A Global LandScape Africa First Digital Conference on Restoring African Dry Lands
By Samuel Chijioke Okorie, Accredited GLFAfrica Journalis
(Edited and Published By Sct Omojefe @Meeting you Magazine)
The issue of land degradation as a detrimental effect on food supply in Nigeria and Africa at large cannot be overlooked as it is also peculiar to other countries across the globe. Land degradation happens as a result of intense and excessive use of land without regularization or application of rotational method of land use especially for agriculture or pastoral use. Some of the factors, that influence land degradation include unstainable, wood extraction, and population, chemical pollution from companies, oil spillage, government policies and cultural practice. There is a need to solve land problems in Africa, especially in Nigeria in order to solve the problem of food supply. The effects of land degradation in Nigeria include unemployment, pockets of conflict for resources (herdsmen crisis), food insecurity, desertification, drought, flood and erosion (Nigeria LDN TSP Country Report 2018).
At the Global Landscape Forum 2 days digital conference on Restoring African Dry-lands, facilitators pointed out the need for the restoration of drylands in Africa which makes about 40% of the world dry-land, containing 1/3 of the world population and as well generates about 50% of the world food production. To restore our dry land, communities need to engage in the development process of restoring drylands by bringing everybody together, especially farmers who are affected and those that are not. According to Wanjira Mathai, during her session on GLF: Framing the UN Decade: An African perspective on ecosystem restoration, she said: African Dry-lands are under attack, giving rise to the degeneration of the ecosystem which has a negative effect in our economy. To restore our dry land, young people and the whole community need to have access to information and strong public incentives, and access to more finance. Agnes Kalibata added that; support should be made available to local farmers because farmers use land intensively as a result of lack of access to land, land policy and type of landscape to be adopted which oftentimes is new to them. Farmers should be introduced to better farm varieties to facilitate dryland restoration as dry land stores and sink more carbon. According to Robert Nasi at the GLF Africa Conference, “Most diversity is in the soil and most soil has lost its nutrients due to land degradation and lack of proper sustainable farming system and to tackle this, farmers and communities need to be trained and educated. Behavioural change of people on their interaction and activities with their environment and nature and increasing food print on food production” –Joao Campari. During the session on The Roots of Restoration: Sustainability through community-based forest landscape restoration, Charles Karangwa stated the need to include community indigenes who are custodians of the land to be involved in the planning and implementation process of dryland restoration and providing them with financial and technical support they need for the implementation process, as ignoring them may impede the restoration process of the dry land since they have full knowledge in the restoration process of degraded lands in their community because “ Restoration of dry land is life”. In the views of Tony Rinaudo, empowering communities is one of the basic necessary tool needed to enhance dryland restoration and empowerment is an antidote to community’s negative involvement towards the dry land. According to him, it is important to get sociological and anthropological insight about a community before thinking of sourcing for any solution and it must be sourced with the community people not without them. Restoration of dry land is community driven in that community and “with the right production method, Africa could easily feed the world, we need to re-green our mindscape –Tony Rinaudo.
NIGERIA’S DRY-LAND AND RISE OF VIOLENT CONFLICT IN THE COUNTRY
An investigative report by Samuel Chijioke Okorie, Climate Journalist.
Since the dawn of human history, humans have been at war with nature till date which has led to many degraded lands, herders and farmers conflict, low or poor harvest and water scarcity. A major form of land degradation common in Nigeria is soil pollution from company’s activities such as oil spillage common in the southern region of the country, overgrazing by pastoralists in the Northern region, which has given rise to unprecedented migration of pastoralist in search of food for their cattle, resulting to many violent conflicts between farmers and herders, communal clash and banditry; and logging which is highly practised majorly in the western and southern region of Nigeria. This practice has cleared about 60% of the country’s forest and natural habitation rich in biodiversity Hotspot.
Nigerian Dry Land has played a crucial role in food production for the country and other African countries, which contributed about 45% of the country’s GDP from 2011 to 2015. Today, Nigeria’s GDP from the agricultural sector is less than 21% ((Nigerian Economic Chart Park) and may drop to 10% by 2030. According to a virtual interview question asked by Samuel C. Okorie (A climate journalist) to Hon Samuel Onuigbo, a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives and the immediate past Chairman for Committee on Climate change, gathered that Nigeria loses 350 to 400 hectares of land which is about 3.500000 Square Kilometers (km²) to 4.000000 Square Kilometers (km²) to land degradation as a result of deforestation, logging, overgrazing and unsustainable agricultural practices and land use by community members, farmers, and companies which may extend to 1,000 to 1,500 hectares by 2030 if no restoration plan is put in place with immediate effect, losing most of our dry land. According to Hon. Samuel Onuigbo “Mangrove forest in Niger Delta is almost wiped out with little possibility of recovery because of the soil condition” affecting the livelihood of the people, giving rise to land degradation, food scarcity, community violent conflict, migration and land pollution. This report maintains the assertion of the article on “Land Cover Dynamics and Mangrove Degradation in the Niger Delta Region” written by Iliya Ishaku Nababa and Co (2020), according to their report, more than 220 oil spills and 17 billion cubic meters of gas flares annually in this region together with the impacts of the human population explosion, have led to the degradation of the Niger Delta ecosystem”. This is already evident in the cost of food in the country, influenced by food scarcity due to land degradation. For Instance, according to a market survey carried out by Samuel C. Okorie; in 2015, the cost for a bag of rice in Nigeria was sold from 8,000 to 10,000 naira and in 2021, there is a rise in cost from 26,000 to 34,000 naira with about 250% increase in cost and may rise up to 300% increase by 2022.
