Climate Change

Kunle Adeyemi, a Nigerian architect based in Amsterdam, was equally fascinated by the way of living of the Makoko community. He argues that Makoko and other water communities embody a unique synthesis of socio-political relations, economic networks, architecture and spatial presence that collectively push at the frontiers of urbanism. The “Floating School” which he developed and built in collaboration with the community opened an international debate on visionary forms of architecture to adapt to the challenges of flood and population growth

Why does Nigeria have to become ‘green’? Many might say that Nigeria needs development of any kind whatsoever to raise people out of poverty and start industrial development. Lead author of the Green Deal Nigeria study, international climate expert Hans Verolme, explains the international context and argues that a Green Deal is not a luxury, but an immediate necessity. Read

Nigeria has been hit by unprecedented flooding in October 2012. With large sways of land under water, the question of food security is being discussed afresh. Under increasing climate stress and with more extreme weathers, flooding is likely to increase over the coming years. Listen to Adamu Umar as he is paddling on the Lokoja-Abuja express road. Watch Video

Millions of trees are fired and wasted under Nigerian cooking pots as many women still cook on three-stone fires. Cooking with fire wood has destroyed large sways of Nigerian forest cover, which is under threat of extinction today. Mallam Adamu Mbar Yelwa is a 78 year old citizen of Taraba state. He remembers the days when clouds were hanging low over Yelwa forests, providing the people of the area with fresh air and lots of animals. Watch Video

River Benue is a national symbol for Nigeria eternalized on its map, it received all the headlines in August 2012 when it flooded and caused heavy damage to communities from the Cameroonian border right down to the Niger Delta. The flooding, which was caused by the opening of a dam in Cameroon, might cover the fact that River Benue is slowly running dry as its tributary rivers are starting to dry out due to fading forest cover. Watch video

The scientific language is clear: over the past 105 years, the amount of rainfall per year dropped by 81 mm. The trend of declining rainfall worsened after 1970 and continues to this date. Between 1941 and 2000, average temperatures increased by an alarming 1.4-1.9 degrees Celsius. But what does it mean to young Nigerians when the rains don’t come any longer? Hear Yusuf Darama from Yobe State describe his generation’s lack of perspective. Watch Video 

‘’My village is missing ...God save us’’. This was a blackberry personal message put up by my blackberry contact Khalid with a display photo of what used to be his village. All I saw was water covered buildings, with only some roofs spared... Yusuf Haliru describes how agricultural insurance can help farmers protect their business.

It’s what people say when they invite someone to share their meal: in Nigeria, you ‘chop’ food as you dig your fingers into some delicious pounded yam with egusi stew. Alas, most Nigerians are not aware that by eating food, they usually chop down trees, too. As most Nigerian meals are still prepared on the traditional three-stone fire, the nation’s forest cover has been reduced to 5 per cent of its original size. Environmental journalist Ugochi Anyaka on Nigeria’s deforestation crisis..

In the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa, the demand for firewood for baking bread has resulted in unsustainable felling of trees. This has further accentuated the problem of desert encroachment. Watch this video and contact us on info@ng.boell.org if you have a solution.

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