As a global phenomenon, land grabbing has significant economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts which often result in conflicts and loss of forest resources. A Nigerian environmental researcher and Ashoka Fellow, Dr Okezie Kelechukwu, undertook a research titled, “Land grabbing and its impacts on forest resources in Nigeria,” which, with his permission, is reproduced in an abridged form, in the following paragraphs. His research finding was supported by the Women Environmental Program under the Women Engage for a Common Future through the “Forest for a just future” program of the Green Livelihood Alliance.
“Land grabbing is a worrisome and rapidly growing phenomenon in Nigeria. Many communities are losing their forests with their rich biodiversity and sustenance, to land grabbers. Agricultural lands are forcefully taken and redistributed by the state governments or transferred to their foreign collaborators under the guise of addressing food insecurity and mechanisation. This accounts for the high poverty status of the country and the inequality and power dynamics that affect women negatively.
The Land Use Act of 1978 transfers ownership of all lands in the country to the state governments and by this act, state governments under the ‘public interest’ pretence, take away acres of communal and family lands and share this among themselves and their foreign collaborators. The most impacted and most vulnerable to land grabs are women, especially the smallholder farmers who are forced to relinquish their lands and hence livelihood to the state governments without adequate compensation.
The place of land as the key factor in the production of goods and services in every sector of the economy has subjected it (land) to undue pressure and demand for profitable economic returns. Land includes all the resources found in it, which comprise renewable and non-renewable resources. Forest resources fall into the category of renewable resources which, if efficiently and sustainably managed, will last forever into the future; and if not properly managed will get depleted and exhausted; sometimes they become scarce, rare, threatened or go into extinction.
Forests are rich in unique ecosystems, rich in wildlife and other resources. The Nigerian forests are inhabited by over 7,895 species of plants with over 128 endemics; over 1000 species of birds, 53 amphibians, 154 reptiles and 290 mammals. The forest zones are classified into rainforests seen in the Niger Delta region, the mangrove found in the marshes of coastal creeks, lagoons, and estuaries of Southern Nigeria. The major forests in Nigeria include the Ekuri Reserve Forest, Afi River Forest, Akure, Idanre Forest, Okomu Forest, Akure Ofusu Forest, Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve and the Oba Hills Forest, to mention a few. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (in a 2010 report), the area of primary forest in Nigeria declined from 326,000ha in 2005 to zero in 2010.
Land grab is described by J. R. Borras and J. Franco, in their work, ‘From threat to opportunity — problems with the idea of conduct for land grabbing’, as the power to control large quantities of land and landed resources for capital accumulation in response to food security crisis, biofuels, fibre, short- or long-term climate change impacts and financial exigencies.
Land grab is often at the detriment of the forests and at the centre of food insecurity, poverty and lack of development. Man and nature are interlinked in an ecosystem that should be mutually beneficial but sad to note that African countries are losing their virgin forests at an alarming rate. Forest depletion has more adverse impacts on women and the vulnerable population and therefore efforts should be put in place to secure available forests and even expand existing forest covers if we are to escape the impending climate crisis.
The population of Nigeria is put at over 200 million persons on a land area of 99.3 million hectares, for which only 10 per cent is estimated being conserved under forest cover, compared with the forest conservation areas of other countries such as Ghana, 41 per cent; Liberia, 48 per cent; Senegal, 39 per cent; Sierra Leone, 26 per cent. Nigeria’s forest conservation efforts of 10 per cent is far below the 20-25 per cent Food and Agriculture Organisation global recommendation for nations, states and local governments. It is no wonder that land-grabbing effects are telling seriously on the forest resources of the country.
Forests help to normalise the earth’s natural systems, contribute to biological diversity, maintain air, water and soil quality. Forests regulate runoffs and groundwater, control soil erosion, influence local climate and ensure that downstream sedimentation and flooding are reduced. Of great note is the ‘sink’ capacity of forests for carbons that are generated on earth. Forests sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere hence reducing greenhouse effects.
Land grabbing results in Deforestation; Loss of Resources; Climate Change; Clearing of fruit trees and culturally valuable trees; Flooding; Loss of wildlife natural habitat; Extinction of Fauna and Flora; Soil Erosion; Loss of livelihoods; Loss of income; Global warming; Absence of removed trees replacement; Absence of Environmental Impact Assessment Report (a critical precondition for projects execution); Water Scarcity; and Corruption.
Often the lands collected from the poor and weak members of the community are shared among the rich and the powerful and those in political power. The lands are acquired in violation of human rights; not based on free, prior and informed consent of the affected land users; not based on assessment or in disregard of social, economic and environmental impacts, including the way they are gendered; not based on transparent contracts that they specify clear and binding commitments about activities, employments and benefit sharing; not based on effective democratic planning, independent oversight and meaningful participation.
The first enabler of land grabbing is the Nigerian government at the federal and state levels. The impact of land grabbing among the states is most pronounced in Lagos State. The state governors under the Land Use Act forcefully acquire community lands under the notorious ‘public interest’ provisions. They go out to allocate the lands to themselves, members of their families and political cronies.
The second enabler of land grabbing is agri-business companies. Women and community members complained to have lost their major sources of water for domestic, cooking and drinking purposes because of the activities of Greenfield agricultural companies and this has led to diseases and breakout of epidemics as there is no clean water for use in the area. Forest lands are destroyed to pave way for the plantation without environmental and social impact assessments. The destruction is causing deforestation and clearance of forest cover in the local governments and impacted communities.
It is not in doubt that deforestation and climate change impact both men and women, but women are most vulnerable. This is because, according to National Gender Policy in Agriculture, women carry over 80 per cent of agricultural production, 60 per cent of agricultural processing activities and 50 per cent of animal husbandry and related activities. Majority of the smallholder farmers in Nigeria are women (NBS, 2015). With crop failures and low yields, their livelihoods and needed nutrition is impeded. Without money to access health facilities, most of them die or fall prey to sexual exploitation.
On the strength of the above, there is a need for collective resistance to land grabbing. Where it becomes most necessary there should be commensurate and adequate compensation. Legal actions should be used as an instrument of advocacy to ensure that the rights of vulnerable and poor citizens are not trampled on. Non-Governmental Organisations should support efforts aimed at carrying out proper environmental audits of the areas under acquisition and should support groups and communities legitimately resisting the clearing of their forest and forest resources. In recognition of the composite values of forests in the sustenance of life on earth and regulating climate change, it becomes necessary that all efforts and resources are invested in their proper protection, for ‘Trees are Life’!”
