Challenges of funding forestry education and research for sustainable forestry development in Nigeria

Abstract

Sustainable Forrest Management is an integral part of a nation's economic growth, social equity in development and environmental sustainability and it is greatly impacted by education. Forestry education and research has however been neglected in Nigeria because of the need to cut down expenses by the sole financier - The Federal Government, the state and local government, as well as private financial contributions to forestry development is noticed only in the area of forest plantation management. This is as a result of forest education not meeting job market demand and hence aspiration of the 21% century undergraduate. Apart from this, less than 3% of any public institution's budgetary demands are financed. Also, the policy framework that should put in place for a sustainable forestry education and research was non-existence in Nigeria until the recent National Forestry Action Plan (NFAP) of 1997. Even at that, NFAE is yet to be implemented to date. This and other challenges of forestry education research and development were analyzed by this paper and some suggestions made on ways of moving forward.