Timber Trade Species Analysis in Benue State, Nigeria

This study examined the volumes of timber species traded and their market structure in Benue State. Applying a multistage sampling technique at 30% sampling intensity, seven (7) LGAs were sampled from the 23 LGAs of the state for the study. Thus, 164, 79 and 13 respondents from timber traders, chainsaw millers, and sawmillers adding up to 256 respondents were randomly selected and interviewed to elicit data. The highest Gini coefficient values recorded among the three market actors were 0.333936, 0.321828, and 0.28846 for timber traders in Zone A, chainsaw millers in Zone 'B' and sawmillers in Zone 'A' respectively. This indicated a fairly equitable distribution among the timber trade actors. This implies that the timber market is monopolistic competitive in structure in the study area. Twenty-five timber trade species were identified in the study area. The volumes of timber traded monthly by timber traders in zones A, B and C were 2411 m3, 37,733 m3 and 69,492 m3 respectively, while the volumes traded by chainsaw millers were 8,188 m3, 5,804 m3 and 9,877 m3. Similarly, the volumes of timber traded by sawmillers were 8,614 m3, 724 m3, and 2,593 m3 respectively in zones A, B and C. Generally, 109,636 m3 of timber was sold monthly by the traders in Benue State. Out of this volume, 69,492 m3 representing 63.4% of the total volume of timber sold monthly in Benue State was from zone ‘C’. This was followed by 37,733 m3 (34.4%) and 2,411 m3 (2.2%) from zones ‘B’ and ‘A’ respectively. A monthly volume of 36,545 m3 of timber on average was sold by every timber trader in Benue State. On average, 7,289.67 m3 of timber was traded by a chainsaw miller every month. The highest volume of timber trade was in zone C represented by 9,877 m3. This was followed by 6,1888 m3 and 5,804 m3 respectively in zones ‘A’ and ‘B’. A total of 21,869 m3 of timber was traded monthly by the chainsaw millers. A total of 9,835 m3 of timber was traded by sawmillers in Benue State. Out of this quantity, 4614 m3representing 46.9% of the total timber sold in Benue State by sawmillers was from zone ‘C’. This was followed by zone B with 2,788 m3 representing 28.3% of the total volume of timber sold by sawmillers on monthly basis in Benue State. Sawmillers in zone ’A’ had the least monthly volume (2,433 m3) of timber traded in Benue State. Sustainable management is therefore pertinent for the continuous supply of resources in Benue State.