Research Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Management Vol. 6(5), pp. 080-088, July, 2017
Available online at http://www.apexjournal.org
ISSN 2315-8719© 2017 Apex Journal International
Full Length Research
Animal mode of transport as a sustainable supplement
to rural road transportation in Birnin Kebbi Region of
Kebbi State
Oyediran, Kayode Kunle* and Abdulkarim Abdulmumin Manga
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, College of Environmental Study, Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic,
Benin-Kebbi, Nigeria.
Accepted 26 July, 2017; Published 31 July, 2017
The use of animals for transport has drastically reduced in the northwestern part of Nigeria, as the
animals’ owners prefer selling their animals to buy cars, tricycles, bicycles and even motorcycles that
are modern modes of transport. The gap these animals left is still uncovered by all these automobiles
due to the condition of rural roads in this region. This paper aims at assessing animal mode of
transport as a sustainable supplement to rural road transportation in Birnin Kebbi region of Nigeria. To
achieve this aim, objectives set include examining the condition of the roads in the study area, to
examine the potentialities of the animals as regards load bearing capacity and to assess the factors
hindering the use of this animal mode of transportation. Data were sourced through both the primary
and secondary means. The methodologies employed in the administration of 250 questionnaires
include purposive sampling and clustered random sampling. Findings revealed that the study area is
characterized by bad road condition, people are ignorance of the potentialities of these animals as
regards load bearing and other attributes. Culture of the people is also one of the hindrances to animal
mode of transportation in this region. The paper is concluded by recommending that provision should
be made for animal tracks while carrying out rural development planning and design. In addition,
different type of animals is recommended for the two sexes.
Key words: Vulnerable road users, motorably accessible, ruralites, passengers, animal routes, transportation.
INTRODUCTION
Transportation could be simply defined as the act of
moving services, goods and persons from an activity area
to the other. It should be noted that these activities are
not concentrated at just a place but distributed all over
naturally or by human arrangement or plan. Therefore,
there should be integration of all these activities area that
can be achieved through good transportation. Oyesiku
(2003) supported this fact by noting that following world
conferences on the environment held in Stockholm in
1972, Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Istanbul in 1996, there
has been greater concern for the global development
*Corresponding author. E-mail: diran4kay@gmail.com.
process to seek for integration of exploitation of
resources and economic growth and physical
development. The characteristics of a living thing include
reproduction, irritation, death and movement therefore,
the word transport is as old as man‟s existence. Before
the invention of motors, bicycles, motorcycles and
tricycles, man embarked on trekking to move themselves
and goods from a place to another.
A transportation mode is the means of mobility used to
carry goods and persons from one place to another. In
the case of rural areas where farming is their major
occupation and dominated by youths that have their ages
between eighteen years and fifties, movements is largely
from village/market to farm and vice versa. Rural
transportation mostly include animal traction, car, truck,