Africannews (AN) worked with the Associated Press to recently published an article claiming the recent drought in Nigeria was caused by climate change. This is unlikely to be the whole story. [emphasis, links added]
Although there is little data in the region, human activities are as likely to lead to desertification as drought cycles.
Article “Nigerian farmers are interfering with water sources as climate change interferes with the fight against climate change,” said Climate change, the cause of recent drought in Nigeria, leading to crop decline. During the dry season, surface water becomes scarce, so some farmers are forced to dig wells to irrigate crops.
Written by writing[r]So Iverbeds have started to dry. “Therefore, responsibility” is firmly pointing to climate change, while conservationists warn that food may be scarce if no urgent measures are taken to help farmers irrigate their land. ”
While Nigeria does suffer from prolonged droughts, especially in the northern part of the country, it is not clear that this is all or even primarily due to any anthropogenic climate change due to constant temperature changes.
Natural drought, coupled with human errors in land and water management, seems to be the culprit.
According to this article, over 80% of Nigeria's farmers are small farmers, and they make up 90% of the country's crop production.
The article points out that corn (corn) is a sample crop suffered due to water shortage. It “reduces arable land from 6.2 million hectares in 2021 to 5.8 million hectares in 2022.”
Crop production data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that corn production has been increasing over time. After remaining relatively flat in the 1980s, it has shot the biggest in recent decades.
Between 1990 and 2023, corn production in Nigeria increased by 91%, while yields increased by 71%. (Please refer to the picture below)
The decline in 2023 is attributed to recent drought-related losses, but all crops around the world have good seasons, sometimes multiple very bad seasons.
Nigeria is already a largely arid or semi-arid country, and corn is a thirsty water crop. More corn production will inevitably mean more water use.
Nigeria's population is also spinning upward, including humans, especially the number of thirsty cattle, especially around Lake Chad region, and notes have seen a “dramatic” contraction. According to An, the lake has shrunk by 90% over the past few decades.
It is worth mentioning that since the 1970s The rivers feeding Lake Chad have also been blocked and transferred by other countries, resulting in a decrease in the amount of water that can enter the basin.
The mention of Sokoto has greatly lost trees, which “causes temperatures to rise” but ignores why those trees are lost.
The story’s framework makes these trees seem to have disappeared due to climate-related desertification, but that’s not the case.
These trees were cleared to expand agriculture quickly. It is important that deforestation is known to reduce precipitation and greatly reduce the soil's ability to retain moisture.
Any drought or reduction in precipitation under these conditions will certainly lead to widespread water shortages, especially for population increase.
For West Africa, especially in northern Nigeria, drought has been a problem, which suffered devastating droughts in the last century, including the 1910s, 1940s, 1970s, 1990s, 1990s, 1990s and in recent years.
Nevertheless, even in all of these issues, Nigeria's GDP is still increasing, growing at about 3% per year.
Their economies rely heavily on oil exports, ironically, climate alarms will be destroyed, allegedly “save” Nigeria from climate change.
The weather conditions in Nigeria are unlikely to be unprecedented, but among the booming population, poor land management can quickly destroy the country's resources.
Climate change does not have to play an important role in water shortages. Africans seem to miss out on the causes of water problems most likely to be directly caused by Nigeria, which is related to resource management.
datarec photolec on freeimages.com
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