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M. O. Eduvie and I. F. Oseke
where Goronyo dam is located, contains a significant portion of the Sudan-Sahel
ecological zone of West Africa. Since the early 1970s, climate anomalies in the form
of recurrent droughts and numerous dust storms have threatened access to clean
drinking water.
4.3 Loss of Fishing Grounds
Fishermen set traps in dam water bodies for home consumption and sale. Shortage of
water from the dam has resulted in the disappearance of fish on the dried neighbouring
streams. According to Tambuwal (2010), fishermen were negatively affected by the
extreme event of fish stocks being carried away with the escape of the water, which
devastated fishing activity.
4.4 Effect on Agricultural Farmlands
Climate change compounds the linkage of agricultural farmlands to poverty; the
adverse impacts of climate change on farmland exacerbate the incidence of rural
poverty. This is likely to be most severe in Nigeria, where agriculture is a major
livelihood for the majority of the rural population. If nothing proactive is done
to replenish the shrinking water supply, water resources in the Goronyo dam will
become insufficient to support its communities.
In communities surrounding the dam, over 80% of the population depends on
the dam for most of its survival, including from livelihoods from agriculture and
fishing. The severe drought in 2017 brought into dramatic relief the adverse effects
of variability in timing and amount of rainfall, and lack of water for the irrigated
farmlands (Plate 8).
4.5 Migration and Conflict
Nigeria is home to more than 15% of the entire African population, with a median
age of just 19 years. Its total population is projected to double to roughly 320 million
by 2040 (Red Cross 2013). Climate change is already affecting Nigeria in significant
ways. The most noticeable is in the 1,350 square miles of Nigerian land that turns
to desert each year, driving farmers and herders south from the Sahel and into cities.
Lake Chad, which marks Nigeria’s northeast border, was reduced to one-twentieth
of its size during the 1960s due to a drier climate and changing water management.
These effects have exacerbated additional destabilization. More recently, in 2017,
the Goronyo dam saw its water level depleted to about 10% of its installed capacity
due to the cumulative pressure of climate change. This has devastated the livelihood
M. O. Eduvie and I. F. Oseke
where Goronyo dam is located, contains a significant portion of the Sudan-Sahel
ecological zone of West Africa. Since the early 1970s, climate anomalies in the form
of recurrent droughts and numerous dust storms have threatened access to clean
drinking water.
4.3 Loss of Fishing Grounds
Fishermen set traps in dam water bodies for home consumption and sale. Shortage of
water from the dam has resulted in the disappearance of fish on the dried neighbouring
streams. According to Tambuwal (2010), fishermen were negatively affected by the
extreme event of fish stocks being carried away with the escape of the water, which
devastated fishing activity.
4.4 Effect on Agricultural Farmlands
Climate change compounds the linkage of agricultural farmlands to poverty; the
adverse impacts of climate change on farmland exacerbate the incidence of rural
poverty. This is likely to be most severe in Nigeria, where agriculture is a major
livelihood for the majority of the rural population. If nothing proactive is done
to replenish the shrinking water supply, water resources in the Goronyo dam will
become insufficient to support its communities.
In communities surrounding the dam, over 80% of the population depends on
the dam for most of its survival, including from livelihoods from agriculture and
fishing. The severe drought in 2017 brought into dramatic relief the adverse effects
of variability in timing and amount of rainfall, and lack of water for the irrigated
farmlands (Plate 8).
4.5 Migration and Conflict
Nigeria is home to more than 15% of the entire African population, with a median
age of just 19 years. Its total population is projected to double to roughly 320 million
by 2040 (Red Cross 2013). Climate change is already affecting Nigeria in significant
ways. The most noticeable is in the 1,350 square miles of Nigerian land that turns
to desert each year, driving farmers and herders south from the Sahel and into cities.
Lake Chad, which marks Nigeria’s northeast border, was reduced to one-twentieth
of its size during the 1960s due to a drier climate and changing water management.
These effects have exacerbated additional destabilization. More recently, in 2017,
the Goronyo dam saw its water level depleted to about 10% of its installed capacity
due to the cumulative pressure of climate change. This has devastated the livelihood