Policy Frameworks for Managing Desertification and Land Degradation in Jigawa State, North West Nigeria

This study analyses the policy frameworks governing desertification control and land degradation management in Jigawa State, North West Nigeria, and assesses their practical application in affected farming communities. Jigawa State, located within the Sudan Savanna and Sahel agro-ecological zones, faces accelerating environmental degradation driven by deforestation, overgrazing, intensive farming, and climate change. Drawing on land degradation neutrality theory and recent dryland management literature from 2020 to 2024, the study employs a practitioner research design. Data are collected from Jigawa State Forestry Department officials, Great Green Wall Authority programme managers, local government environmental officers, and affected farming communities through structured professional interviews and field observation documentation. Qualitative content analysis and policy gap assessment frameworks are applied. The study expects to find that Nigeria's National Action Programme to Combat Desertification is inadequately adapted at the state level in Jigawa, with insufficient allocation of financial and technical resources to land restoration activities. Deforestation by charcoal producers, inadequate community tree-planting enforcement, and poor cross-sector coordination among agriculture, environment, and local government actors are also identified as key governance gaps. Recommendations address developing a Jigawa State-specific desertification management action plan, strengthening legal instruments for tree cover protection, expanding the Great Green Wall Programme's community nursery network, and integrating land restoration incentives into the state's agricultural support framework. Keywords: desertification, land degradation, policy management, Jigawa State, Great Green Wall