Integrated Pest Management and Wildlife Conservation Trade-Offs in Agricultural Landscapes of North Central Nigeria

The relationship between agricultural pest management and wildlife conservation generates complex ecological and policy trade-offs in Nigeria's North Central geopolitical zone, where the expansion of commercial agriculture into former savanna wildlife habitats creates simultaneous demand for pest control and conservation concern for non-target wildlife species affected by agrochemicals and pest management interventions. This dissertation investigates integrated pest management (IPM) and wildlife conservation trade-offs across agricultural landscapes in Niger, Kogi, and Kwara States, combining ecological field experiments, economic analysis of farmer decision-making, and policy evaluation. Field experiments quantify the lethal and sub-lethal effects of commonly used insecticide and rodenticide formulations on non-target wildlife including birds, reptiles, and small mammals at six representative farming sites. Economic choice experiments with 200 farmers assess willingness to adopt IPM practices with explicit wildlife conservation co-benefits at varying subsidy levels. Policy analysis examines the regulatory framework governing agrichemical use and its consistency with wildlife protection obligations. Results demonstrate significant non-target wildlife mortality from commonly applied rodenticides, with secondary poisoning documented in raptors at four sites. Farmer willingness to adopt wildlife-friendly IPM practices increases significantly when subsidy values exceed N8,000 per hectare per season. Regulatory gaps enabling the use of wildlife-toxic compounds banned in other countries are identified. Original contributions include a wildlife-IPM trade-off assessment framework and a policy reform roadmap for Nigeria's agrichemical regulatory system. Keywords: integrated pest management, wildlife conservation, agrochemicals, North Central Nigeria, farming landscapes