EFFECTS OF LAND DEGRADATION ON AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES IN ANAMBRA EAST L.G.A, ANAMBRA STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Land is the basic natural resource that provides habitat and sustenance for living organisms, as well as being a major focus of economic activities. (Woldu, 2004). Africa is endowed with enough land to undertake small and large-scale activities to strengthen household security, national development, transboundary cooperation and regional integration to transform trade, and create new opportunities for sustainable development which is sensitive to the environment and social economic issues (Berry and Campbell, 2012). There are however, many threats and challenges which continue to undermine such progress limiting its potential. These include pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, climate variability and change, extreme weather events such as drought and floods, ineffective land-use planning, land degradation and desertification invasive alien species, limited or weak governance systems, corruption and greed, armed conflict and the attendant overexploitation of natural resources, limited foreign direct investment, Limited domestic investment and wasted opportunities, loss of revenue due to leakage in sectors such as tourism are also important factors (Adams and Eswaran, 2000).

Degradation of land refers to loss of its potential production capability as a result of degradation of soil quality and also its loss for effective use.

According to Snel and Bot, (2003), Land degradation is defined as any form of deterioration of the natural potential of land that affects ecosystem integrity either in terms of reducing its sustainable ecological productivity or in terms of its active biological richness and maintenance of resilience. It is the loss of utility of land or the decline in soil quality caused through misuse by human (Abegaz, 2005).

Furthermore, Abegaz, (2005) defines land degradation as a reduction or loss in arid semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rain-fed cropland, irrigated cropland, range land pasture, forest, and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes, including processes arising from human activities and habitation patterns such as:

1. Soil erosion caused by wind and/or water,
2. Deterioration of the physical, chemical, and biological or economic properties of soil; and

• Long-term loss of natural vegetation.

Land degradation is one of the worst environmental problems facing many people worldwide. According to Adams and Eswaran, (2000) over 250 million people are directly affected by land degradation. It is a worldwide phenomenon substantially affecting productivity in over 80 countries or all continents, except Antarctica. Land degradation is especially serious in Africa where 36 countries face dryland degradation or desertification, land degradation adversely affects the ecological integrity and productivity of about 2 billon hectares or 23% of landscapes under human use. Agricultural lands in both dryland and forest areas have been most severely affected by land degradation. They cover about one-fourth of the world & risqué s total land area and account for 95% of all animal and plant protein and 99% of calories consumed by human, about two-thirds of agricultural land has been degraded to some extent during the last 50 years (Berry and Campbell, 2012).

The intensification of the use of fragile and marginal ecosystems has led to progressive degradation and continued desertification of marginal agricultural lands. Even in areas of normal rainfall, it is feared that the damage by drought and population pressure may have resulted in the genetic loss of a vast array of valuable plant species. Pressure on the dwindling resources in the arid prone areas has resulted in a number of devastating socio-political and sectarian conflicts in the country with concomitant death, injury and heavy economic losses.

In Bangladesh, the topsoil degrades due to natural processes and human activities, the functional capabilities of soil deteriorate from activities related to agriculture, forestry, and industry. On the other hand, urban sprawling and infrastructure development cause loss of available agricultural land. Natural events such as cyclones and floods cause land loss and can also deteriorate functional capabilities of soil, (Berry and Campbell, 2012).

Land degradation in the coastal area results from unplanned land use as well as intrusion of saline water. Therefore, solving or minimizing land degradation problems should be based on multi-sectored multi-layered, yet integrated approaches.

Some of the causes of land degradation as noted by Wiggins, (2013) include: Improper resource management, destructive logging of our forest, overgrazing and over-cropping of arable lands, flooding and wind erosion menace, strip mining in some parts of Nigeria, land degradation with pesticides and fertilizers, some known natural landslides, destruction of wetlands and marches for development. He also identified other indirect causes of land degradation to include population growth and population influx, property ownership issues, lack of control, enforcement measures and jurisdictional overlap which are due to lack of authority and the use of inappropriate technology for farming and even for producing manufactured goods.

Land degradation typically occurs because of land management practices or human development that is not sustainable over a period of time. (Abegaz, 2005).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Degradation of land is one of the most serious challenges before the mankind in today’s world. Mankind has been facing a wide range of problems arising out of the degradation of land. Not only the areas under human inhabitation, but the areas of the planet without human population have also been suffering from these problems. The number of problems arising out of land degradation has been increasing and the intensity of these problems has, at the same time, been aggravating with time.

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