Tanzania Journal of Science 47(3): 1007-1019, 2021 ISSN 0856-1761, e-ISSN 2507-7961 © College of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Dar es Salaam, 2021 Assessment of Farm Households’ Vulnerability to Desertification in Rural Dry Lands of Katsina State, Nigeria Olanrewaju Yusuf Yahaya Department of Geography and Regional Planning, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, P.M.B. 5001, Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, Nigeria, E-mail: [email protected] Received 31 Jan 2021, Revised 9 Jul 2021, Accepted 20 Jul 2021, Published Aug 2021 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjs.v47i3.12 Abstract The purpose of this study was to use a Vulnerability Index (VI) to assess farm households' vulnerability to desertification in Northern Katsina's dry land ecosystem. The specific objectives were to identify socio-economic characteristics of farm households; and determine the degree of their vulnerability to desertification. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select 633 respondents from 18 rural communities across six Local Government Areas (LGAs). Data from 21 indicators for the three components of vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity) were used to measure the degree of vulnerability and thus, classify households into less, moderate and highly vulnerable. The study found that households in Jibia LGA were less vulnerable, with a VI of 1.228, while Kaita, Mashi, and Mai'adua LGAs were moderately vulnerable with VI of 0.523, 0.756, and 0.685, respectively. Households in Zango and Baure LGAs were found to be highly vulnerable due to poor biophysical conditions, with indices of 1.629 and -1.405, respectively. Furthermore, while 49% of the total households sampled were moderately vulnerable to desertification, 30% were less vulnerable and 21% were found to be highly vulnerable. As a result, the study recommended that the need for vegetative cover regeneration, soil quality rehabilitation, increased irrigation use, and biomass stability that take into account the vagaries of climate be prioritized in order to support, rescue, and increase the resilience of vulnerable households. Keywords: Adaptation, Desertification, Dry lands, Farm Households, Vulnerability Index. Introduction of a given population, system, or place to harm While most rural communities are thought from exposure to hazards which directly affects to be predominantly homogeneous in nature, the ability to prepare for, respond to, and vulnerability to hazards in general can vary recover from the hazards and disasters. One of significantly across communities, households, such widely recognized disastrous hazards is social groups, and even individuals. The term desertification. It is generally considered a ‘vulnerability’ has gained more recognition in serious threat to the environment and human contemporary studies as an essential part of welfare which has negative impacts on hazards and risk research including but not provision of ecosystem services in dry lands, limited to ecology, disaster risk management, particularly food and fodder production, and secure livelihoods, climate change impacts, and thereby leading to conflicts between pastoral drought incidences. In the words of Cutter et al. households and sedentary crop producers (2000), vulnerability connotes the susceptibility (Abbass 2012, Dimelu et al. 2016, Majeed and 1007 http://tjs.udsm.ac.tz/index.php/tjs www.ajol.info/index.php/tjs/ Yahaya - Assessment of Farm Households’ Vulnerability to Desertification in Katsina State … Muhammad 2019). In Nigeria, desertification is the Northern part of Katsina State has a major ecological problem of the Northern continued to take toll on the environment, part of the country especially the dryland areas resulting in desertification (Katsina State and, as such, being considered as one of the Ministry of Environment 2002). Similarly, most pressing environmental problems that Abaje et al. (2012) revealed that the trends and constitute serious threats to the welfare of the fluctuations of annual rainfall in Katsina and its people living in the Sahelian areas (Nasiru immediate environs show a decrease of 220.20 2007, Olagunju 2015, Elijah et al. 2017). By mm at the rate of 3.67% per annum and, by this, it is regarded as an environmental hazard implication, Katsina area has been which people have being trying to cope with, experiencing a general decrease in the period of resist and even recover from its impacts. It is wet season yearly and an apparent increase in therefore, the ability of the people in terms of desertification process. This situation is deeply their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist concerning and worrisome for the sustainability and recover from the impacts of desertification of