RAPHIA PALM IMPORTANCE IN THE NIGER DELTA, NIGERIA: CASE STUDY OF GIN DISTILLERS IN AMASSOMA, SOUTHERN IJAW, BAYELSA STATE

Abstract

The Raphia grows in abundance in the fresh water swamp forests of the Niger Delta. There are no

known policies to harness the benefits from this species as it is also not much studied. There are

pockets of settlers whose work it seems, centres around the Raphia which is in abundance in the

fresh water swamp forests. This work tried to assess the usefulness of the Raphia to the people

because it forms a major plant cover within the fresh water swamp forests. Through semi-structured

interviews with 120 persons that were purposively and conveniently selected, the ethnobotany of

this species was appraised. It found that the Raphia is an income earner and very useful to the

people. Among many other benefits, the wine, which apart from being taken fresh, is also distilled

into ogogoro (another good income earner), was the most ranked. The Raphia was also confirmed

to be very much in abundance because its growth environment is not in competition with agricultural

purposes as it is waterlogged. Also, the Raphia are not harvested as other timbers. Despite its not

being threatened at the moment, it is recommended that policy for its conservation be formulated

and also, efforts to promote its economic importance be encouraged.