National Drought Plan.

This National Plan moves from the consideration that in Nigeria drought is a phenomenon that affects the entire country with different degrees of vulnerability. The direct and indirect impacts of droughts concern environmental degradation, large scale crop failure and loss of livestock, human displacement and migration, diseases outbreak, increasing levels of poverty and environmental degradation which will retard the country’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, in order to proactively manage drought, the Federal Ministry of Environment developed this National Plan aiming at providing the Government of Nigeria with effective and systematic means of assessing drought conditions and improving the accuracy in drought prediction, developing mitigating actions and programmes to reduce risks and implementing early warning systems, ensuring sustainable agriculture and other means of livelihood, improving people's social wellbeing; reducing livestock loss and minimising migration. The Plan provides for the glossary of the following terms: drought; drought impact; early warning system; gender mainstreaming; mitigation; participatory capacity and vulnerability analysis; response; risk; stakeholder; vulnerability.
The Plan analyses how drought affects and impacts on Nigerian society and its main sectors, including: 1) Agriculture: the most immediate consequence of drought is a decrease in crop, aquaculture and livestock production, due to reduced rainfall and high temperatures. 2) Water Resources: drought mostly affects water resources availability, as it increases desertification, decreases irrigation efficiency and water needs for domestic, industrial and environmental purposes; drought also increases pollutant levels, contributing to higher concentrations of illness and limitation in potable water supply; what is more, reduced flow levels in rivers and aquifers can allow saltwater to move inland and also contaminate the water supply. 3) Biodiversity and Biosphere Reserves: drought depletes biodiversity, by shrinking food supplies and damage habitats of plants and animals; the combined effects of drought and bush burning led to extinction of flora and to migration of animal species, whose immediate consequence are land degradation and reduction of biomass production. 4) Energy Availability: the impacts of drought on the energy sector are felt primarily through losses in hydropower potential for electricity generation and the effects of increased runoff (and consequent siltation) on hydropower generation. 5) Health and Nutrition: the impact of drought on water resources leads to malnutrition as a result of famines, and reduces food production, due to spread of infectious disease, food- and water-borne illness, and due to increased air pollution. 6) Forestry: drought impacts on forest growth and development due to climate change and the increasing demand on forest resources by population; drought also increases potential for wildfires and the related vulnerability of the nation’s forests to wildfires.
In order to achieve its goals, the National Plan provides for mitigation and preparedness and detailed response actions, for each sector. 1) Agriculture: adopt improved agricultural systems and better soil management practices; remove gender-based barriers to increase production capital; encouraging farmers to use treated wastewater for irrigation; provision of credit facilities and inputs to farmers; integrate indigenous and scientific early warning systems. 2) Livestock Husbandry: increase access to drought resistant livestock feeds; establishment of clear ownership/right; improve veterinary services; control of invasive alien species of grasses. 3) Fisheries and Aquaculture: proper management of fisheries and adaptation measures; enhance artisanal fisheries and encourage sustainable aquaculture; promote incentive–based and participatory ecosystem management; inform the public about drought effects on fisheries and how to minimise these stresses through voluntary practices. 4) Water Resources: controlling groundwater abstraction; improve water demand management and explore water efficiency; capturing rainwater by harvesting and building micro- and macro-dams for storing water. 5) Health and Nutrition: strengthen disease prevention; reinforce programmes to build and maintain wastewater and solid waste management facilities; provide needed nutrients to the people with bio-fortified food and nutritionally enhanced food materials. 6) Biodiversity: establishment of more protected areas across the country; establish community-based land use teams to ensure sustainable resource use; encourage the use of well-regulated modern biotechnology techniques in order to provide sustainable grazing for livestock and protect soil from excessive loss of moisture. 7) Forestry: development of forestry scheme for each ecological zone; selection of suitable afforestation sites, survey and preparation of land for planting; development and upgrading of forestry management skills; improve management of forest reserves; enact laws that will prohibit uncontrolled logging; adequate control of bush fires and increased awareness on the dangers of bush-burning.