Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant Environmental Impact ... - IFC

other forms of salary jobs or service provision. Men are generally responsible for
heavy work (eg cutting and clearing of trees) whereas women are more likely to
tend plots of land and be involved in other informal sector activities, such as
small scale trading and cassava processing.
Major crops include yam, cassava, maize, plantain, banana and coco yam,
plantation crops in the area are rubber and cocoa while melon, okra, peppers and
other crops are grown in smaller quantities (NIPP, 2010). Livestock rearing
(poultry, sheep, goats and some pigs) is also significant, primarily on a smaller
scale although there are a few large scale intensive livestock operations owned
by wealthier residents.
Some community residents engage in petty trading and transport local produce
to towns to sell, or sell products obtain in other towns to local residents. There
are no markets in the three communities. The NIPP power plant is one of few
formal employers (if not the only one) in the study area.
During the data collection process, participants generally evaluated their socioeconomic
status as “poor” or “average, while the cost of living in these
communities is lower than that in nearby towns.
Land Tenure
All land including the communities within the study area, belongs to the State
under Nigeria’s Land Use Act of 1978. However, in the Project area, land
allocations are normally presided over by the traditional leader (Enogie) and
residents must apply to him to request land use allocations, which are granted
for a period of two years.
Infrastructure
Ihovbor-Evboeka and Idunmwowina-Urho-Nisen have access to electricity while
Orior-Osemwende does not. The existing supply is erratic as a result of small
transformers servicing the communities. Few residents have privately owned
generators to provide back-up electricity. There are no public wells in the three
communities and most residents rely on private wells and/or local water bodies
(located offsite) for water supply. Although private boreholes are found in each
of the communities in the study area, the proportion of residents with access is
very small. It is accepted within the community that all land users have rights of
access over water resources on their land.
The 2006 State Census results indicate that 80 percent of men and 72 percent of
women (above the national average) in Edo State were literate. Literacy levels in
the Project area are much lower than this, possibly because there is very little in
the way of educational infrastructure in the Project area. Idunmwowina-Urho-
Nisen has only a nursery school, Orior-Osemwende has a primary school. A
new school was constructed within the Ihovbor-Evboeka area through their EPC
contractor. The school is not yet functional. As a result of poor educational
services and access, education levels in the Project-affected communities are low.
AZURA EDO IPP
XVII
DRAFT EIA REPORT