article · American Journal of Entomology
An assessment of residential and public buildings across urban and rural local government areas in Benue State, Nigeria, indicates widespread termite infestation, affecting 71.4 percent of inspected homes. The dominant species identified attacking building structures, furniture, roof timbers, and door frames are Macrotermes bellicosus and Macrotermes malacensis. Infestation rates are noticeably higher in older buildings, particularly those constructed more than fifty years ago. Despite the widespread structural damage, public awareness regarding termite biology, entry routes, and effective mitigation measures remains low. Over a third of surveyed property owners have no knowledge of infestation sources, while nearly a third suspect neighbouring properties. The resulting structural issues cause substantial distress, leading over forty percent of affected residents to consider abandoning their homes if alternative accommodation were available. Addressing these vulnerabilities requires structured community capacity building and targeted training on termite management.
Termite damage severely degrades housing integrity and imposes heavy burdens on property owners in sub-Saharan Africa. Documenting the prevalence of specific termite species and structural vulnerabilities shows where interventions are needed most. Furthermore, highlighting widespread gaps in public awareness demonstrates that targeted community training and cost-effective management solutions are vital to safeguard domestic infrastructure and prevent housing abandonment.
The findings identify opportunities for pest control providers and extension services to develop targeted eradication services and community training programmes focused on Macrotermes species. Key end users include rural and urban property owners, housing authorities, and facilities managers. However, as the work is an observational field survey of infestation rates and local perceptions, practical products and commercial control methodologies remain at an early, untested stage.
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Globally, the annual economic cost of termite damage and termite prevention in the housing sector is estimated in the billions. However, in sub-Saharan countries in Africa data on damage and cost of termite-related maintenance are scarce. This study was designed to investigate termite damage to public and residential buildings, quantify the financial cost of termite-related building maintenance with the intent of building the capacity of home owners to deploy cost-effective prevention and control measures in Benue state, Nigeria. Four Local Government Areas (LGAs) in all were selected, Makurdi and Otukpo representing urban LGAs while Ushongo and Ogbadibo represented the rural LGAs. Termite infestation was based on visual observation of signs such as termite mud tunnels on walls, pores in walls, damaged parts such as roofs, windows and door frames, and wooden furniture among others. Questionnaires administration and household inspection were conducted concurrently across all four locations. Through purposive sampling techniques, residents and home owners experiencing perceived termite-related challenges within the communities were randomly recruited until 400 participants were enlisted. The termites attacking each house were collected in a vial with 70% ethanol and labeled with the house ID number and relevant data. The overall termite infestation rate in all four locations was high with 71.4% of inspected house having evidences of termite infestation. The rural settlements had higher infestation rates but the differences were not significant (P > 0.05) (χ2=7.783; P=0.100). Macrotermes bellicosus and M. malacensis were the most predominant termite species infesting buildings. Infestation rate was significantly higher in older buildings with building above 50 and 60 years having 29.0% and 23.3% infestations rate respectively (P < 0.05) (χ2=6.31 P=0.177). The overall knowledge about termites, source of infestation and effective control measures is poor at all study locations, with 151 (37.8%) of home owners not having any idea of sources of termite infestation while 128 (32.0%) believed that termites infested their buildings from neigbouring apartments. This perception was not significantly different for both urban and rural locations (P > 0.05). A total of 167 (41.8%) of home owners whose house were infested expressed the desire to abandon their apartments if they had alternatives. These desires were stronger in rural settlements with Ogbadibo and Ushongo having 34.7% and 25.1% respectively. This study revealed that home owners do not have sufficient knowledge regarding termite control. This poor knowledge could be a hurdle in the effective management of termites. Building the capacity of communities to identify and deploy effective termite control strategies through training is vital.
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DOI: 10.11648/j.aje.20250904.12
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