ABSTRACT
Soil erosion is the systematic removal of soil including plant
nutrients from the land surface by various agents of denudation. This paper
highlights the social and economic impacts of gulling in the area. Social
effects include; loss of ancestral homes, loss of school building, loss of
church building and loss of sources of water supply. Economic effects studied
are loss of farmland, loss of planted crops, loss of shop/business premises and
loss of economic trees. The study intends to identify the percentage of the
residents according to localities that have suffered socially and economically
from gully incidents. It also intend to determine the relationship between
adverse social and economic effects suffered by the affected people in the
various localities of the study area. The loacalities studied include,
Isiakpuenu-Nanka, Engwu-Nanka, Ududo-Nanka, Madonna-Agulu and Agulu – road cut
areas. Data for the study was collected from two major sources; primary source
and secondary source. Primary source of data are direct observation from
fieldwork and the use of questionnaire while the secondary source include
topographic map and library materials.
Descriptive statistical tools were applied to deal with the techniques
of summarizing and describing data collected. Percentages, proportion and mean
were applied to get other parameters such as expected frequencies and
deviations from the actual. X2 (Chi-Square) was used to test the
level of agreement of the results of analysis. Pearson’s co-efficient of
correlation was used to analyze the relationship between the social and
economic effects of gully erosion in the area. Findings are that The adverse
social and economic effects of Agulu-Nanka Erosion on the residents in the
erosion affected Areas differ significantly from the social and economic
situation in the unaffected areas and There is no significant relationship
between the social and economic effects of gully erosion in Agulu-Nanka areas.
The solution to gully erosion impacts is to treat it as a vital
component of the broad issue of environmental problem management. This will be
achieved with adequate knowledge of the environment.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the Study
Erosion is the process by which the
agents of soil erosion wear away, eat into, loosen, or carry away soil material
and transport it from one locality to another where it is eventually deposited
(Egboka, 1991). Soil erosion is a complex process caused by wind, water and
physical disturbances, encompassing detachment, transport and deposition of
weathered rock. Soil erosion reduces land productivity, challenges agricultural
sustainability and degrades environmental quality through contaminants attached
to the sediments.
Soil erosion is caused and
complexed by a variety of factors such as natural phenomena of neotectonics and
paleotectonics, soil/rock features (pedology/geology), wind/water dynamics; and
human phenomena such as population density, anthropogenic activities including
engihanic effects (Egboka and Nwankwor, 1985). In the execution of colossal or
small scale projects of Industrial or engineering nature, the textural,
coherence and plasticity characteristics of the soil are not considered.
Irrigation schemes, major road network, small and large dams, urbanization, deforestation, sand and laterite
mining are carried out without cognizance of the warnings of environmental
experts and/or professionals. Similarly, sensitive drainage areas, wetlands and
flood channels are encroached upon by hungry land developers. In view of these
activities, sheet, rill and gully erosion are known to progressively develop
over several years. All over the world man is a more important agent of
environmental change than Nature (Press, 1990). Soil erosion problems are now
endemic in many parts of southeastern Nigeria (Egboka, 1991). Increased
awareness of erosion impacts on land, air, water quality and global climate,
raises new challenges for erosion researchers. In some conditions, these
impacts are so severe that they reduce the quality of life and economic
well-being, and can threaten survival.
Chemical and physical deterioration
of soil have major implication on agricultural productivity and housing
development. In Nigeria agricultural production is the most important source of
income to the people. Soil quality has a major impact on the capacity of the
rural farmers to achieve food security. Soil erosion increment results in an
unsustainable development of the living standard of the people. Sustainable development
is the positive socio-economic change that does not undermine the ecological
and social systems upon which communities and social
systems are dependent. Land provides services to humans and other life forms as
well as providing raw materials in production process. Land provides waste
assimilation services as well as other ecosystem functions. Land provides
utilities for recreation, health, cultural and ecological cycles and functions.
The quality of available land
determines its production potential and real value. Land owned by families in
Agulu-Nanka is mainly used for cultivation and housing development. Soil
degradation resulting from gully erosion in the area, economically results in
loss of its potentials (Values) for food production and housing development.
This is because the eroded soil is not naturally replaced without costs. This
process leads to material loss and reduction of economic base overtime and may
have long term consequences on the living standard of the people affected.
Agulu-Nanka erosion remain a local problem for a long time, which later gained
attention on an isolated and adhoc basis from affected communities and relevant
Government agencies, hence the silence on the documentation of losses sustained
by the affected people: There is therefore, need for study on the social impact
and economic losses sustained by affected people.
1.2
Statement of the Problem
Soil erosion is one of the most
striking features on the land surface of southeastern Nigeria, especially in
Anambra State. Several non-responsive human activities by both the Government
and the inhabitants have culminated in the devastating gully erosion in this
area. Some of these activities include, excavation of red earth (laterite) and
sand in the process of sand/regolith mining, construction of roads without
drainage channels, uncontrolled population growth and poor agricultural
practices. Buildings are congested on top of groundwater recharge areas. The
geology of the area (Nanka Sandstone) is composed of weak, friable soils which
are poorly consolidated.
At Agulu-Nanka, each rainy season
is associated with nightmares, particularly for inhabitants living at the
proximity of erosion sites. Each gully incidence is accompanied by landslides
and slumping, leaving at the end of each event inhabitants crying and mourning
for loss of agricultural lands, ancestral lands, homes and economic trees. The
cumulative effect is that the affected inhabitants are left homeless and/or
jobless. The threats posed by gaping and daunting large gullies to farmlands,
settlements, roads and human are enormous. Most communities in Anambra State
have been ravaged by soil erosion of
different dimensions. Sheet erosion is common and it has resulted in the
reduction of soil fertility. Rill erosion is also common in many communities.
However, in these areas they have graduated into gully erosion. The incidence
of gully erosion is a common phenomenon in Agulu-Nanka communities. The
inhabitants of gully ravaged sites have suffered mishaps ranging from
psychological trauma to loss of property and life. Observations show that
gullies in Agulu-Nanka are allowed to advance without adequate control efforts
by Government, hence, the affected people watch helplessly while their farmland
and homes are destroyed.
The incidence of gully erosion in
Agulu-Nanka is not new, as it has formed a subject for research. Unfortunately,
until now, most researchers are confined only to the factors causing gulling
and control measures, keeping the losses sustained and other social and
economic effects suffered by the affected people aside. It is of utmost
importance to study and document the losses suffered by soil erosion victims in
terms of social disruption, psychological effects and economic effects with a
view to attracting Government, (State and Federal) to bring lasting solution to
Agulu-Nanka erosion ravaged areas.
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Item Type: Project Material | Size: 80 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
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