NIGERIA AND THE ADVANCING DESERT

Desertification as defined by Agenda 21 is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid dry areas caused mainly by climatic changes and human activities. It is accompanied by a reduction in the natural potentials of the land, and depletion in surface and ground water resources. But above all, it has negative repercussions on the living conditions and the economic development of the people affected by it. Desertification affects about one sixth of the world’s population, 70% of all drylands, amounting to 3.6 billion hectares, and one quarter of the total land area of the world. In Nigeria the dryland part of the country are more prone to desertification. This zone forms an undulating plain at a general elevation from about 450m to 700m. More than half of the region is covered by ferruginous tropical soils which are highly weathered and markedly laterised. A large proportion of the region is also characterised of sandy-fixed undulating topography. The sandy soil is usually low in organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus and may degrade rapidly under condition of intensive rainfall. When over-use occurs in this generally sandy environment, denuded patches may appear when the wind-blown sand becomes mobile. Average annual rainfall in dryland of Nigeria varies from 500mm in the north eastern part to 1000mm in the southern sub-area, but it is unreliable in many parts. Unpredictability and unreliability characterise the pattern of rainfall, both spatially and temporally. The nature of the rainfall supports mostly savannah vegetation. Thus the region is, by nature, prone to recurrent and sometimes intense and persistent periods of drought, which may result in the depletion of soil and shallow ground water resources and are capable of disrupting the low level of resilience of the natural ecosystems of the affected area. Despite the above teething problems, the drylands zone is the most grazed, with increasing droughts causing changes in plant species. Medugu catalogued the major causes of desertification in Nigeria to include natural causes which are related to the poor physical conditions of the soils, vegetation, topography as well as climatic variability. The author also took particular note of the role of human activities in the process of desertification. These include; wood extraction for fuel and construction, bush burning, grazing, poverty, cultivation of marginal lands, faulty irrigation practices among others. All the above identified problems have often resulted into certain negative impacts which could be socio-economic especially as it relates to food security, livelihoods, economic, social and cultural activities of the affected people. In addition to the socio-economic impacts, desertification does have serious consequences on available water resources, resource use conflicts, destruction of habitat and loss of bio-diversity.

Despite attempts made by government and the international community at checking desert encroachment, desertification still remains the most pressing environmental problem in the dry land parts of the country. The visible sign of this phenomenon is the gradual shift in vegetation from grasses, bushes and occasional trees, to grass and bushes; and in the final stages, expansive areas of desert-like sand. Indeed, Nigeria loses over 350,000ha annually to advancing desert, the dunes are threatening life-supporting oasis, burying water points, and in some cases engulfing major roads in the affected areas. Trees planted by government as shelter belts to check the advancing dunes are withering due to lack of attention. In general, despite huge efforts by governments in form of financial and material resources geared towards busting afforestation programs, very minimal success has been realized in sections of the few of the affected states. The worsening problem of desertification is quite glaring as studies by Medugu reveals that an estimate of between 50 % and 75 % of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara States in Nigeria are affected by desertification and are particularly vulnerable to wind erosion. These states, with a population of about 50 million people, account for about 43 % of the country’s total land area. With the country losing over 350,000 hectares of land yearly to desertification, it could not afford to watch while arable land is being lost to desert encroachment.

It is in the light of the above, that the Federal Government of Nigeria, within the overall framework of protecting the Nigeria environment has given prominence to the twin problem of drought and desertification. Thus, the Nigerian government has put in place various National Policies, Institutional and Legislative Framework, Sectoral Programmes, and Partnership Building to address the problem of drought and desertification. Apart from the Federal Government’s programmes, all the eight states bordering the desert have also taken bold steps to check the movement of the desert. The effect of the advancing Sahara Desert is more directly felt in the extreme northern parts of Nigeria. This portion of the country extends from about latitude 12°N to the boundary of the Republic of Niger. The area already exposed to the effects of desertification in Nigeria is estimated at about 326,000 square kilometres. This semi-arid zone cuts across Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Gombe, Adamawa and Bauchi States.

The major concern about the possible southward shift of the Sahara desert into Nigeria was expressed in 1930s. In response, an Anglo-French Commission in 1937 investigated the report in the northern parts of Nigeria, and directed the border emirates to embark on tree planting to stop the encroachment. Thousands of seedlings were distributed at nominal prices. It was not until the 1940s that a small action programme in the form of a tree planting campaign was launched. The bad situation of the affected areas prompted the establishment of shelterbelts in the northern fringes in the 1960s. The steady deterioration of land in northern Nigeria has continued largely to be ineffectively challenged for several years. The catastrophic Sahelian drought of 1972/73 however, jolted the Federal Government into action. This drought, which was recognized as a national disaster, prompted an ad hoc relief packages consisting, where feasible, the provision of subsidized food, supply of water by water tanks, bore holes and wells as well as making available seeds at planting time, among others. The drought nonetheless encouraged the establishment of afforestation programmes and the construction of dams for irrigation as well as the establishment of the initial three River Basin Development Authorities (i.e. Chad Basin, Hadejia-Jama’are and Sokoto- Rima).

