An Appraisal of the Strategies Implored by Government to CombatingDrought and Desertification in the North-East Geo-Political Zone, 2004-2014

This paper appraised the strategies put in place by Nigeria government to combat drought and desertification in the North-east geo-political zone of Nigeria and establishing the situation at present, which is more of a rhetoric than practical. It also established the absence of the citizens input in the programs which as a matter of fact constitutes a major reason for perceive failure of the strategies. Literature on concept of drought, and desertification as well as the nexus between the two phenomena were reviewed. The study adopted the survey design approach. Population of the study was the North-east geo-political zone of Nigeria comprising six states: Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe. Purposive sampling technique was used in the selection of sample size comprising of six local councils from Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe states; the reason being that they share common characteristics on the challenges of drought and desert encroachments. Cluster sampling technique was adopted in selection of 1,200 respondents of which 72.6% response rate was recorded. The research instrument used were a structured and validated questionnaire complemented by a structured interview schedule. The study finding reveals that the strategies adopted by government in combating drought and desertification has a major defect in that it is not citizen oriented (since evidences from the survey points to the fact they were unaware of government programs on combating drought and desertification in their area). The study, thus recommended that for strategies of combating drought and desertification to work in the North-east geo-political zone of Nigeria or any other place in Nigeria, citizens’ input into such strategy must be a top priority. That way, they will evidently adopt and own them and off cause protect than where necessary.