Drought Trend Analysis and Implications for Water Resource Management in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

Drought is a prolonged period of shortage of precipitation which has adverse effect on various sectors of water resources like Agriculture and water supply. Rainfall is known to be major indices of drought. The 1970s and 1980s drought in the Sudano Sahelian Ecological Zone of Nigeria had devastating consequences on the region. It is imperative to study the drought trend in the region so as to plan a sustainable water resources management in the region. The Standardized Precipitation Index using rainfall variability was used to analyze drought occurrence in the zone. The result revealed that there is an increasing trend in the drought occurrence from 1970s to 1980s. The severeity was found to be more in 1980. The study further suggests inter-basin transfer of water, rainfall harvesting, and irrigation improvements among others as measures to mitigate the effect of drought in the zone.