In 1977, the Federal Government set up a National Committee on Arid Zone Afforestation Project with the responsibility of examining the in-depth problem of desertification and drawing up a suitable programme of afforestation geared towards checking desert encroachment. A programme of shelterbelt plantings for the protection of adjoining agricultural lands against desiccating winds in the extreme northern part of the region was embarked upon, but this committee was dissolved in 1985. Its functions were transferred to Department of Rural Development and River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) in the then Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development. By 1987, the RBDAs were reorganized and their afforestation functions transferred to the Forestry Department of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. In the same year, the Forestry Management Evaluation and Coordinating Unit (FORMECU) was established to coordinate the World Bank and African Development Bank (ADB) assisted forestry projects in the country. Since Rio Summit in 1992, Nigeria has made significant efforts in addressing the environmental and sustainable development issues, which were identified and agreed upon at United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Since signing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), in October 1995, a number of initiatives including the establishment of a National Coordinating Committee on Desertification Control (NCCDC), and an implementation centre have been taken. The NCCDC, which is the national body for the implementation of the Convention in Nigeria, is composed of various stakeholders including government agencies and key environmental NGOs and CBOs.

The establishment of Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) by Decree 58 of 1988 was probably the most far-reaching initiative undertaken by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the purpose of addressing the multifarious environmental problems (drought and desertification inclusive) and protecting the Nigerian Environment. Government further demonstrated its commitment to environmental issues through Decree 59 of 1989, which increased the powers given to FEPA by government. The decree provided legal backing of the Agency was with a broad mandate and specific powers of sanctions in the implementation of the National Environmental Policy. By Law, FEPA is therefore the apex institution for all issues relating to environmental protection. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency also facilitated the establishment of State Environmental Protection Agencies (SEPAs) in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The State Environmental Protection Agency has mandate for addressing all environmental problems (including Drought and Desertification) at the state level. Nigeria signed the Desertification Convention on the 31st October, 1994 and ratified same on the 8th July, 1997 thereby qualifying the country as a Party to the convention with effect from 6th October, 1997. The creation of the Department of Drought and Desertification Amelioration in the new Federal Ministry of Environment strengthens the existing institutional arrangement for more effective coordination of activities by Government towards the implementation of the CCD in the country. This will further ensure a sharper focus to rehabilitation and restoration of desertified and desertified-like conditions in the affected areas.

Desertification in northern Nigeria is the result of two main factors: (1) poor physical conditions in terms of soils, vegetation, topography and inherent extreme variability of climate as manifested in frequent droughts; and (2) disruption in the ecological system caused by poor land use and the ever-increasing demand being made upon the available land resources by the expanding population and socioeconomic systems of the affected areas. Thus desertification is a result of complex inter-relationships between social and natural systems. To these two main factors may be added the failure of the people and government to develop appropriate mitigation measures. Since the causal factors are mutually inter-dependent, they reinforce one another and have a feedback effect which accelerates the whole process.

The human factor is being intensified by the country’s large population (about 140 million by the 2006 national census) and increasing population growth. The land is fixed while the population keeps on growing at about 3% per annum. The increasing demand for land could be over-stressing the natural resources of northern Nigeria and make human activity a determining factor at all stages of desertification.

In northern Nigeria, the majority of the people are either pastoralists or sedentary subsistence farmers whose agricultural activities in form of grazing, cultivation, bush-burning, woodcutting and poor irrigation practices contribute interactively, in one way or the other to land degradation. Changes in the traditional patterns of farming, political boundary restrictions and increase in demand for land for agricultural and urban uses have combined with the breakdown of traditional controls on land use to create an anarchic exploitation of the limited grazing available in the region.

Nigerian government should commit its self to addressing environmental problems and ensuring sustainable development of the environment based on proper management of environmental resources in the dry lands of the country. The government policy should establish adequate programmes of action in the different ecological regions and various socio-economic sectors to combat and control the impacts of drought and desertification, and mitigate, or if possible prevent their adverse consequences in the country. However, Desertification is a reversible process, but action must be taken immediately to reverse the process in areas where the threat is greatest before the process reaches its conclusion and there is no longer the chance of recovery. In the drylands of Nigeria and in particular the north western and north eastern part has the highest priority because it is here that removal of natural vegetation and inappropriate cultivation methods are degrading and depleting valuable and limited biological, soil, and water resources at the fastest rate. In addition, the priority in combating desertification should be the implementation of preventive measures for lands that are not yet degraded, or which are only slightly degraded. However, the severely degraded areas should not be neglected. In combating desertification and drought, the participation of local communities, rural organizations, national Governments, non-governmental organizations and international and regional organizations is essential.