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Research & Reviews : Journal of Ecology

Historical Study of River Komadugu Yobe and Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in North-Eastern Yobe State: Impacts, Potentials, and Challenges

  1. Iyanda Kamoru Ahmed
  2. Umar Inuwa Musa
  3. Fatima Muhammad Dikko

Abstract

The present paper is a historical study of river Komadugu Yobe and sustainable rural livelihoods in North Eastern Yobe state with emphasis on impacts, potentials, and challenges. Sub Saharan Africa with the most dry lands, faces myriads of problems, the most critical being deepening poverty and environmental degradation portending livelihoods and food insecurities in the region. Indeed, Millennium Development Goals aimed at poverty reduction and environmental sustainability is most relevant to Sub Saharan Africa more than any other regions of the world. Scholars agreed that the achievement of these two millennium development goals is sine qua non to the attainment of other millennium development goals. Therefore, in most African countries, especially in the drylands, poverty reduction, sustainable economic growth, and environmental sustainability are the three main pillars of development. In drylands, the complex human–nature interactions and interdependence are based on marginal natural resources and the people who inhabit drylands are often poor and marginalized populations. The majority of world’s poorest people, which the 2008 World Bank reports put at 75%, lives and works in the rural areas. In the semi-arid, northern Yobe, rural poverty is pervasive and the rate of environmental degradation and depletion of environmental resources is increasing. This scenario underscores the urgency of the need to pursue the goals of sustainable development for rural livelihoods in the region. There is broad agreement that natural resources, particularly those related to land, soil, water, forests, biodiversity of plants and animals, vegetation, renewable energy, climate change, and ecosystem services, are essential for enhancing livelihoods and attaining sustainable development in rural Africa. River Komadugu Yobe is a natural endowment in Yobe State, profoundly rich in invaluable hydro-ecological resources, which for long time have had, and is capable of continuing to have monumental influence on the rural economy of the area.

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