The Western and Southern region of Nigeria has undergone series of severe threats from the activities of loggers, leading to loss of many rich biodiversity hotspots in the region, erosion of farm crops, flood, low food production and even loss of lives and properties.
The case of land degradation in Cross River State of Nigeria could be seen as an intentional approach of man’s action to expose dry-land to rapid degradation through series of logging especially in the Northern region of Cross River State where logging activity is carried out as a source of livelihood by a Get-Rich-Quick mentality for a particular group of people, imposing threat to life and insecurity to the community members.
During an interview Samuel C. Okorie had with some of the residents of this area, they lamented on how their lands were been forcefully taken from them by these loggers and also how the logging activity has affected their farmlands and food harvest, According to them, these agro-trees which is been hunted by loggers, protects their food and cash crops from heatwave, direct contact from the hot sun, strong wind, high temperature, flood, heavy downpour of rain, erosion and likewise supplies the soil with good micro and biological nutrient to promote crop growth. A major stakeholder in the community during the interview said “I know how many of my boys that have lost their lives and some sustained severe injury while trying to resist the loggers who often come with trucks, tree cutting tools and armed security officers to cut our trees”. Another respondent during the interview expressed his deep concern for the forest which to him is symbolic to the people’s historical existence, a cultural heritage from their ancestors, and a home for thousands of wild living species that may go into extinction soon.
It became even more clear that farmers no longer go to farm due to the intensive logging activity carried out by a particular group of people who pose as threats and insecurity to the community as they have made it unable for farmers to go to the farm and also stand as opposition to anyone that comes in-between their way which in most cases has led to the loss of lives and injuries.
Carrying out further investigation, the journalist (Samuel C. Okorie) discovered that security officers of the state are aware of this act with no responsive approach to stop it, this was made known to Mr Samuel C. Okorie during a discussion he had with a conservationist. He said “even the security personnel are not showing any concern to this logging, I have reported this logging activity to some security personnel and their response has always been; I would need to get an official letter from the governor with his signature mandating them to persecute those who are engaged in logging activity in the state and advice the community to desist from it. Until the governor issues a warrant to this effect, we cannot do anything from our own end to stop the loggers from carrying out their activities” Mr Owan Emmanuel.
Another report Samuel C. Okorie gathered from a local media states that “a day, about 49 trucks carry timber out of the forest of Obubura Local Government Area of Cross River which to according to the reporter (whose name is undisclosed) is carried out on a small scale compared to what is happening in Boki Local Government of Cross River State, Nigeria.
Our dry land, which makes 80% of the country’s forest with a rich ecosystem conserved for years, is currently in serious threat in the hands of loggers, due to greed and means of enriching themselves without considering the present and future dangers this may cause. May 2021, during a media forest tour with the governor of Cross River State, the governor of the state said 60% of the state’s forest is still well reserved, and yet, in the same state, there is huge daily logging activity ongoing in major places like Boki, Akamkpa, Biase, Obubura, Obanliku and Obudu LGAs of Cross River State, Nigeria (.
While carrying out my further investigation into this Ecocide, Samuel C. Okorie found out that those who try to stop these loggers are often exposed to strong resistance with life threats and sometimes, lives are lost or they are beaten to the point of death. Furthermore, some security officers and community heads also play a paramount role to facilitate logging in their communities which according to the state governor, he is unaware of the incense logging activity going on in the state and has promised to put an end to him.
There is an urgent need and call to carry out further investigation in these areas and also bring to light most of these hidden activities of loggers which would serve as a limelight to solving the menace of logging in these locations and likewise, facilitate restoration of degraded drylands and conservation with 80% possibility of peacebuilding, and high food productivity in these regions.
In recommendation, as part of the solution to tackle land degradation, community members need to be educated on the dangers of deforestation which has contributed greatly to land degradation and low food supply in the country. The Use of community indigenes to address land restoration should be adopted, empowerment of local leaders and community members on the need to revamp their land and need for reforestation and at the same time advocating for tree planting and sustainable environmental practices should be adopted as well, which I have commenced already with some group of people. Borrowing from the words of Tony Rinaudo “empowering communities is one of the basic necessary tools needed to facilitate dryland restoration because they are custodians of the land and also, empowerment is an antidote to reverse community’s negative involvement towards dry land. Let us re-green our Mindscape- Tony Rinaudo GLFAfrica 2021.
Kindly find attached pictures sourced by Owan Emmauel,
South-South Regional Officer, Nigerian Conservation Foundation
Samuel Chijioke Okorie
Fellow, Global Landscape Forum Africa (GLFAfrica) 2021,
Climate/Environmental Activist,
Transformation Home Africa Green Advocate,
Climate Tracker Fellow and Journalist.
This investigation was carried out by Samuel C. Okorie with direct contact to the respondents. Only primary data was used in this report.
All right reserved by the journalist, Samuel C. Okorie, 
© 2021.
