Addressing Land Degradation in Northern Nigeria to Alleviate Rural Poverty

Abstract

Land degradation is a crucial challenge affecting developing countries and it has been predicted to become a severe limitation and restriction in the near future (Chisholm and Dumsday, 1987; Eckholm, 1976; USAID, 1979; Ward, 1979; Brown and Wolf, 1984; Bennett, 1931; Barbier and Burgess, 1992; Pimentel et al., 1995). Wellbeing has been linked with growths in dependence on ecological resources (e.g. Shackleton and Shackleton, 2012), and because the livelihoods of the poor appear to depend most directly on the supply of ecological services.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the problems of land degradation and rural poverty in Nigeria and also, explain the link between rural poverty and land degradation in the region. This paper will suggest new and long lasting solutions to the problem of land degradation in Northern Nigeria.

The study was done by analysing secondary source data, a lot of the analysis was solely based on the published report of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The study revealed the rate of poverty in Nigeria has generally skyrocketed since 2000 (with an average 60% of the total population). Study showed that the amount of people living underneath the country's poverty line of $1 per day is greater in the areas affected by land degradation. The percentage of people living below the poverty line was greater between the years 2004 and 2006. Rapid increase was also noticed between the year 2005 and 2006 in the number of people living in the affected areas and rural areas.

This study recommends that government should enact policies that protect the land and spread awareness about the problem of land degradation.