Guddiri People’s Belief System in The Unusual Functions of Apple-Ring Tree (Faidherbia Albida) As A Measure of Their Scientific Literacy

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the Guddiri people’s belief system in the unusual phenology, agroforestry function, medicinal value, environmental protection, and weird function of the Apple-Ring Tree (Faidherbia albida) as a measure of their scientific literacy. Faidherbia albida is a type of tree species that thrives very well, specifically in Sudan and the Sahel Savannah of Northern Nigeria. The design of the study was a descriptive survey. The population comprised all Guddiri people of Azare District, Katagum Local Government, Bauchi. The sample size consisted 384 (276 males and 168 females) adult respondents that were drawn through stratified random sampling technique based on the recommendation of Krejcie and Morgan (1970. Furthermore, the instrument for data collection was a 22-item structured questionnaire tagged “Questionnaire on People’s Belief System in the Unusual Functions of Faidherbia albida”. The instrument was divided into five-function dimensions of Faidherbia albida: unusual structure, agroforestry function, medicinal value, environmental protection, and weird function. Some experts in botany, geography, and traditional medicine validated the face and content aspects of the instrument. The reliability of 0.82 was determined through Cronbach Alpha Coefficient Index. The collected data were analyzed by using statistical mean, standard deviation, and Chi-Square. The decision rule for accepting a response be considered a strong belief in the unusual functions of Faidherbia albida was a mean value of 3.00 and above. Further, a statistical value of p < 0.05 is considered critically significant. The result indicated that Guddiri people had a very strong belief system in the unusual functions of Faidherbia albida. Though the males’ belief system was stronger than that of their female counterparts. Furthermore, it presents existence of significant difference between Guddiri males’ and females’ belief system in the unusual functions of the tree. Based on the finding, it was recommended that scientific literacy should be widely disseminated through all kind of communication media among others.