This research work is aimed at the effects of deforestation on the economic activities of the inhabitants of Abaji area in Abuja. The study employed a mixed research strategy in the collection, analysis and presentation of findings. The tools of data collection include administered questionnaires and participant observation and reconnaissance survey carried out in the study area to gather baseline information which would aid the design of the study. Information accessed during the visit includes the baseline report on problems encountered with deforestation in Abaji area. Personal interview was conducted to some selected individuals living in Abaji area wards such as agricultural officials or extension workers, farmers, household heads, fuel wood seller and people working at the timber sheds. Questionnaires based on socio-economic characteristics of the households were administered. The questionnaire was administered to meet the stated objectives of the study. Six (6) wards were sampled using stratified random sampling technique. In this situation, the Area Council was stratified into North, Central and Southern zones. 140 households were sampled. Out of 300 respondents sampled in this study, 67.3% are male while 32.7% are females. Most respondents interviewed had some form of education indicating that there is generally fairly literacy level among them except for 9% that have no formal education. The result of the study has clearly indicated that the occupation distribution of 51% of the respondents is farming. Apart from farming, other forms of occupation such as driving, tailoring, lumbering and trading constitute 28% of the response obtained. On the other hand, gathering of fuel wood, collection and gathering of medicinal plants, collection of wild fruits and nuts, collection of wild vegetables, and gathering of fodder, marketing of bush meat etc. constitute 22% respectively. By implication, this means that the bulk of the responses are directly involved in activities that cause deforestation. The study recommends that deforestation effects could be ameliorated by promulgation of government policies that regulate the use of forest products, dissemination of information on forest, environmental sustainability issues, and education on aforestation in order to improve and maintain farmlands, since agriculture has been implicated as one of the primary causes of deforestation, there is need to adopt farming systems that encourage conservation tillage. This should include introduction of organic farming method, hydroponics, greenhouse gardens, slash and char rather than slash and bum, as well as alley farming in which crops are interspersed with small trees.
The study assesses the level of public perception and awareness of the effects of poor solid waste disposal on the environment. Data was collected through direct observation and use of questionnaire. The questionnaires were used to obtain the residents perception and awareness of waste generation and disposal methods in the study area. Five political wards (Barade, Majidadi, Sintali A, Turaki A and Turaki B) were purposively selected. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. From the study, 39% of the respondents attributed the causes of poor waste disposal to indifferent attitude of the residents, 35% to lack of waste disposal facilities, 22% lack of waste services and 6% to institutional failure. The findings show that most of the wastes generated in the town come from residential households, market places, business shops, government and private offices and municipal areas. Most of the wastes are either disposed off the street or any nearby dumpsite (mostly unapproved and illegal). Most of the respondents claimed to be aware of what constitutes solid waste and effects of poor disposal. However, this claim negates attitude of indiscriminate solid waste disposal in the study area as revealed by the increasing number of open waste dumpsites and wastes that litters most streets of the town. There is need to properly managed the solid waste generated by daily activities of the people. This will help minimize the risk to human health and the environment. Based on the findings the study recommends increase enlightenment campaign through jingles in mass media, recruitment and empowerment of community health workers and sanitary officers and reactivation of the monthly environmental sanitation programme.
The study assesses the impact of IFAD-VCDP on rice yield and farmers’ income, as well as constraints to IFAD-VCDP implementation in the study area. A purposive sampling method was adopted to select 220 rice farmers. Primary and secondary data were used. Questionnaires were used to collect information from the beneficiaries of the programme. The respondents verified the claims of the programme with respect to the provisions of farm inputs, extension service and basic infrastructures. A paired-samples t-test was used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that 55% of the respondents have yields between 1–10 bags (100kg) and after the intervention, 52% of the respondents had yield of 61–80 bags (100kg). Similarly, 43% of the respondents have income between N51,000-N70,000 before the intervention programme and after the intervention, 52% of the respondents have income between N141,000-N170,000 and 42% have between N171,000-N200,000. This shows significant positive impacts on crop yield and income. The results of the paired-sample t-test show that there is difference in the mean income of rice farmers before IFAD-VCDP intervention (M = 2.54, SD = .81) and after IFAD-VCDP intervention (M = 4.35, SD = .59) at the .05 level of significance (t = 27.25, df = 219, n = 220, p< .05, 95% CI for mean difference 1.68 to 1.94). Given the positive impact of the IFAD-value chain development programme on rice farming in the study area, there is a need to extend it to other rice-producing LGA in Taraba State. Keywords: Ardo Kola, IFAD, Rice farming, Smallholder farmers and VCDP.
Climatic maps have been very difficult to generate in Nigeria, not because of lack of knowledge or expertise, but due to dearth of climatic data. Most of the existing climatic maps are either not reliable or too generalized since Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) climatic data which is the only reliable climatic data are available only in the state capitals and which were often used to generate climatic maps. In this study, DivaGIS, WorldClim, NASA Power Project and globalweather climatic data of rainfall, temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation were used to generate the spatial patterns, trends and seasonal pattern of each of the aforementioned climatic elements in Taraba State Central District; comprising Bali, Gassol, Gashaka, Gembu, Kurmi and Sardauna LGAs. The results were presented in charts and using the bar chart and the kringing tools of Microsoft Excel package and ArcGIS 10.5 software respectively. Spatial pattern of rainfall of the area revealed that the rainfall pattern are influenced by relief and latitudes as Sardauna which is on the plateau in the South has more rains than Gassol in the North. Mountainous and highland areas were also found to have higher rainfall than the immediate environment. Trends in rainfall was decreasing in Bali, Gashaka and Sardauna LGAs. Rainfall is high from June to September when minimum of 200 mm monthly rainfall are received in all the five LGAs. The spatial pattern of temperature is inversely related to that of rainfall, while trends in temperature is increasing in all the LGAs. Relative humidity has similar spatial/seasonal patterns with that of rainfall, but showing decreasing trends in all the LGAs except Kurmi LGA. The spatial pattern of solar radiation was found to be affected by the aspects of the area as Kurmi LGA at the western side recorded highest amount of solar radiation. The pattern of solar radiation in the study area is seasonal because solar radiation is low (less than 20 mj/m2) in all the LGAs except Kurmi during the rainy season (June – October). It was recommended that ground station climatic data which covers larger areas than in-situ climatic data that are only available in State capitals should be encouraged among the climate analysts to alleviate the problems associated with dearth in in-situ climatic data.
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