Changing Climate and the Effect of Gully Erosion on Akpo Community Farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Climate variability has increased rainfall intensity resulting in floods and storms which have aggravated environmental and land degradation problems globally. Land degradation problems such as gully erosion happen to be a big threat to agricultural development and rural livelihood in developing countries. Gully erosion affects lands, soils, and vegetation, water and landscape resources in areas where it is prevalent. This study therefore, investigated changing climate and the effect of gully erosion on Akpo community farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. The field survey and Remote Sensing and GIS techniques were employed in this study. The survey approach involved questionnaire distribution, observation, interviews and photography. 95 questionnaires were randomly sampled to Akpo farmers. Remote Sensing/ GIS techniques were used for detecting and mapping gully erosion prone areas. The gully characterization was carried out using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) as a prerequisite for assessing the relationship between field topography and gully occurrence. The geometry of the eroded channels especially their width (W) and depth (D) was characterized through its cross section width and maximum depth.The hypotheses were was tested using chi-square (x 2). The results showed that a large proportion of (94%) farmers were below tertiary education and the land could be their only means of livelihood. Also, majority of the farmers (63.2%) agreed that rainfall has exacerbated gully activities and is majorly responsible for the large degradation of farm lands. Also, 40% indicated that gully erosion has affected their crop production levels. Findings also indicated that gully erosion in Akpo community is dendritic and has a network of branches. Gully erosion characterization indicated a V-shape representing that the surface soils are more erodible than the subsurface soils due to surface runoff producing concentrated overland flows that cut channels. Further, the gully length (563m), maximum elevation (226m), and elevation gain (0.9m) and maximum slope (2.2%) which happens to be responsible for the large distribution of the gullies on the spots along farmlands aiding the generation of sufficient volume of runoff. Farmers revealed that gully erosion has the most significant effect on farmlands, poor growth/harvest of crops (especially

The Developing World’s Contribution to Global Warming and the Resulting Consequences of Climate Change in These Regions: A Nigerian Case Study

“…The future of developing countries in the face of a changing climate if appropriate actions are not quickly enforced will definitely be unbearable. Indeed, sub-Saharan Africa will be the most vulnerable region with poorly supplied infrastructure, the domestic per capita food production has declined by 10% in the last 20 years, and about 800 million people are poorly fed [33,34]. Overtly, the prevailing crisis covering poor living and feeding conditions will be escalated further by the consequences of changing climate with prevalent issues of food insecurity and health risks.…”

“…In fact, there has been abnormal rainfall pattern and corresponding extreme events such as floods and drought since 1951-2015 [55]. Coastal cities in Nigeria like Port Harcourt, Yenagoa, Warri, Anambra and Calabar have experienced an increase in rainfall pattern observed by storm surges in recent times [33,58,59]. It was estimated that a metre rise in sea level will displace about 14 million people from the coastal areas of Nigeria [60].…”

“…Also, over 70% of Nigerian communities are agrarian, and their activities are rain controlled. Climate change which affects rainfall patterns and threatens livelihood with extreme weather events such as thunderstorms, heavy winds and floods could devastate farm lands, leading to crop failure [33]. Moreover, climate variations accentuate pest and crop disease spread which will potentially pose a threat to livestock and food security [61].…”

“…Recently, there are observed deviations in the commencement of agricultural activity, for instance, due to changes in the arrival of the wet season [55,62,63]. It is projected that Nigeria would experience yield decreases in cash crops of 5-40% by 2050 if no technological innovation in farming methods is implemented [33,64,65].…”

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“…This corroborates [6] submission that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published Climate change assessment reports five times, comprehensively explaining the scientific evidence and attributions of climate change, the impact and risk, mitigation and adaptation, as well as policy and negotiation. This is evidenced by increasing problems in food security [7]; [8] air quality [9]; [10] water quality [11] among others.…”