Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show the extent of desertification and land degradation as threat to sustainable environmental, agricultural and land development in the Sahel of Nigeria with its consequences; with also some efforts to control desertification. Design/methodology/approach – Several desertification attenuation projects in Nigeria are employing different methods for maximum benefits obtainable from the objectives) of the particular project. Specific methods will be cited for particular projects mentioned as appropriate. It is noted however that environmental impact assessment, community reconnaissance or needs assessments were initial part of pre-project activities. Findings – Desertification has reached an alarming state in Nigeria. The frontline desert threatened States of Nigeria constitute 40 per cent of the land mass of the country. With increased pressure of desertification, exacerbated by a period of prolonged drought of about 20 years, climate change and human activities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain sustainability in the management of the fragile lands and the region’s ecosystem. Strategic interventions in combating the problem of desertification in Nigeria have attenuated some of the detrimental social, economic and environmental impacts on the affected communities of the Sahel of the country. Programmes and projects are designed to strengthen the resilience of the people in the affected region with sound ecosystems’ management; support the efforts of the communities resulting in increased agricultural yields. Programmes and projects have strengthened the resilience of the people, participating in sand dune stabilization, the Great Green Wall Sahara Sahel Initiative and other shelterbelt development. Government has sustained inputs in environmentally friendly agriculture and also encouraged synergetic collaborative activities with national agencies, international agencies and local institutions. Originality/value – These results/activities give evidence of the increased public awareness of environmental degradation due to desertification in Nigeria; the realization in environmental stabilization needs with ready participation of the communities for improved livelihoods in arid agriculture; resulting in internalization of these problems for Nigeria.
The development of gullies is one of the severe environmental problems in Gombe town. It has threatens urban infrastructure, properties, lives and the physical growth of the town. Knowing the rates of gully development in the last decade helped explain the reasons for current land degradation. This research work therefore assessed gully erosion in Gombe town. Data used in this study were derived from field measurements, satellite imageries, and laboratory analysis and questionnaire survey. Results from the interpretation of Spot 5(1999) and Quick Birds (2009) imageries and field measurements showed that gully variables (length, depth and widths) have significantly increased in the last 10 years. Laboratory analysis of soil particle size revealed that sand proportion was 52%, silt 9.5% and clay 38.5%. The values of Atterberg limits (liquid limits; plasticity limit and the plasticity index (PI), shear strength (cohesion and angle of internal friction) and bulk density values were low, soil chemical properties also showed that the soils are moderately acidic, contained low organic matter, and low exchangeable cations, with serious implication on biological methods of erosion control.
There has been an increasing global and local interest in developing renewable, clean, and cheap energy towards achieving Goal number 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). However, decisions involving suitable and sustainable locations for renewable energy projects remain an important task. This study employed Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to spatially analyze and model wind farm site suitability in Nasarawa State. The aim is to integrate the environmental, social, and economic aspects of decision-making for identifying sustainable wind farm sites. The study distinguished between two sets of decision criteria: decision constraints and decision factors. The former defined the exclusion zones while the latter were standardized based on fuzzy logic to depict varying degrees of suitability across the State. The MCDA applied the weighted linear combination method, with relative weights generated through pairwise comparisons of the analytic hierarchy process to analyze three policy scenarios: equal weights, environmental/social priority, and economic priority scenario. A combination of resulting composite maps from the constraints and the factors gave the final suitability maps. The resulting suitability index (SI) for the respective policy scenario describes the degrees of suitability: Ideal locations were denoted by one (1) and the not suitable locations by zero (0), with values in-between depicting varying degrees of wind farm site suitability. Based on the SI, priority locations indicating areas with good prospects, in addition to the most suitable parcels of land, were identi-
In recent years, conflict between farmers and pastoralists has been one among the frontline threats to sustainable peace and development in Nigeria. More worrisome is the incessant upsurge of these violent conflicts with group solidarity. The existence of these conflicts is not in dispute, but continues climax of group solidarity, has added an impetus to the complexities and veracity of these conflict involving larger farming and pastoral communities. This paper argues that, though, group-solidarity is a reminiscent of longstanding socio-cultural ties as well as a source of collective action and unity of purpose that binds people in most societies, it eventually turned into a formidable means for launching offensive or defensive against possible threats or violent attacks as the case with Fulani pastoralists and farmers in Northern Nigeria. The paper concludes that the use of group-solidarity by both pastoralists and farmers contributed in deepening the conflict into a wider dimension beyond individual pastoralist-farmer conflict to a communal conflict. The study explored content analysis of the existing literatures and unstructured focus group discussion with some farmers and pastoralists in the study area.
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