Dr Wuyep Solomon Zitta | Plateau State University, Bokkos (original) (raw)

Papers by Dr Wuyep Solomon Zitta

Research Square (Research Square), Dec 19, 2023

FUWUKARI Journal of Social Sciences, 2024

Climate change is considered to be one of the most unprecedented environmental threats of modern ... more Climate change is considered to be one of the most unprecedented environmental threats of modern history. Particularly, climate change has devastating effects on crops and other farming activities. In order to minimize losses, adaptation measures are taken to prepare for inevitable challenges that come with changing weather patterns. The study adopted mixed research methods, consisting of a structured questionnaire administered to 120 respondents and key informant interviews with two participants selected from six districts of Jos-South Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. The collected data were analyzed using simple descriptive, graph, inferential, and Linkert scales. Results showed that farmers in Jos-South Local Government Area have distorted knowledge of climate change and this information is acquired through radio, television, and personal experience. The study also revealed an increase in temperature and the spread of pests, diseases, and weeds on farmlands, which led to a decrease in agricultural output. Farmers use fertilizers and other indigenous startegies to improve and increase crop yields, plant varieties of crops, adopt new farming techniques, and practice mixed farming and irrigation as adaptation strategies. The study concludes that there is an urgent need for the government to build farmers' capacity for modern farming techniques. The study recommends the provision of necessary resources such as credit facilities, climate information, and training, (FUWJSS)

International Journal of Food Science and Agriculture

Increased food production is necessary for the fast growing population in the world. Soil health ... more Increased food production is necessary for the fast growing population in the world. Soil health is associated with sustainable agriculture therefore the need to improve soil fertility and health is imperative. Sample of four soils were randomly selected at depth of 0-20cm for surface and 20-40cm for sub-surface. These sampled soils were taken and tested in the laboratory to determine their physio-chemical properties using various methods, based on the objectives. Results revealed that the soil colour shows a dark yellowish brown (10YR 3 / 6) for sub-face, yellowish brown (10YR 5 / 4) are seen under wet condition, and for the surface are brown (10YR 5 / 3) and sub-surface are very pale brown (10YR 6 / 3) under dried condition. The soil structure of the study area was found to be loamy sand at the surface and sub-surface. However, study revealed that soil pH is slightly acidic in nature and calcium chloride pH is moderately alkaline. Organic matter is moderately found. Nutrients such as potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium are low in the sampled soil. Total Exchangeable acidity (TEA) indicated a minimal quantity of aluminum and hydrogen (H) concentration. Electrical Conductivity shows that the soil is not saline in nature. The study therefore recommends crop rotation and agroforestry as well as addition of manures to improve the physio-chemical properties and soil fertility.

Journal of Geography and Geology, 2015

Global insecurity as a result of insurgences over many parts of the world seems to be warring aga... more Global insecurity as a result of insurgences over many parts of the world seems to be warring against the major global concern of this era. Climate change seems to be having alliance with increasing insecurity in the world. Barely coming out of the global financial, economic, energy and food crisis that swept most part of the world in 2008, Nigeria is yet weighed down again by environmental and social insurgences in the last two years. For instance, largest part of the nation revenue that would have been used to create million jobs is on security and to woo foreign support on security matter in the nation. Because of the sensitivity of the dual facet monster, and the numerous octopus-like hands of its operation, stakeholders seem confused or divided. The seemly division at the head appears priming dis-connection at the various parts of the body. Increase rate of flooding has created an unimaginable trauma, economic shocks, reduced employment, raised recruitment of armed groups and eventually gave room to seemly unending violence in the northern part of the nation. To overcome these problems, this present government has invested so much in youth targeted programmes and projects to alleviate poverty. In the past two years, almost 60 per cent of the SURE-P income is channelled towards recognition of importance of youth development for sustainable environmental management yet the impact seems eluded. In attempt to relate environmental changes as a contributor to escalation of conflict in Ibi, Taraba State, the paper traced the linkage of climate change and social unrest along the riparian communities of upper Benue River Basin of Nigeria (Taraba). Using content and interpretative methodologies aimed at understanding through empathy, focus group, in depth-interviewing through phone and examination of archive resources, findings show that there exists latent print of climate change in Ibi crisis. There was glaring usage of the hands condemned by climate change on the causes of the skirmish on Wukari-Ibi. Out of 309 arrested in connection with the case, 179 charged to court, 79.6% have no other means of livelihood but farming. 40.6% lived in flood prone area and out of this figure more than half are out of farming in that season as a result of 2012 flood hazard with each having, more than 4 dependants. Out of 2.4 million displaced by 2012 flood from the nation, more 25% lived in NorthEast and about 300 families in Ibi are yet to recover from the flood incidence. Climate change may not be the major cause of the insurgence of boko haram in Nigeria, neither in any part of the world, but the hands condemned by climate change (flooding) in the riparian communities of Taraba co-engineered the Ibi-Wukari skirmish. This research was conducted for stakeholders in Taraba and Nigeria as a whole to rise up to the challenges of climate change social induced skirmish in Ibi-Wukari and Nigeria so as to prevent its foray in the future now that the election is around the corner.

