In Northern Nigeria, Encroaching Sahara Grows By 6% Annually

[hatrack]

That land is one of the most cherished resource of Nigeria is a fact often taken for granted to the extent that not much care is given to adverse conditions that affect this vital resource either through man made causes or natural phenomena. Land is a symbol of identity in most African countries, a means of cultural affiliation, social and economic survival.

This means that people tend to go into extinction when they are deprived of this resource. The resourced endowment associated with land makes attractive for human settlement, while that absence of same makes such land uninhabitable. It is against this background that we must appreciate the magnitude of the degradation of the land through the impact of climate change and man made causes in various parts of Nigeria.

The Northern part of Nigeria is endowed with a large expanse of arable land that has over the years proved a vital resource for agriculture and other economic activities. But the Sahara desert is advancing south wards at the rate of 6.0 percent every year.

Consequently, Nigeria loses about 350,000 hectares of land every year to desert encroachment. This has led to demographic displacements in villages across 11 states in the North. It is estimated that Nigeria loses about $5.1billion every year owing to rapid encroachment of drought and desert in most parts of the north.

EDIT

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/05/03/special-report-on-desertification-in-nigeria-the-sun-eats-our-land/