Deforestation and Land Use Tragedy in Rural Community Based Agriculture in Katsina State – An Obstacle to Sustainable Rural Development

Abstract

Deforestation and poor land use in third world nations have been contentious issues in recent development literature, particularly those inquiries seeking to answer questions on why sustainable development is not readily attainable in developing world.  Teaming populace in LDCs depend chiefly on land and forest for life support and forests are being used as a theatre in which rural poverty is being transferred.  This tendency tends to be perpetual, because alternative sources of income are not available given the economic background in which rural people found themselves. The paper adopted ground survey to identify the extent of deforestation and its consequences in the study area.  This paper discovers that economic insecurities in rural communities push rural people to become permanent clients for forest harvest and land tilling.  This dual massacre reduces the land quality, thus, there is poor harvest despite increased application of fertilizers and encourages physical damage on the dotted patches of forests.  Consequently, the flora and fauna of the area are undermined; gully erosion, wind erosion, lower harvest and lower returns on rural agricultural investments are the effects.  This paper is of the view that the sustainability of the ecological settings of the area will continue to be undermined unless serious efforts are made to address the problem of abject poverty.  The search for sustainable development could be achieved through the provision of qualitative education so as to create employment options to rural populace. There should be policing of forest resources  to deter excessive harvest and undue cut, and extending micro credits accessibility to small - scale business enterprises with a view to diversifying their economic activities that are less forest and land dependent.