NIGERIA BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Standard 14

Human Modification of the Nigerian Environment

Study of the human modification of the environment is complex. While geographers must take into account the cultural bases for human modification of the environment, of equal or greater importance are the material and economic bases for human modifications of the earth. With this second set of concerns, it is important that we place individual human actors within their social and economic context when we seek an understanding of the reasons why people modify their environments. This approach includes looking at the socioeconomic standing of different people in our consideration of their impact on the environment. Because poor people face different challenges and constraints than the rich, it is plausible to expect that they will interact with the environment in a different way. Sadly, poverty is often a major cause of environmental degradation and decline. This is certainly true in Nigeria, one of the poorest countries in the world. Further, it is important to understand the international linkages involved in the consideration of human-environment interactions. This is clearly important in looking at the Nigerian oil industry. This industry, which is heavily dependent on international markets for its existence, has major impacts on the environment of oil-producing regions. Another example of international economic linkages is the cocoa sector. Without foreign markets, farmers in southwest Nigeria would likely not plant and cultivate as much cocoa as they do at present. Many other types of human modification of the environment, however, are not directly dependent on international factors. They may be influenced by institutions like the State. This is the case with the history of hydrological development in Nigeria. The state has been instrumental in the construction of large river dams, thereby blocking the previous flows of rivers like the Niger, Kano, and Sokoto.

As the discussion above illustrates, the study of human modification of the environment requires two major components, description and explanation. The first component involves asking factual questions. How have humans modified the physical environment? Example questions are: how much rain forest remains in a given region? or how much have crop yields declined in a given area over a particular time-span? Good data is not always available for some questions, but definite trends are often discernible. The second component is often the more challenging component of human-environment study. It deals with the "why" of human modification of the environment. The examination of reasons and motivations requires that the student of geography develop a complex and subtle understanding of the interaction between human and physical systems. One of the most challenging aspects of this study is that people often disagree about the causes of human modification of the environment. In this regard, it is important to understand the biases and perspectives of different interpreters and commentators. While it is convenient to isolate these two components for the sake of simplicity, the two are inseparably linked in practice. For example, to determine if humans have indeed substantially altered a given environment, it is critical to have a sense of the before and after of environmental. It is also important to know the timing of physical rhythms and cycles. This issue will be more apparent in a case of study of pastoralism that follows. For the purposes of this essay, however, the two components will be examined separately.

Types of Human Environmental Modification in Nigeria

One of the simplest ways to monitor human modification of the environment is to examine land use change. It is particularly instructive to examine change over a relatively long period of time. For the country of Nigeria, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provides a summary table of land use change from the 1970s to the 1990s. As the table indicates, the most important type of modification of the environment in Nigeria is agricultural modification. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, the percentage of Nigeria’s total land area used for agriculture (both intensive crop production and extensive grazing) increased from approximately 54 percent to 61 percent, or an 84,073 square kilometer increase. This was the largest absolute expansion of any land use. Other notable modifications include urbanization and hydrological development. Urban land use increased from 0.2 percent to 0.6 percent during the 20-year period. The construction of new dams is the major reason for the expansion of "natural water bodies" from 0.7 to 0.9 percent. On the whole, however, agriculturally related modification dominates the land use changes over this period. As might be expected, two of the major land use categories that suffered declines over the period were guinea savanna and Sudan savanna. Guinea savanna experienced the largest decline, falling from 16.6 percent to 9.0 percent. Sudan savanna fell from 12.5 percent to 9.0 percent. While these figures may seem insignificant, a single percentage point change represents an area the size of a small American state (approximately 9,000 square kilometers). Part of this growth occurred in areas adjacent to rivers. "There was a steady increase in the extent of floodplain agriculture [referred to as "fadama" farming in much of the country] from 1978 through 1995 . . . with the amount of floodplain agriculture more than doubling. This took place mostly as a result of the transition of wetlands to agriculture use." Besides savanna areas and floodplains, transition to agricultural lands has also occurred in many previously forested areas.

Another significant source of human modification of the environment is fuelwood cutting. Although Nigeria produces significant amounts of oil, a large percentage of its population depends on wood as its primary fuel source for cooking and other activities. While fuelwood use is most prominent in rural areas, there is a significant minority of urban residents who depend on wood for their cooking fuel. In a poor, populous country like Nigeria, fuelwood cutting is a major way that humans modify the environment. Depending on the local context (e.g. soil fertility, rainfall, etc.), fuelwood cutting can induce other environmental changes, as this FAO quote indicates:

Because this scenario does not always follow fuelwood cutting, it is important to keep a balanced perspective on this human activity.

