COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF URBAN AND RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN MINNA EMIRATE OF NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigeria is an unsustainable country due to an ecological deficit arising from the excessive utilization of natural resources. Resources are consumed more than their bio-capacity. Lifestyle and variation in the needs of households have exerted demands on the natural resources and eventually on the global environment. This research therefore aimed at estimating the Ecological Footprints of the average individual in a household in the urban and rural areas of the Minna region in Nigeria. It identifies the types of resource consumption; the impact of consumption on the EF and compares the EF of both about the level of sustainability. Data were collected employing primary and secondary sources for the study. A total of 400 households was selected for the study. Questionnaire administration was employed to collect the data and random sampling was employed. The data were analyzed through explanatory and inferential statistics. The result of the study shows that the EF of Minna and Maikunkele were 1.10 and 0.892 gha. Households require an average of 0.91 and 0.74 planets to sustain their living standard and generate 6.2 and 4.3 tonnes of CO2 annually. 9 and 6 factors influence EF. It is recommended that the lifestyle of the household in the Minna region has to be modified to reduce pressure on environmental resources and the emission of GHG for sustainable development.