The desert encroaches

Forty years ago, travellers along the fringes of Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic had to stop regularly to allow elephants, giraffes, antelopes and other wild animal to cross the road - so rich was the vegetation and water. Today, all you get is sand in your eyes for kilometres without seeing a blade of grass, or animal. The vegetation is gone, the water vanished and the animals long extinct.

The Sahara is on a relentless march. Most states in the north are faced with the expanding desert, and the effects are being felt right across Nigeria. A large part of what is the Sahara desert used to be lush savannah with wide varieties of plant and animal life. Over time, environmental changes transformed the landscape into what is now the biggest desert in the world. But the Sahara is not stopping its southward journey. It is encroaching southwards at a very rapid rate, and Nigeria seems ill prepared to avert this crisis.

A major reason for the mass deforestation being experienced is the fact that firewood and charcoal still constitute the major cooking fuel in many Nigerian homes. Firewood is used in many urban and most rural homes because it is cheaper than kerosene. And for as long as this remains the case, trees will continue to be chopped down for firewood. To halt desertification, alternative cooking fuels like kerosene must be cheaper and readily available.

Many so-called tree-planting campaigns are mere exercises in futility. As soon as officials depart, the trees are left on their own. Those that are not eaten by the next animal that comes along are usually left to wither and die. Return in a week or two and you’d wonder where the trees have gone. Trees in shelterbelts have been chopped down for firewood without sanctions.

While efforts to create a National Desertification Commission are commended, the issues at stake go beyond the reach of just one agency. The federal, states and local government areas must all be involved. Indeed, it is important to create a role for the private sector in the fight against desertification.

Individuals, men women and children must be involved.

Nigeria has billions of tons of coal that nobody cares to mine. The coal can be cleaned to make coal briquettes, which is a slow burning fuel than can easily replace firewood. In fact, it can be shaped and moulded like firewood for ease of use. The private sector ought to be encouraged to go into this sector because the business potentials are great.

For areas where vegetation has already been lost, opportunities also exist for the creation of a sub economy capable of creating jobs. Growing trees with economic value like mangoes, neem and gum Arabic are alternatives. Properly nurtured, these trees and many others can thrive in arid areas, and not just help prevent desert encroachment, but also provide income for farmers and others whose lands are being threatened by the desert.

Part of Nigeria’s water resources master plan entails the construction of small earth dams in strategic locations across Nigeria. Indeed, due to the environmental impact of huge dams, they are now being discouraged in favour of small dams. Construction of these small earth dams is relatively cheap and can be made to be labour intensive in order to create jobs. When completed, the dams become sources of water for the trees planted, and make for irrigated agriculture.

Rainfall harvesting is another way to ensure that dams have water always. In Nigeria today, a significant percent of rainfall flows away as run-off and ends up in the sea. Regional variation in precipitation means that some areas get more rainfall than others. Thus, rainfall harvesting is designed to ensure that rain is tapped, carefully harvested and stored like the precious commodity it is.

The sand in our eyes can be removed. On a trip to the Hadejia Valley Irrigation Project, I stayed at a site built by the French engineers then working on the Project. Carved out of the desert almost surreally, the camp was a green land in a sea of sand. It is alive with many kinds of trees that had been planted and nurtured. Indeed it had evolved its own mini ecological sub system. With the chirping of birds, cool breeze and relaxed ambience; it was easy to forget that we were at the edge of the Sahara. This is a scene that can, and must be replicated all over Nigeria to halt the deadly advance of the desert.