Impacts of climate change on agrarian infrastructure and cascading effects on human and economic sustainability in Nigeria

Goyol, S; Pathirage, C

Abstract

Nigeria, one of the fastest growing economies in Africa has agriculture as a critical sector of the economy contributing significantly to the country’s GDP, supporting livelihoods of
agrarian communities and employing over 70% of active population. Infrastructures in the form of physical facilities and service systems play important roles in human and economic development but are in deficit and the few available are in poor conditions. Climate change and its resultant impacts are on the rise having implications not only on agricultural production but also infrastructures supporting any form of development. The interdependencies among infrastructure systems within communities can lead to a chain of negative events.

This paper critically assess the cascading effects of climate change on human and economic sustainability by focusing on how climate change impacts on infrastructure can
trigger a chain of negative events leading to loss livelihoods, affecting economic sustainability and increasing poverty levels. An integrated approach using secondary data from existing literature and key informant interviews to explore the interplay between institutional processes and biophysical processes within the environment reveals that first, power relations at levels of authority has strong influence on exacerbating impacts at
community levels. Secondly, climate change impact assessment should be viewed beyond the boundaries of a community. Finally, the study suggests measures for enhancing community’s capacity for adaptation to current climate variability and future climate change.

Citation

Goyol, S., & Pathirage, C. (2017, July). Impacts of climate change on agrarian infrastructure and cascading effects on human and economic sustainability in Nigeria. Presented at International Conference on Climate Change & Sustainable Development in Africa (ICCCSDA), Sunyani, Ghana

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: International Conference on Climate Change & Sustainable Development in Africa (ICCCSDA)
• Conference Location: Sunyani, Ghana
• Start Date: Jul 25, 2017
• End Date: Jul 28, 2017
• Acceptance Date: Jul 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Aug 21, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 23, 2017
• Publisher URL: http://uenr.edu.gh/icccsda2017/
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference