A gender analysis of perceived climate change trends and ecosystems-based adaptation in the Nigerian wooded savannah

abstract

The Article investigates perceived climate change trends and the types of ecosystem-based adaptation that were adopted by various gender groups in the Nigerian wooded savannah.The study sourced data via a household survey, key-informant interviews and three focus group discussions in 11 communities in the study area. The study shows that the livelihoods of both male and female groups in the study population are ecosystem based. Perceived changes in the local climate included delay in the onset of rain, reduction in the total annual rainfall and early cessation of the rainy season which affected the livelihoods of men and women differently. Common ecosystem-based adaptation options are based on the impacts and the need for livelihood support, charcoal production by men, while women engaged in gardening and seed harvesting. The study also showed that uncontrolled harvesting of forestry resources without replanting have negative implications for terrestrial ecosystems and the livelihoods of both the male and female population groups in the study area. The study found that sustainable ecosystems will be enriched by involving a full range of capacity development that is beneficial to both gender groups at local and national level.

keywords:

• adaptation
• ecosystems
• livelihoods
• gender
• Nigerian savannah

Acknowledgement

This Article is part of a larger project on community-based management of ecosystem and natural resources for improved food security in the Nigerian Savannah. The project is funded by the International START Secretariat through the grant for the Global Environmental Change (GEC) Africa Project for 2011–2012 from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), National Science Foundation (NSF) and Climate Change and Food Systems (CCAFS). We are grateful to all the partners. All photos were taken by the project team.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Grace Oloukoi

GRACE OLOUKOI teaches Environmental Management at Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria. She completed her PhD in the Department of Geography and Planning Science, University of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, in 2010. Her research areas include Environmental Planning and Management and Climate Adaptation with special interest in water within the environmental system. She is a licenced member of the Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC), Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Gender and Water Alliance (GWA), the Netherlands. She is a recipient of the START – African Climate Change Fellowship Award (Doctoral Fellow, 2009/2010). She has worked on a number of projects in Nigeria at national and regional levels. She is presently working on land use patterns in the Soudan-Guinea Transition Zone of Benin and Nigeria, a project under a Comparative Research Network (CRN) of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). Email: [email protected]

Mayowa Fasona

MAYOWA FASONA teaches in the Department of Geography, University of Lagos, Nigeria. His areas of specialisation include Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, Natural Resource Management and Environmental Change. He completed his doctoral thesis on Land Degradation and Environmental Change on the coast of Ondo state, Southwest Nigeria at the University of Lagos in 2007. He acquired Postdoctoral experience in Climate Change Modelling and Adaptation at the Climate Systems Analysis Group, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Department of the University of Cape Town, South Africa between 2009 and 2010. He is a Fellow of the START/African Climate Change Fellowship Program (ACCFP). He is presently a co-investigator on the Lagos Coastal City at Risk Project, a collaborative research for Building Adaptive Capacity for Managing Climate Change in Lagos Coastal Megacity. Email: [email protected]

Felix Olorunfemi

FELIX OLORUNFEMI is a Senior Research Fellow in the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan. He is also a Research Fellow and African Co-ordinator of the Earth System Governance Project. He holds a PhD in Geography from the Univerisity of Ibadan, Ibadan. His research works are focussed on climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, resource management and food security. He also teaches and speaks on these subjects in universities and conferences in Nigeria and abroad. Email: [email protected]

Vide Adedayo

VIDE ADEDAYO obtained her PhD in geography from University of Lagos, Nigeria in 2008. Her areas of research include: Agriculture and environmental relations, ecosystem and human health impact issues, advocacy, training and education on food security and poverty issues and socio-cultural and indigenous knowledge issues. She is a member of many learned societies such as; International Expert Consultation on Gender and Agriculture, African Soil Science Society (ASSS), Population Environment Research Network (PERN), Association of Nigerian Geographers (ANG), Gender and Environmental Right Initiative (GERI), Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF) and Environment and Behaviour Association of Nigeria (EBAN). She presently works as a lecturer in the Department of Geography, University of Lagos, Nigeria. Email: [email protected]

Peter Elias

PETER OMU ELIAS teaches and conducts researches at both the postgraduate and undergraduate levels in the Department of Geography, University of Lagos. He completed his doctoral research in 2010 from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria specialising in Soils and Land Use Planning. He is a member of several professional and research networks such as the Town Planners’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC), the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), American Planning Association (APA), Association of Nigerian Geographers (ANG) and African Soil Science Society (ASSS). His current research interests are in the broad areas of inclusive urban governance and service delivery, local asset and self-sustaining community development and climate adaptation planning among others. Email: [email protected]