Thus far, this section has focused mainly on total conversion of land use by humans. Other types of human modification of the environment occur in Nigeria. One of the most important agricultural modifications is the intensification of land use. Intensification can take different forms, but the basic concept is that agricultural land is forced to be more productive in some way. In shifting cultivation agriculture, intensification may involve the shortening of fallow cycles. For example, instead of planting a particular field every seven years, farmers may plant a given plot every four years. In areas of short or non-fallow agriculture, intensification may involve the application of chemical fertilizers and / or pesticides to increase the productivity of the land.

Another type of human modification of the environment is habitat fragmentation. This occurs when larger, continuous areas of biotic habitat are broken up by changes in human land use. A simple example of this in Nigeria is the development of oil palm plots within a rain forest area. In many cases, the selective modification of the forest to grow only economic palm species results in the fragmentation of formerly contiguous forest areas. Habitat fragmentation can have extremely negative consequences for ecosystems, resulting in the demise of species or a decline in numbers.

While humans are capable of destroying species and their habitat in certain areas, they are also capable of introducing new species to region. These introduced species are called exotic species. The following case study examines one of the most important exotic species introduced into Nigeria, the cassava plant. The case study also points to some of the potential problems with introducing foreign species into new ecosystems. The case study is also interesting because it illustrates both intentional and unintentional introductions of exotic species.

The cassava plant was an intentional introduction of an exotic species. The Portuguese imported cassava from South America approximately 200 years ago (N.E.S.T. 1991: 15). Cassava had and has many advantages over other indigenous crops. First, cassava yields much greater harvests than other tuber crops (up to 35 tonnes of tubers per hectare). Second, cassava can be grown on poor to average soils. Third, the plant may be flexibly intercropped with other crops. Fourth, cassava may be stored in the ground for long periods before it is harvested. Finally, raw cassava can be quickly processed into an affordable food known as "gari" (N.E.S.T. 1991: 15). While cassava production and consumption was increasing in southern Nigeria and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa in the twentieth century, a formidable new pest was introduced from South America. Beginning with the pest’s introduction in the early 1970s, cassava yields gradually began to decline by as much as two-thirds. After many experiments, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan introduced the "Cassava Mealybug Programme." This program involved the successful use of a natural predator to stop the destructive activities of the exotic mealybug.

As mentioned earlier, hydrological development has been an important way in which humans have modified the Nigerian environment. Over the past 20 years this development has mainly taken the form of dam construction. These dams have been built for several purposes. Hydroelectric development, irrigation, and municipal water supply are the most important functions these dams have served. While the dams do provide benefits to Nigerians (albeit unevenly), they have also brought a substantial amount of environmental change in adjacent areas. Some of the major changes that large-scale dams have brought include: 1) the creation of new bodies of water 2) human population displacement 3) creation of new habitats for harmful organisms (e.g. guinea worm, mosquitoes, and snails that carry bilharzia) 4) decline of downstream silt supply to floodplains 5) decline in downstream fisheries 6) soil salinity and water logging problems in irrigated areas and 7) dam failure, leading to catastrophic disasters like large floods.

One final area of human environmental modification will be addressed here. It concerns the popularized problem of desertification. Nigeria’s northern Sahel region is part of a larger West African region that has been of special concern to environmental scientists since the early 1970s. After the serious droughts that struck northern Nigeria and much of Africa in the early 1970s and the early 1980s, many researchers became convinced that the Sahara Desert was expanding southward. While no part of Nigeria is within the Sahara Desert, the concern of scientists was that the desert might eventually come to encompass a large part of northern Nigeria. While there has been much research and debate about the issue of desertification in the Sahel, a consensus has not emerged over the true nature of the problem. Much of the controversy is over the characterization of the problem itself. While some scientists are convinced that human activities like overgrazing and agricultural production in marginal areas are to blame for desertification, others believe that the environmental changes are due mainly to physical changes outside the control of humans.

Causes of Human Modification of the Environment

The previous section surveyed some of the ways that humans have modified the environment in Nigeria. This section addresses the more difficult question of why Nigerians have shaped the environment in these different ways. Since several different explanations are given, it should not be expected that this discussion would arrive at firm conclusions about the reasons for human-induced environmental change.

One factor in human modification of the environment is population growth. After all, rapid population growth on the order of 2 to 3 percent has been the norm for the past several decades. As the section on demography (Standard 9) indicated, this growth rate is particularly significant since Nigeria has such a large base population. In addition, like most sub-Saharan African nations, Nigeria’s largest economic sector in terms of employment is agriculture. Because of its prominence in the national economy, agricultural and pastoral activities play primary roles in Nigerians’ modifications of nature. Since Nigeria’s population has rapidly expanded over the last several decades, it is reasonable to expect that land under cultivation has rapidly expanded as well. Indeed, this is the predicted scenario of the neo-Malthusian thesis. The neo-Malthusian argument asserts that rapid population growth, if left unchecked, will result in severe environmental degradation and an increasing inability for a given region to support its inhabitants. While many see Africa’s environmental problems mainly in terms of "overpopulation," it is important to note that Africa as a whole has one of the lowest population densities of all the world. The following table provides a comparative sense of African and Nigerian population density.

