Natural Hazards And Their Impacts On The Environment And Agriculture In Nigeria
Volume 2 - Issue 2, February 2018 Edition
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Author(s)
Asiru Monday Abbas, Idowu Innocent Abbas, Iye Gloria Agada
Keywords
floods, agriculture, droughts, impacts, environment.
Abstract
The study assessed the impacts of natural hazards on the environment and agriculture in Nigeria as the cost of negative impacts of natural hazards either on the environment (natural and built environment) or food production is unimaginable. The aftermath of the 2012 flood in Nigeria was catastrophic as over 300 people lost their lives, more than 7 million people were affected and economic activities were paralyzed in a lot of places with huge damage to farmlands, houses and basic infrastructure. The devastating consequences of natural hazards are of immense magnitude or proportion particularly on the environment and agricultural activities and that is why it is imperative that pro-active measures must be taken by all and sundry to safeguard the environment so that investments in other fields of endeavours can be secured and made useful or productive to meet current needs without hampering the ability of the future or coming generations to meet their own needs. It is recommended that early warnings must be dispatched or sent out to people in hazard prone areas in the language that they understand and people in such areas should be ready to evacuate immediately to avoid loss of lives and minimize damage to their property. Each local government area should also strive to establish its own disaster risk reduction and emergency management authority to address emergencies locally before the arrival of help from the national body. Since man has no absolute control over natural hazards, it is also recommended that people should cultivate the habit of insuring their lives, farms and other assets that they have in order to mitigate the destructive impacts of natural hazards.
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