ABSTRACT
There is sufficient information now to indicate that the climate is changing with far reaching effects for the well-being and livelihoods of rural people in the northern, semi-arid areas of Nigeria. This part of the country has characteristics similar to the rest of the arid and semiarid regions of West Africa commonly known as the Sahel. The Sahel is characterized by scant rainfall, with an annual average of between 150 and 600mm. Annual rainfall levels have been decreasing in the region over the course of the last century, with an increase in inter-annual and spatial variability (Glantz, 1987; Tarhule and Woo, 1998; Ozer, 2003). This region has experienced fluctuations in rainfall on all time-scales – from decadal (ten-day cycle) to monthly, seasonal, annual and longer term. The longer-term fluctuations are caused by the oscillations of the climatic borders of the Sahara Desert. The arid and semiarid part of Nigeria experiences similar characteristics with droughts occurring due to rainfall variability (Tarhule and Woo, 1998).