human activities, especially as it relates to that defines their vulnerability in that context. farming, the main economic activity of the According to the Intergovernmental Panel on rural people. Climate Change (IPCC 2012), the components Although most rural communities are of vulnerability are exposure, sensitivity and predominantly homogenous, households within adaptive capacity. It indicates that vulnerability communities may have differing degrees of is the net effect of adaptive capacity and vulnerability. This is because access to and sensitivity/exposure. It follows that when the control over the resources necessary for adaptive capacity of a household is more than adaptation also vary within countries, that of its sensitivity and exposure, then the communities and even households. While it is household becomes less vulnerable to hazards, generally recognized that rural population is whereas, if a household has only limited the most vulnerable to desertification, rural capacity to adapt, it becomes vulnerable. farmers are considered the most important Vulnerability to hazards varies greatly households at risk among the natural resource- across continents, countries, communities and dependent categories of rural households even individuals. It is considered relatively vulnerable to desertification. According to this, high in developing countries. For instance, and in line with Burton et al. (2002) contention African continent has been highlighted as that micro-level studies should form the inputs particularly vulnerable to climate change in the for formulating relevant policies at the national future, primarily due to its low adaptive level, it is worth noting that most of the capacity and its sensitivity to many of the scientific literature and discourses on projected changes (IPCC 2007). In Katsina vulnerability over the last decades have State, as in any other frontline States of concentrated on contributing to theoretical Nigeria, the rural population especially the insights or measurements at the regional or farm households whose livelihoods depend national scale (Brooks et al. 2005, Füssel 2007, principally on ecosystem and natural resources, Hinkel 2011). Moreover, studies on community are often regarded as the most vulnerable vulnerability and adaptation that had been population to desertification than urban conducted globally and specifically in Africa population. The incidence of desertification is (Gallopin 2006, Ford 2011, Khan and Salman made very severe in Katsina State by 2012, Opiyo et al. 2014, Abaje et al. 2015, increasing human attempts to exploit the Savo et al. 2016, Greve et al. 2017) were resources of the ecological zone in the face of conducted on climate change impacts and persistent drought. For instance, human vulnerability. This indicates that much remains pressure resulting in over grazing and over unknown regarding micro-level vulnerabilities exploitation of marginal lands particularly in and adaptation to desertification in Africa, and 1008 Tanz. J. Sci. Vol. 47(3) 2021 Nigeria in particular. Hence, the need to assess more pronounced and the LGAs that are more the vulnerability of farming families at the vulnerable to desertification as shown in Figure household level in desertification prone areas 1 include Baure, Jibia, Kaita, Mai’adua, Mashi, of Northern Katsina constituted the main crux and Zango LGAs. They are situated on the arid of this research. Once the degree of zone of the Sahel Savannah agro-ecological vulnerability is known, appropriate specific belt of Katsina State with a semi-arid interventions can be directed towards continental climate having average annual improving the livelihoods of the vulnerable rainfall ranging from 600 to 700mm or less in groups. some LGAs. They have a relatively shorter rainy season of five months and long dry Study area season of seven months. These areas have been Katsina State, the study area, was created grappling with the challenge of desertification out of the former Kaduna State on September every year leading to soil erosion and 23, 1987. It lies between latitudes 11°07’N and disruption of the ecosystem (Adamu 2000).The 13°22’N and longitudes 6° 52’E and 9°20’E. temperature of the area is high especially at the The State is bordered to the East by Kano and peak of dry season when temperature reaches Jigawa States, to the South by Kaduna State, to about 38–40 °C and above some times (Adamu the West by Zamfara State, and to the north by 2000). The climate of the zone supports mostly Niger Republic (Figure 1). The focus of this savanna vegetation and Sudan savanna is study was on the Northern fringe of Katsina particularly found in Northern Katsina with State where the incidence of desertification is shrubs and scarce vegetation cover. Figure 1: Location of the study area