Executive Secretary of UN Convention to Combat Desertification, UNCCD, Ibrahim Thiaw has said that land degradation and competition over access to land and water have triggered more bloody conflicts in Nigeria than Boko Haram.
This came on a day two children and a teenager were killed after suspected herdsmen attacked Unguwan Rimi village in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, as UNICEF yesterday condemned the use of children as human bombs and in any combat or non-combat roles in the conflict in the North East.
Four persons were also killed when herders attacked Kpagoro vilage in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Speaking on the sideline of 2019 World Day to Combat Desertification in Ankara, Turkey, Thiaw said: “More lives have been claimed in conflicts over access to land and water than Boko Haram. Everyday, you have more conflicts between people that are competing for access to land and water. The root cause of the competition is access to natural resources.” World Day to Combat Desertification is celebrated every year globally on June 17 to promote good land stewardship for the benefit of present and future generations. This year’s edition was jointly hosted at Ankara by the Government of Turkey and UNCCD, with ministers from 10 countries in attendance. Thiaw said that the growing population with growing demand on resources, coupled with climate change and reduction of available land resources, were root causes of most of the bloody conflicts. “So, the tipping point was reached a long time ago; and most of the time, this is also combined with bad governance at national levels,” Thiaw said. He said land restoration could not be left in the hands of governments alone, and called for a review of the land tenure system in order to mobilise private business investment into the programme. “This means there should be some concession for the business sector to participate in land restoration. “It means that if a business restores a land, it gets concession on the land for 50 years or more so that the land remains restored rather than leave it barren. “Otherwise, why would I invest in land restoration if I had no right on that land? If the land continues to belong to someone else, I won’t invest in it,” said the UNCCD boss.
Thiaw said economists had projected that every dollar invested in land restoration would generate five dollars, adding that restoring land also meant reducing risks of irregular and forced migration. He said: “Restoring land will reduce forced migration and keep people on the ground to generate their own incomes and live their own lives.’’
The UN official said forced migration was the worst that could happen to countries where people were departing from. “Most times, countries of destination see it as a problem, but countries they are departing from have a bigger problem because people involved in forced migration are educated and a big loss to their national economies,” he said. He also said although planting of trees was important and symbolic in land restoration, it was not the only solution to the problem. According to him, “you can plant billions of trees, but unless you have good sensitisation, the trees will not grow or they clear off again. “Land restoration is about security, reducing clashes between farmers and herdsmen over access to land and water, which may trigger the Third World War.’’ He called on people to care more about land because land is important and interconnected with biodiversity. Thiaw also called for the use of technology to produce solar, wind and small hydropower so as to create decentralised energy system in villages.
196 countries and the European Union are parties to the Convention, of which 169 are affected by desertification, land degradation or drought. In 2015, the international community agreed to achieve a balance in the rate at which land is degraded and restored by taking concrete actions to avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation, generally referred to as achieving land degradation neutrality, LDN, and mitigate the effects of drought. In the last four years, 122 countries have committed to taking voluntary, measurable actions to arrest land degradation by 2030. Also, 44 of the 70 countries that have suffered drought in the past have set up national plans to manage it more effectively in the future.