In most urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa, the migration of people from rural to urban areas in s... more In most urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa, the migration of people from rural to urban areas in search of better socioeconomic conditions and improved livelihoods is contributing to increased unemployment levels, poverty and large scale urban deprivation. Given such poverty situations and the prevalence of people who survive on less than 2 USD per day, local populations in these areas are increasingly vulnerable to food insecurity as well as malnutrition. One way out of this poverty trap is practicing small scale agriculture both for subsistence and income-generating purposes. In this paper, the role of small scale fish farming as a livelihood strategy by urban farmers in the city of Jos has been investigated by means of a mixed-method research design. Thus, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected for analyses in order to understand the various dimensions of small scale fish farming amongst 50 respondents randomly selected in the city of Jos, Nigeria. The results have shown the spatial distribution of these farming practices, as well as the demographic attributes of these farmers. Small-scale fish farming is a viable source of food, generating local employment opportunities as well as much needed income in an environment of urban deprivation. Some of the income (above , 8, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW

The objectives of the study are to examine the different land cover in the urban area of Jos for ... more The objectives of the study are to examine the different land cover in the urban area of Jos for three decades, assess the UHI and find out the temperature variations associated with different land cover types. Composed images were ordered into four area classes: water, built-up, bare-surface and vegetation. NDVI, Land Use Land Cover and Land Surface Temperature were used for this study. ArcGIS 10.3.1 and Google Earth are the software used for analysis. Findings in 1985 indicated that, the dominant land use is bare-surface, vegetation occupies the largest area in 2000, in 2017, built-up area occupies the largest proportion of the land area. Most extensive UHI occurred in the Central part of the CBD which is Terminus in 1985, in 2000, spot of UHI was observed in Bukuru area South of the metropolis. In the year 2017, there was an enormous widespread urban heat island from the city centre of Jos to the North and NorthEast of the metropolis. Variation of temperature between different land cover for the year 2000 indicated that built-up area has the highest average temperature of 27.68 0 C and the highest temperature was observed in the built-up areas with an average of 29.52 0 C in 2017. These results have shown that satellite thermal data can indeed be used to characterize both the magnitude and spatial extent of an urban heat island and land use/land cover. It is recommended that measures of curbing UHI in the metropolis should be taken seriously to reduce sensitivity to heat exposure.

Journal of Applied Sciences, 2020

Global Journal of Human Social Science Research, Jul 16, 2013

The study investigates the response of Irish potato to some climate variables in Jos-South Local ... more The study investigates the response of Irish potato to some climate variables in Jos-South Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. The data collected include yield of Irish potato, in tons per hectare, and climatic data for twenty years (1989-2009). These data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and later on subjected to correlation and regression statistical techniques so as to determine the relationship between yield of Irish Potato and climatic elements for different phenological stages of crop growth. The results show that there is no significant variation in most of the agro-climatic data between the different years. High variations in the values of agro-climatic are only found within total rainfall, rainfall in July, May, and to some extent, rainfall in April and June. Findings on the correlation analysis show that, at sprouting to emergence/vegetative stage, maximum and minimum temperatures significantly correlate with Irish potato at 1% significance level respectively. Also, total rainfall correlates significantly with yield at tuber set/initiation stage at 5% significance level. In the same vein, minimum temperature significantly correlates with yield at tuber bulking/ripenin stage at 1% significant level. Step-wise regression analysis selected two critical elements negatively influencing the yield of Irish Potato in Jos-South. These are minimum temperature at tuber bulking/ripening stage and rainfall in July.