Population Density

While Nigeria’s population density is four times larger than Africa as a whole, it is comparable to the population densities for Europe and China. Beyond this, crude population density is not necessarily the best way to look at the impact of population growth on the environment. For example, even though Nigeria’s food needs grew rapidly during the decade of the 1980s, land under cultivation did not grow at the same proportion as population. Instead of growing more food domestically, Nigeria began to import substantial amounts of food in the early 1980s when oil revenues were high. Aside from using oil revenues to pay for food imports, Nigeria’s movement toward massive food imports was influenced by other factors. First, the Nigerian state invested very little money into rural development. Hence, most Nigerian farmers’ productivity has not substantially changed in the past 25 years. Second, for some of this period, the government imposed undue taxation on rural agricultural producers, providing disincentives to increased production. In addition to these factors, many Nigerians permanently moved to urban areas, abandoning their farms for work in the cities.

As the above discussion indicates, the relationship between population growth and environmental is far from simple. Population growth does not necessarily lead to environmental degradation. In some cases, population decline may lead to environmental degradation. There are cases of this in Nigeria. For example, some rural areas have experienced massive out-migration of people to urban areas. Because many of these migrants are young males who are important sources of rural labor, these migrations can impact agricultural land use. This is particularly true in areas where males are responsible for land clearing and preparation. In southern parts of the country that receive significant amounts of rainfall, land clearing can be a tremendously labor-intensive task. If insufficient labor is available to clear new lands for shifting cultivation, previously cleared land may be used before its regular fallow period is expired. This practice typically results in the premature exhaustion of the soil, leading to land degradation and potential human relocation.

Poverty is another major factor in human modification of the environment. Since poor people are the most vulnerable in society, they often must place their survival and immediate welfare ahead of concerns about environmental protection. In the context of agriculture, poverty may lead farmers to engage in practices that rapidly deplete soils or lead to erosion. As mentioned already, shortening fallow periods is one way that Nigerians have negatively impacted the environment. In many places where fallow periods have declined, crops yields have also declined dramatically. This often leads to the abandonment of fields or the switch to a different crop. Yam is one crop that has experienced declining yields. In areas of declining yields, cassava has often been substituted. While cassava grows well in average to poor soils, it is not as nutritious or as popular as yam. Thus, because of declining soil fertility, humans have been forced to modify the crops that they grow.

Poverty also has an important role to play in the urban environment. This is evident by examining the state of sanitation in many of Nigeria’s cities. Not surprisingly, urban sanitation services are the worst in the poorest sectors of Nigeria’s cities. This is partly because poor areas had little planning in their construction. If formally maintained landfills are not available, people must resort to "informal landfills" [insert pictures from Jos and other cities]. Poor siting of informal landfills may adversely affect public health. Contamination of water supplies is one of the most serious of these problems. Some of these dumpsites are located next to streams and drainage ditches. These same water channels may be used by people for bathing and washing. In addition, much trash is not disposed of in a formal or informal landfill. Substantial amounts of solid waste are thrown in gutters and on the sides of roads. In some cities, lack of urban sanitation services means that the government finds itself merely reacting to the actions of residents. For example, cities periodically remove trash that builds up in informal landfills. In situations like this, the government is failing to address the root cause of the sanitation problem.

It is also important to evaluate international factors in human modification of the Nigerian environment. These factors concern the environmental impact that international companies, institutions, and markets have in Nigeria. The Nigerian oil industry provides the clearest example of international environmental influence. While it is confined to the coastal region around the Niger River delta, the oil industry has a tremendous impact on the Nigerian environment. Oil wells dot the landscape. Pipelines carry the crude oil to refineries or to tankers for export. Both wells and pipelines have been subject to spills in the past, impacting both humans and other species negatively. In addition, the natural gas byproduct that is pumped to the surface is burned off in a process referred to as "flaring." For the local people of this region, environmental problems have been of such concern that many have openly protested the government and the multinational companies’ activities in the delta region. Regardless of one’s perspective on the Nigerian oil industry, the fact remains that Nigeria has a commodity in high demand throughout the world. Because of this, our consideration of human modification of the Nigerian environment must take into account the international markets for this commodity and the role that foreigners have in the exploitation of Nigeria’s oil (see standard 16 for more information on oil).

