Climate Change and Declining Agricultural Production in the Sudan Savannah: History, Cause, Course and Cost since the 20th Century.

Abstract

Scholars have argued that available evidences indicates that Nigeria’s climate (over the years) has been changing as  evident in  increases in temperature; variable rainfall; rise in sea level and flooding; drought and desertification; land degradation; more frequent extreme weather events; affected fresh water resources and loss of biodiversity.  As far as the Sudan Savanna region is concerned,  evidence of droughts have also become a constant  and are expected to continue  arising from a decline in precipitation and rise in temperature. Akubor (2016) have argued that Lake Chad and other lakes in the country are drying up and at risk of disappearing . Temperature has risen significantly since the 1980s. All these have continually affected agricultural production of the area; such that the once self sufficient area has been experiencing declining agricultural production. The research using the example of the Sudan Savannah  area, is thus an attempt at at interrogating the relationship between Climate Change and declining agricultural production in the Sudan Savannah with focus on the cause, course and cost since the 20th Century. Data obtained from primary and secondary sources were deployed to carry out the study with an analytical and narrative historical approach. This includes historical, descriptive and analytical approaches based on gathered evidence. The primary source for this research is based on field investigations conducted in the area and surrounding territories. Among other things, the data collection process includes semi-structured interviews with individuals. The research also uses historical documents from the national archives, relying on previous research conducted on issues of climate change, agricultural production and sudan savannah area, in addition to documentary data taken from newspaper accounts, diaries, letters and verbal reports. Keywords: Climate Change, Agriculture, Food, Sudan Savanna, History