International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications ISSN (Online): 2581-6187 24 Ugochi E. Ekwugha, Obenade Moses, and Daniel I. Edet, ―Evaluation of Cattle Menace on Forest Plantations in South-East Nigeria: A Case Study of Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State,‖ International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications (IJMRAP), Volume 3, Issue 11, pp. 24-29, 2021. Evaluation of Cattle Menace on Forest Plantations in South-East Nigeria: A Case Study of Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State Ugochi E. Ekwugha 1 , Obenade Moses 2 , Daniel I. Edet 1 1 Department of Forestry and Wildlife Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria 2 National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), South-South Office, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Amassoma, Bayelsa State, Nigeria Authors E-mail: obenade @ yahoo.com ; uggold2005 @ yahoo.com; daniffer2003 @ yahoo.com Abstract— This study was carried out to evaluate cattle menace on forest plantations in Ohaji/ Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State, South-East Nigeria. Data were collected using well structured questionnaires to elicit information from respondents in the study area. One hundred and twenty (120) respondents were randomly selected from a list 1200 foresters/farmers obtained from the different village leaders in the community. Data gotten were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means, frequency distribution and percentages and likert-type scale. The study showed that 85.8% of the respondents were full time farmers. Others are traders (7.5%), civil servants (6.7%) though farming is their part time jobs. The study further showed that breadfruit (20%), oil bean (50%), bamboo (30,8%) and palm tree (50%) plantations, were the major plantations in the study area. Likert scale analysis indicated that chopping off of leaves (3.5), chopping off of the growing stems (3.5), instant death (3.0), debranching (3.3), destruction of young shoots (3.3), trampling on food crops (3.4), trampling on tender seedlings and young trees (3.4), soil compaction (2.7), are the major effects of cattle menace on forest plantations. Furthermore, the likert scale analysis indicated that demarcation of cattle route (3.0), use of resistant varieties (3.0), establishing of grazing reserves (2.7), are the major strategies identified towards resolving cattle menace in the study area. This study helps to increase awareness among academicians, farmers, governments and other critical stakeholders on the need to take urgent steps by putting necessary measures in place to curtain and checkmate the menace caused by the uncontrolled and reckless grazing by herders in South-East Nigeria. Keywords— Cattle menace, forest plantation, farmers, Imo State, Nigeria, Ohaji/Egbema, South-East. I. INTRODUCTION Forest plantation plays a vital role in economic development of any nation. The forest provides household food and shelter for the people [11] . Precisely, forest plantations around the world provide important sources of livelihoods for many of the rural poor, although people may not necessarily make use of the forest in the same way and on the same level. Angelsen and Wunder [1] put forward four dimensions along which forest benefits in rural livelihoods can be categorized and assessed: 1. Look at groups of beneficiaries; II. Evaluate types of forest products and services; III. Distinction between high and low rent forest products; IV. Differentiate the role of forest benefits in the household economy or livelihood strategy (for example, subsistence use versus cash income; gap filling versus regular use). Extent of resource management (that is, from pure forests/forest products). As a matter of fact, forest dwellers do represent the group with the highest level of forest dependency [2] . Forest dwellers depend heavily on forest resources for subsistence with hunting, gathering and shifting cultivation (that is, clearance of forest land for agricultural purposes) as main livelihood activities [5] . The forest is an important basis for their rotational agricultural systems. Forest dwellers are most often indigenous population groups that live in and with the forest according to their own traditions, making the forest also an important part of their social and cultural systems [3] . A larger proportion of forest-using people are made up by farmers living at the forest frontiers [2] . Within this group, it is primarily the poor and landless farmers that still rely greatly on forest resources for their livelihoods. Wealthier farmers on the other hand, are less dependent on the forest as their livelihoods are predominantly based on sedentary agriculture. For them, forest products merely function as a supplementary source of income and forest products are gathered or produced (that is, Smallholders) only in times when market demand for certain forest products is high [3] . While the poor forest farmers derive a greater share of their livelihood from forest products, the wealthier forest farmers, with more resources for forest gathering and production, are the heaviest forest users [2] . Commercial forest users do not necessarily live in or near the forest, but do indirectly draw on the forest (part of) their livelihoods through commercial forest activities, such as the production, processing and sale of forest products [5] . Non- timber Forest Products (NTFPs) (for example, game, fruit, firewood, medicinal plants, rattan, bamboo) provide important sources of food, fuel, forage and medicine in rural livelihoods [1] . Most households collect NTFPs for the purpose of household consumption. Some forest products have a permanent place in a household‘s diet; others only function as a supplement when other food is not available [13] . NTFPs are important ‗gap fillers‘ in rural livelihoods; they help overcome seasonal shortfalls and serve as substitutes during emergencies [1] . The protective function of forest plantation itself cannot be over-emphasized while the participation of forest dwellers in various legal logging activities cannot also be ruled out.