Desertification impacting on 55 million northerners

Mr Anthony Anuforom, Director General, Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMet) made the revelation at a workshop held for the implementation of the REPSAHEL project in Nigeria.He said: “In Nigeria, approximately 350,999 hectares of land is lost annually to desertification, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people, while not less than 50,000 farmers in about 100 villages […]

Mr Anthony Anuforom, Director General, Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMet) made the revelation at a workshop held for the implementation of the REPSAHEL project in Nigeria.
He said: “In Nigeria, approximately 350,999 hectares of land is lost annually to desertification, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people, while not less than 50,000 farmers in about 100 villages in Yobe State have been affected by sand dunes.”
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, over half of the earth is susceptible to drought every year, more than 250 million people are directly affected by desertification and over a billion people, in about 100 countries, remain at risk to desertification, especially over the Sahel.
According to the scientific community, desertification in Nigeria is being enhanced by an increase in the mean temperature as the country had witnessed an increase of 3.7 per cent in temperature between 1961 and 1990.
The establishment of the Tunisia-based international inter-governmental organisation known as the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) was one of the global approaches introduced to cushion and monitor the impact of desertification on the continent.
Nigeria only recently joined the OSS which was established in 1992, with 27 member states and 10 member organisations to tap knowledge on combating the menace of desertification under the REPSAHEL project.
The REPSAHEL project is expected to equip West African countries with appropriate environmental monitoring tools to support their sustainable development efforts.
The project is also targeted at enhancing the socio-economic conditions and wellbeing of the sahelian population living in the drylands through strengthening their resilience to environmental changes.
Speaking recently, Mrs Laurencia Mallam, Minister of Environment said that desertification was greatly impacting on the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians, hence, government’s determination to partner with relevant organisations to address the challenge.
Mallam said the REPSAHEL project would promote the implementation of the Great Green Wall and other government interventions in arid and semi-arid areas of the country.
“Already, a monitoring system is being put in place in implementing the Great Green Wall programme and the interventions of the REPSAHEL project will boost our efforts as advocated by the United Nations,” she added.
Malam Abdulaziz Hassan, Director, Drought and Desertification Control at the Katsina State Ministry of Environment, noted that desertification has made life difficult for thousands of farmers in the state.
Hassan said: “We are bordering Niger, we have very little rainfall and the available underground water does not support vegetation. We are also experiencing wanton destruction of trees by human and livestock without any attempt to replace them. The farm yield is on a gradual decrease over the years and, as a result, young men who are supposed to be in the forefront of farming are leaving the rural areas in the hundreds to the urban areas in search of jobs.”