Effects of Arable Land Tenure and Use on Environmental Sustainability in North-Central Nigeria

Abstract: The study analysed the effects of arable land tenure and use on sustainability of the environment in North-central Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was adopted to select 356 respondents for the studywith the aid of a well structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.It was found that land acquisition was predominantly (47.5%) through inheritance. The result of environmental sustainability index (ESI) showed an average score of 16.38 and only farmers from Kogi (16.83) and Plateau (18.44) States in the study area had values above the average. Furthermore, the result of the analysis of variance showed a significant difference (F = 28.28; p < 0.01) in the ESI among the three States. A positive coefficient of education of household heads (0.40), farming experience (0.05), extension contact (0.07), crop diversification (0.34), irrigation use (3.89), land tenure security (0.82), tree planting (3.13) and quantity of fertilizer used (0.35) implied increase in environmental sustainability with increase in these variables. However, population density (-0.19) reduced environmental sustainability. It was concluded that land tenure security impacted substantially on the increase in environmental sustainability and that land use, coupled with management practices is key instrument for achieving environmental security. It was recommended that, Government should establish a more effective and efficient arable land title registration system that would enhance individual tenure security to the arable land.