Perceived effects of oil exploration among among male and female fishers in Ilaje and Ese-Odo local government areas of Ondo State

The study investigated the perceived effects of crude oil exploration on fishers in riverine areas of Ondo State on a gender basis. It specifically identified and determined respondents’ level of awareness on crude oil exploration activities, analyzed the effects of crude oil exploration on the socio-economic status of male and female fisher folks and determined their level of vulnerability to the perceived effects of crude oil exploration in the study area. A multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted to select 156 (78 male and 78 female) fishers. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Regression and t-test were used to make inferences. Results showed that the mean ages of male and female fishers were 46.9±13.5 and 46.7±13.9 years with mean household size of 8.7±2.9 and 6.0±2.1 persons per house for both male and female fishers, respectively. A significant proportion (47.0% and 38.7% for male and female, respectively) of the fishers were aware of the various crude oil exploration activities in the study area. The major effects of crude oil exploration activities in the study area on male and female fishers were increase in infrastructure, improvement in peoples’ welfare, increase in economic activities but has alterred specific gender roles, migration and shifted government focus away from fishing. About 48.5 percent of male and 60.0% of female fishers were ranked high in their level of perceived effects of oil exploration. The findings revealed that most of the female (66.7%) and very few of the male (6.1%) fishers were highly vulnerable to the various negative effects of crude oil exploration. Based on the findings, it was concluded that there was a significant difference (t=2.721;p≤0.01) in the effects of crude oil exploration on male and female fishers and that age (t=3.768≤0.05), length of stay in the community (t=5.532;p≤0.05) and family size (t=2.439;p≤0.05) were the determinants of the perceived effects of crude oil exploration activities in the study area among male respondents while age (t=-4.643;p≤0.05), length of stay in the community (t=2.342;p≤0.05) and monthly income (t=4.643;p≤0.05) were the determinants of the perceived effects of crude oil exploration activities among females. Also, the females were more vulnerable to the identified negative effects of crude oil exploration in the study area. For a result oriented Agricultural Transformation Agenda, there is need to meet both gender needs and interest for better livelihood.