More than 40 million Nigerians are facing the threat of losing their means of livelihood due to worsening desertification, which now affects 43 per cent of the country’s landmass, the Federal Government has said.
Speaking at a national dialogue to mark the 2025 World Desertification and Drought Day and World Sand and Dust Storm Day, Balarabe Lawal, minister of environment, represented by Mahmud Kambari, the permanent secretary, raised alarm over the spread of land degradation across Nigeria.
The event, themed “Restore the Land: Unlock the Opportunities,” was organised in Abuja by the Climate Change Project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) in partnership with the ministry.
The minister noted that desertification was already affecting approximately 923,000 square kilometres of land and was putting pressure on food production systems, economic stability, and water security.
“The theme of this year’s commemoration underscores the urgency of investing in sustainable land management. We are not only addressing ecological concerns but also economic insecurity, food shortages, resource depletion, and climate change,” the minister said.
He referenced data from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which estimates that over 2 million hectares of land are lost globally each year to desertification, land degradation and drought, with about 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil vanishing annually—jeopardising food production and global food security.
Projections suggest that by 2030, an additional 300 million hectares of productive land will be required to meet global food demand.
Reiterating Nigeria’s commitment to reversing environmental degradation, the minister said the current administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had integrated environmental priorities into its eight-point agenda for economic development.
“It is obvious we cannot attain food security without productive land. Neither can we exploit our energy and natural resources without tackling the environmental conditions undermining sustainable development,” he stated.
The government, he added, has established several institutional frameworks and interventions such as the Department of Land Degradation and Drought Management, the National Agency for the Great Green Wall, and the Drought and Desertification Control Programme, all geared towards land restoration and environmental sustainability.
Citing data on the economic benefits of investing in land rehabilitation, the minister noted that for every dollar invested in land restoration, there is a potential return of up to thirty dollars. However, he lamented that the global pace of restoration remains slow. He called on development partners, donor agencies and stakeholders to intensify collaborative efforts to halt further land degradation.
“We must not allow Nigeria to fall behind in the global drive towards land restoration. The success of our development plans depends on the sustainability of our environment. I urge everyone to support this critical mission,” he said.
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In a goodwill message, Ifeanyi Chukwudi, Programme Lead for Development at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), described land as a fundamental pillar of economic production and stressed that its degradation has far-reaching consequences beyond agriculture.
“Land is central to our economic competitiveness and food systems. But the unfortunate reality is that vast portions of our land—across Nigeria and the continent—are under threat from deforestation, desertification and degradation,” Chukwudi said.
He linked desertification and drought to the growing incidence of conflict in several parts of Nigeria, pointing out that environmental stress has intensified the displacement of pastoralists and farmers, fuelling competition over land and resources in the country’s middle-belt and southern regions.
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“The imperative to act is not just environmental—it is also social and economic. Desertification is contributing to food insecurity and heightening insecurity. We must treat it as a national emergency,” he added.
