The Institute of Certified Geographers of Nigeria on
Wednesday attributed poor farming methods to the causes of desertification in
the country.

Addressing at a two-day conference on desertification in
Kaduna, the Director-General of the institute, Mr Chris Balogun, said
desertification was also caused by illegal felling of trees by farmers.

Balogun said desertification must be tackled if the
government would improve on the living standards of the rural dwellers through
vocational and entrepreneurial education.

The director-general advised the government to be proactive
in its awareness campaign at the rural level to sensitise women on modern
techniques of agriculture, environmental protection and monitoring of climate
change.

He said proper training on methods of soil conservation
among rural women would help in forest management and irrigation.

Balogun urged the government to support women organisations
that had linkages with the environment.

He called for the provision of agricultural development
loans for the women to discourage felling of trees that could lead to desertification.

He canvassed the provision of kerosene and other alternative
energy techniques to the poor rural women at affordable prices to help restore
forest products.

Prof. Bala Dogo of the Department of Geography, Kaduna State
University, said the challenges of desertification would be solved if
government policies would compliment geographers’ researches.

Dogo urged stakeholders on the environment to emulate Israel
by utilising its gas instead of felling trees.

In a paper, “Combating Desert Encroachment in Nigeria : The
Role of the Rural Women,’’ an Urban and Regional Planner, Dr Onu Izuchukwu,
said government was treating desertification as a sectoral issue, rather than
an integrated, holistic issue related to other sectors.