Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

Charles Adu-Anning 267

Socio-economic characteristics of raw material production area

Because the process of rattan extraction is so labour intensive and has a high

risk of accident and injuries, collection is a male dominated activity undertaken

mainly by the youths of a community. Thus all of the raw material producers

surveyed as part of this study were male, with the 40% plurality falling in the

range of 30 to 39 years old (Figure 2). The average age is 38 years. Sixty per

cent of the collectors have settled in the extraction areas after moving there

from other parts of the country to engage in farming activities.

Figure 2. Age distribution of rattan collectors

Eighty per cent of the rattan collectors interviewed were middle school

leavers, 5% have postsecondary education while 10% have primary education.

The remaining 5% had no formal education (Figure 3). Rattan collectors are

also involved in other income generating activities, namely farming, tailoring

and carpentry. Table 1 shows the average incomes obtained from these

endeavours.

Figure 3. Educational status of rattan collectors

15Rattan.p65 267 22/12/2004, 11:05