Aspects of Impacts of Proposed Badagry Deep Sea Port on the Ecosystem and Livelihood of Fishing Communities in Badagry, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Federal government of Nigeria, in collaboration with Lagos StateGovernment proposed development of a seaport in Badagry. This researchexamined and documented the current state of the ecosystem and livelihoodof thirteen communities that will be impacted by the proposed deep-seaport. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for the study.Review of secondary data was used to investigate the demographic dataof the community while Participatory Rural Appraisal was conducted for300 households in the communities. Majority of the sampled respondentswere in the age range of 45 years and above with females (60%) more thanmales (40%) in the entire population sampled. Educational levels of therespondents are relatively low. The majority of the sampled householdshave multiple livelihood systems that keep them engaged throughout allseasons of the year. Capture fisheries is the major occupation in the studyarea and it is complemented with aquaculture. Existing groups are notstrong enough to operate as a pressure group to influence policies andregulate market prices, which has been identified as a major limitation inthe study area. There was no regular training or capacity building. Hencethe groups were not operating as a business enterprise and could not expandor increase capacity. Consequently not able to contribute significantlyto poverty alleviation and increase employment opportunities in theirlocalities. This document will serve as one of the guides to the governmentfor decision-making and compensation to the communities.