Another commodity of historical and to some degree, contemporary importance is tin. Nigeria’s tin is primarily located in the north-central part of the country, most prominently in the Jos Plateau. Beginning about 1915, British mining companies engaged in large-scale production of tin. Although tin production has dramatically declined since its peak in the period 1940 through 1960, the consequences of large-scale mining are still highly evident in northern landscapes. In former mining areas, open-pit mining scars or large piles of waste tailings mark much of the land. Such land is unusable for agriculture since the topsoil has been scraped away or buried under tailings. Some of these open-pits, however, have been put to productive use. Some of them have been used as irrigation ponds. Others have been converted into fishponds. While laudable, these adaptive uses may be unsafe due to mining pollution of the water.

Another key factor in human modification of the environment is government policy. While the Nigerian state is relatively weak overall, it does play an important role in environmental policy. A major example of this is the state’s development of Nigeria’s water resources. Since the 1970s, numerous large and small dams have been built. The reasons why the dams were constructed are complex. One major factor in the initial development of dams was the large droughts that impacted northern Nigeria in the early 1970s and early 1980s. Government officials and many international development agencies saw dam construction as a way to promote irrigation development and hydroelectric development at the same time. In reality, many of the lands converted to irrigated cropping were acquired by elites with ties to the military governments. Hence, irrigation development primarily benefited bureaucrats and military officers. Another problem with the dams’ construction is that they were often linked with corrupt bidding and contracting practices.

As this brief discussion has shown, understanding causes of human modification of the environment is a complex assignment. If one overarching theme should be emphasized, it is that people in different places and positions have different reasons for altering the environment in the ways that they do. As several of the points stressed directly or indirectly, socioeconomic standing is one of the most critical factors in humans’ modification of the environment. Factors like culture and resource perception are also important. In addition, the discussion also emphasized the importance of integrating multiple geographical scales into any analysis. This was most evident in the discussion of the Nigerian oil industry.

Web Resources

• United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This site includes information about land use patterns, agricultural changes, climate, and many other issues relating to people’s use of the environment. The FAO site also includes a large database of pictures from around the world. Many are included from Africa.
• Land Use information from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
• Land use / land change statistics from the World Bank.
• Land use images from mid 1970’s to mid 1990’s from Geomatics Nigeria, Ltd (click on "Vegetation and Land Use Change Analysis" note the time series maps of vegetation intensity, one notable change is the appearance of new "artificial" lakes in northern Nigeria over the twenty year time span).
• National Parks information
• Agricultural picture gallery: Herders with their cattle. More herders. Fulani boy with zebu cattle. Older Fulani boy with zebu cattle. Maize roasting in process. Maize is one staple crop that was introduced as an exotic crop into Nigeria. Food pounding in process (yams?). Spraying cacao plants. Picture of cassava plants (cassava is a staple food of southern Nigeria). Picture of oil palms.
• More information on agriculture and pastoralism. This link takes you to a brief paper abstract that relates cattle movement and the "Middle Belt."
• Biodiversity and wildlife gallery: The elephant is one animal that is now rarely seen in Nigeria. Deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the South.
• Minerals and Oil Gallery: Tin mining - "informal mining" picture. Tin mining.
• Information on Nigeria’s oil industry: The place of oil in the Nigerian economy - United States Energy Information Administration. Oil industry profile from Mbendi. Nigeria is also an OPEC member. The following is a fact sheet on OPEC. OPEC’s homepage. Shell Oil Nigeria homepage. Nigeria is also a major supplier of oil to the United States. For information on U.S. energy consumption and production see the United States Energy Information Agency.
• Many sites on the web deal with Ken SaroWiwa and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). This movement is both political and environmental in its nature. A film entitled "The Drilling Fields" (1994) provides a critique of the oil industry in the delta and discusses the Ogoni political response. The site provides the script of the film, pictures, and ordering information for the film.
• The Sierra Club page on Shell in Nigeria provides many articles and links (the most recent listing is 01 / 99). Also, see the Greenpeace international page on Nigeria and the Niger Delta. Ken Saro-Wiwa’s final statement before the military tribunal. Boycott Shell devoted site. Human Rights Watch page on Nigeria’s oil fields. Information on the oil fires of 1998 and 1999.
• Toxic waste transfers and the third world: This site includes information about linkages between Nigeria and Italy.
• More information about forests and deforestation: For information of deforestation in general see this project. Several non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) work on rain forest issues in Nigeria’s southern Cross Rivers State (NGO coalition page).
• Environmental data: Basic environmental data and statistics from the World Resources Institute. This site includes good statistics on agriculture land per capita, potable water supply (urban/ rural), forest cover change over last ten years, sanitation service availability (rural/urban), biodiversity, and energy.
• World Resources Institute (WRI) pages for environmental issues: World Resources Institute Africa page. WRI education center. This page includes more than 50 Links for environmental education.