Impacts of Land Use and Land Cover Changes on Migration and Food Security of North Central Region, Nigeria

Sunday Opeyemi Okeleye (), Appollonia Aimiosino Okhimamhe, Safietou Sanfo and Christine Fürst
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Sunday Opeyemi Okeleye: West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), Doctoral Research Programme on Climate Change and Human Habitat, Federal University of Technology Minna, Minna P.M.B. 65, Nigeria
Appollonia Aimiosino Okhimamhe: West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), Doctoral Research Programme on Climate Change and Human Habitat, Federal University of Technology Minna, Minna P.M.B. 65, Nigeria
Safietou Sanfo: West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), Competence Center, Blvd Mouammar Kadhafi, 06, Ouagadougou BP 9507, Burkina Faso
Christine Fürst: Department of Sustainable Landscape Development, Institute for Geosciences and Geography, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Von-Seckendorff-Platz 4, 06120 Halle, Germany

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-23

Abstract: Food security is adversely affected by challenges posed by changes in land use and land cover (LULC). LULC change impacts ecosystem functions and services, leading to migration of people, particularly rural dwellers. This paper uses multispectral satellite remote sensing, net migration data, household survey, stakeholders’ meetings, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), expert interviews and yields and estimated land mass of maize, rice, groundnut, cassava, and yam to assess the extent of LULC in Niger, Kwara, and Benue states of North Central Region of Nigeria and their relevance for migration and food security. Remote sensing data for 1990, 2000, 2013, and 2020 were extracted from Landsat imageries to obtain LULC change. Household survey was conducted to validate the data obtained from Landsat imageries. The results of LULC between 1990 and 2020 show that most of the vegetation, agricultural land, and water body areas in Kwara and Benue States have been converted to built-up areas and barren land, while an increase in agricultural land and built-up areas was observed in Niger State. Our household survey, stakeholders’ meetings, and interviews showed that there was a continuous massive migration of people, particularly young farmers, to cities leaving most of the existing agricultural lands uncultivated. This was due to the losses in agricultural land and conversion of some of the other LULC classes to barren land. We conclude that if this permanent migration remains uncontrolled, it will have significantly negative future impacts on food security of Nigeria. It is recommended that the government and its sub-ordinary administrative entities invest in more reliable infrastructure and attractive living environment for the rural dwellers to reduce the rate of rural-urban migration in the study areas.

Keywords: LULC; impacts migration; food security; farmers; Nigeria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:5:p:1012-:d:1139468

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