'Desertification Threatens 40m Nigerians, 95% Livestock In 15 Northern States'

'Desertification Threatens 40m Nigerians, 95% Livestock In 15 Northern States'

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja

       
About 40 million people are currently under the siege of desertification in the 15 Northern States of Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara and among others that provide over 95 percent of livestock in Nigeria. 

This formed the crux of the deliberation in Abuja yesterday at the 2021 World Desertification and Drought Day (WDDD), organised by the ministry of Environment with the theme, "Restoration, Land, Recovery; We Build Back Better With Healthy Land".

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) had designated 17th June annually to commemorate WDDD, meant to raise awareness on the challenges of desertification, land degradation and drought. 

In his keynote address, the minister of Environment, Dr Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar lamented the over-bearing impact of desertification on livelihoods that had resulted to conflicts, hunger, social vices and abject poverty in the affected areas.

He stated that the 15 Northern states play a major role in the production of food for domestic consumption and export, saying that the federal government is keen on addressing the daunting environmental issues. 

This is even as he disclosed that the federal government has developed policies and plans and built institutional and legislative capacities to enhance effective and far-reaching actions to reduce the impacts of desertification and drought in the country. 

The minister quoted UNCCD as saying that more than 12 million hectares of land are lost globally to desertification, land degradation and drought annually while 24 billion tons of fertile soil are lost globally to land degradation, a situation that currently threatens food production and food security.

To this end, 300 million hectares of land would be required to meet the food demands by year 2030.

According to him, "Considering the enormous challenges posed by desertification, land degradation and drought exacerbated by climate change and the urgency to address their impacts, the United Nations declared 2011-2020 as the decade for deserts and the fight against desertification".

Abubakar stated that in the 2015 agenda for sustainable development, Goal 15 was designated to sustain life on land by protecting, restoring and promoting sustained use of terrestrial ecosystem, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss, with the target to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) by 2030.

In his goodwill message, the director-general of Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Professor Bako Mansur Matazu stated that the theme of this year's celebration is in tandem with topical issues like land and environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and the depletion of genetic pool that drives intractable landuse conflict between pastoralists and farmers. 

He hinted that rapid population growth in Nigeria, coupled with competition over dwindling land and water resources had further escalated the contlicts in several states that many Nigerians are ready to take up arms to defend their territory. 

Matazu added, "Restoring degraded land and reversing ecological dislocation is a multi-sectoral endeavour that requires strong collaboration between line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), levels of government, private sector and the general public".

The DG disclosed that NiMet has over the years provided climate services to support smart and sustainable agriculture, disaster risk management, air quality monitoring and health advisories to the Nigerian public. 

Also speaking, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello maintained that the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) provided five hectares of land for the planting of both economic and ornamental tree seedlings to celebrate WDDD. 

Bello, who was represented by Mr Udoh Attah was optimistic that the trees would serve as protection from windstorm and erosion in the school, adding that it would also complement the efforts of the Ecological Fund Office's (EFO's) intervention in the institute, aimed at mitigating the negative consequences of erosion and flooding. 

He said, "We have also keyed into the federal govenment's efforts in the fight against desertification and drought as we have begun the process of planting about 170,000 trees across the FCT in collaboration with several non-governmental organisations, and members of the public".

The minister said that 70,000 of the tree seedlings were donated by the federal ministry of environment last year.