Agriculture, 2018

The rapid urbanization has produced a remarkable effect on the surface thermal response. The effe... more The rapid urbanization has produced a remarkable effect on the surface thermal response. The effects significantly influence urban internal microclimate on a regional scale. This has led to the transformation of the natural landscape into anthropogenic surfaces in urban settlements. In this study, the surface temperature and land cover types retrieved from Landsat ETM+ and OLI images of Jos Metropolis for 2005 and 2019 were analysed. The Erdas imagine 9.2 and ArcGIS 10.1 was used for data preparation and map composition. Thermal band data was used to compute surface temperature maps for the two years and the relationship between land use land cover and surface temperature was analyzed. Results from land use land cover maps between 2005 and 2019 revealed a notable increase with an annual average rate of 5.1 %. Also, urban land development raised surface temperature by 1.360C between 2005 and 2019. Bare land exhibited the high value of surface temperature while vegetation showed low v...

Ten (10) communities were selected for this study, two (2) each from the five (5) districts in th... more Ten (10) communities were selected for this study, two (2) each from the five (5) districts in the local government area. A total of one hundred and thirty-one (130) randomly selected households were visited. The methods for collecting data were through interviews using pre-set questionnaires where questions on demographic and socioeconomic variables as well as questions on groundwater supply were posed. Results show that only 44 (33.80%) of households visited had privately-owned groundwater supply facilities in form of wells, none had either boreholes or springs, while 86 (66.20%) had none. A high number of respondents, 70 (53.85%), travel less than a kilometer to collect water from an improved source in their community, while 60 (46.15%) travel more than a kilometer. A high number of respondents 66 (50.80%) spend less than 15 minutes to collect water from an improved source, while 64 (49.20%) spend between 15 minutes to 1 hour to collect water. 68 (52.30%) respondents say they travel four times or more to withdraw water from an improved source while 62 (47.70%) say they withdraw water once to three times per day. Results also show that 113 (86.90%) respondents say they collect more than 60 litres of water per day, while 17 (13.10%) say they collect between 10 to 50 litres per day. A high number of respondents, 71 (54.60%), agree that the breakdown of groundwater supply facilities in their area is due to technical faults caused by substandard equipment originally installed, while the remaining 59 (43.40%) either do not have an idea or ascribe the failure or breakdown to pressure of constant pumping, poor siting and maintenance. There was a significant relationship between distance to improved groundwater source and the time taken to collect water from them, while no significant relationship, statistically, exist between frequency of visits to improved groundwater supply source, quantity collected daily per household and the distance to the source of water. The implications of these findings are discussed.

American Journal of Environmental Protection, 2014

This study provides a general review and a case study of women's involvement in environmental man... more This study provides a general review and a case study of women's involvement in environmental management in Plateau state. Primary data were generated from Questionnaire survey of women from six local government areas. Majority of the women (79.2%) are involved in farming and contributed significantly to land/soil conservation. (78.4%) of them have planted tree or flowers in the last five years while (79.2%) indicated clearing their surroundings daily in terms of sweeping, clearing drainages and refuse disposal. Problems faced by the women include lack of waste disposal equipment, poor drainage systems and lack of awareness among the general public. Appropriate recommendations were proffered to enhance women involvement in environmental protection and management.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 2015

Journal of Applied Sciences ISSN 1812-5654 DOI:

Climate change is conceivably the most serious environmental menace to agricultural production gl... more Climate change is conceivably the most serious environmental menace to agricultural production globally. Hence, this study assessed the indigenous strategies employed by small scale farmers to cope with these adverse effects of climate change in Jos East Plateau State. It was carried out in three districts of the local government area. Samples of 150 farmers were randomly selected for this study. Structured questionnaire and interview were employed for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Coping Strategy Index (CSI) and regression analysis. The study found out that farmers are aware of climate change in the study area. Important sources of information on climate change were found to be: other farmers (90.7%), radio (85.3%), television (84.0%) open market (84.7%), government extension agent (56.0%), print media (40%) and internet (36.7%).Key ANALYSIS 5 ARTICLE ANALYSIS Page178 indicators of climate change in the study area include flooding (93.3%), erratic rain pattern, (86.0%), increase in disease incidence (80.7%), warmer temperatures (76.3%), increase in pest incidence (79.3%) and longer dry season (4.0%).Findings also revealed that mixed cropping, use of organic manure, change in sowing date, seed selection, afforestation, seasonal migration, change in date of harvest were the most important indigenous strategies used by the respondents to cope with climate change.Inferential analysis revealed that, age of the respondents, total land size and years of membership of farmers' cooperative were found to be positive and significant at 1% probability level. Also, the parameters regressed are responsible for 54.1% of variation in the CSI. Capacity building and advisory services that enhance documentation and complementing the use of indigenous and modern strategies against climate change particularly in areas of information accessibility and weather prediction are recommended.