Pathways for Sustainable Development under Global Environmental Changes in the Niger - Delta Region, Nigeria
Pathways for Sustainable Development under Global Environmental Changes in the Niger - Delta Region, Nigeria

Author(s): Andrew Onwuemele
Subject(s): Economy, Energy and Environmental Studies
Published by: ASERS Publishing
Keywords: pathways; sustainable; development; global; environmental changes; Niger-Delta
Summary/Abstract: The Niger Delta region is one of the most important wetland and coastal marine ecosystems in the world. The region is endowed with massive oil deposits, vast agricultural land, raw materials, excellent fisheries and extensive forest. The location of the region in the coast, crude oil exploitation and rapid urbanization and the fragile nature of their ecosystem make the region highly susceptible to global environmental change (GEC). Today, the region is characterized by perennial flooding, high temperature, salt water intrusion and sea level rise and the magnitude and intensity of which have been on the increase in recent time. In the last decades, development experts and policy makers have engaged in many debates about the region‟s human development dilemma, questioning why abundant human and natural resources have had so little impact on poverty and what path leads towards sustainable human development in the region. These questions, among others, constitute the driving force for this paper. The goal of this paper is to explore the pathways for sustainable development under global environmental changes in the Niger - Delta region of Nigeria. The study covers two states (Ondo and Delta state) out of the nine states in the region. The study utilizes both primary and secondary data and was collected with the use of questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The paper among other things indicated that changing environmental conditions contributes to poverty in the region through loss of livelihoods, loss of biodiversity and destruction of lives and property. The paper also reveals high vulnerability of the people to these environmental changes and therefore calls for awareness creation and development of community based adaptation in local communities to increase the resilience of local communities to these changes.

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