruits and seeds of trees make them more vulnerable to clearing the forest and the content therein if they are continuously neglected in conservation strategies. The women are therefore required, to be trained on conservation practices (Ajayi et al., 1997; FAO, 2006). Training is the responsibility of the participant’s organisation/group, the participant and the training institution. Training has phases that are crucial to the success of training by extension agencies for derived change in behaviour of the trainees. Studies (Agbogidi and Okonta, 2003; Agbogidi et al., 2005) have shown that it is always very difficult to brings a rural audience together for any extension services meeting. This is as a result of the fact that the various people have their peculiar social, economic or political aspects which influence their activities (Chavez-Tafur et al., 2007). Bearing this in mind, the opinions of and view points of the target audience (rural women) is needed to gain their participation in forestry extension training sessions. The study is aimed at investigating the extension and forestry development training for rural women on forest exploitation with a view to enhancing their participation in forestry activities and development. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study was carried out in 2006 in five local government areas of the Central agro-ecological zone of Delta State, Nigeria. This zone consists of eight local government areas out of which Ethiope-East, Ethiope- West, Ughelli-North, Ughelli-South and Okpe local government areas were selected purposively for the study. The target population consisted of women involved in forestry activities in the area of study. Two (2) villages were randomly selected from each selected local government area to cover a total of 10 villages viz: Eku, Abraka, Jesse town, Ogharefe, Ogor, Orogun, Oginibo, Imode, Ugborhe and Adedje. Thirty-five women involved in forestry related activities were randomly selected from each of the 10 villages to constitute a total of 350 women for the study. Data were collected from the respondents using structured interview schedule. The data were pre-tested and subjected to reliability test (r = 0.81). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages and mean derived from 5-point Likert scale. The hypothesis was tested using Chi-square. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Preference for sex of training personnel The results (Table-1) show that 91.1 percent of the women preferred training by female extension agents. These women were of the opinion that a female extension agent would appreciate their problems than an agent of the opposite sex and female extension agents would be more acceptable to their spouses than the male extension agents. Some 5.7 percent of the women preferred male extension 14