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Oil exploitation and food insecurity in Nigeria's Niger Delta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2023

Abosede Omowumi Babatunde Open the ORCID record for Abosede Omowumi Babatunde [Opens in a new window]
Abosede Omowumi Babatunde*
Affiliation:
Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria
*
Email: bose_babatunde@yahoo.co.uk
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Abstract

The destructive impacts of oil exploitation on the natural environment, which the inhabitants of the Niger Delta depend on for their livelihood, pose major threats to food security. Environmental damage alienates the local people from their ancestral lands and erodes their sources of livelihood. This study examines the effect of oil exploitation on the local people's access to sufficient, safe and culturally acceptable food. The study is based on data collected through interviews with key informants and Focus Group Discussions in the oil communities in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States. Environmental and livelihood sustainability are intricately interconnected. They have significant implications for food security of people in the oil-rich region. Nutritional adequacy is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for food security because cultural acceptability is also required. This study addresses the interplay between these factors and their implications for household food security in the Niger Delta.

Keywords

Oil extractionenvironmentlivelihoodfood securitysustainabilitymarginal and extractive communitiesNigeria's Niger Delta
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 61 , Issue 2 , June 2023 , pp. 165 - 187
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

This article was made possible by support from the African Peacebuilding Network of the Social Science Research Council, with funds provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York. The author acknowledges editorial support from Professor George Melnyk of the University of Calgary. Appreciation to the journal editor, and the two anonymous reviewers for the constructive and enriching comments and suggestions.

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