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The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which an afforestation programme as spelt out in the Forestry II programme has checked the encroachment of desert in the arid and semi‐arid zone of northern Nigeria.

The study is carried out in the afforestation project states aimed at evaluating the success/failure of the program. Field observation and a site visit are conducted on some communities as well as policies relevant to forestry sector are reviewed.

The preliminary findings of this paper indicate that the afforestation projects had a positive impact on both biophysical and socioeconomic environment and contributed to the sustainability of the afforestation programme.

This paper is primarily focused on the various components of the Forestry II programme and the extent they have helped in combating desertification.

The paper addresses the need for sustainable afforestation projects and discusses on how the community effort and participation of women plays an important role during the afforestation programs.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the sustainability of a forestry management strategy in checkmating desert encroachment and it also examines the impacts of the Forestry II program on agricultural productivity in the rural communities.

The study adopted a quantitative approach in assessing the rural farmers’ level of participation in the Forestry II program in which 201 respondents were interviewed in the study area. Structured questionnaires’ were also administered to afforestation officials/extension workers in the two states regarding the different components of the projects and probable cause(s) of failures/successes as well as the level of involvement of the community in the project. Field observations of the project sites were also carried out with a view to examining the level of achievements on the physical components of the projects.

The findings of this study revealed that, involvement of the stakeholders and participation of the community was lacking at the early stage of the program and the negligence of indigenous knowledge as well as the influence of bottom up approach was not incorporated in the project. The study further revealed that, appreciable positive impacts have been recorded at various levels of its implementation. The improvement of livelihood of the rural people through increased forest products supply was noted, fuel-wood and poles supply were also increased and this had gone a long way in creating employment for the rural dwellers.

The study involved the establishment of shelterbelts, windbreaks, woodlots, orchards and nurseries which were complimented by social forestry, and which raised public awareness through campaigns such as school forestry programs, forestry extension services and a fuel-wood conservation program.

The study articulated success and failure as well as a detailed assessment of the Forestry II project. The study showed that government could significantly combat desertification in the arid zones through sustainable afforestation if adequate resources were employed.

This paper seeks to review the state of desertification in Nigeria, historical trends and past national efforts as well as ongoing programs for combating the fast-spreading desert conditions in the arid zones of the country.

The approach has been carried out through a comprehensive review analysis and detailed assessment on several methods of approach which includes archival materials as well as published government documents, field observation and learned background information of the working and funding dynamics of the program to combat desertification.

The findings of this paper reveal that the failure of the past government effort in combating desertification in Nigeria is a result of the policies and the programs not having been designed to adequately tackle the problem of drought and desertification and of the phenomena being treated as sectoral issues rather than an integrated whole.

This paper has practical implication for anyone interested in sustainable management of drought and desertification in the arid and semi arid zones of the world.

The paper has articulated success and failure of the government programs in combating the twin environmental problems of drought and desertification in Nigeria and also shows that government could significantly combat desertification through sustainable management of its projects/programs if adequate resources are employed.

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate current government policies in combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought. This paper discusses the menace of desertification, the extent and the impact of drought in Nigeria.

The research reported in this paper was undertaken through review of existing literature, personal observations and interview with some of the residents in the affected areas as well as government officials in charge of programs in combating desertification.

The paper observes that the failure of current government policies include among others the top‐down approach, inconsistencies of government policies, neglect of indigenous knowledge, use of inappropriate technology, sectoral approach, inadequate funding, and inadequate awareness. Having identified the causes of the problem, this paper proposes that the national policy for drought and desertification should ensure sustainable development based on proper management of human‐environment interactions in the affected areas.

The evaluation method performed in this paper allows us to analyze the factors responsible for the failure of government policies in combating desertification in Nigeria. This paper suggests that a number of complementary policies, strategies and management approaches be put in place and such must take cognizance of the existing institutional settings and professional groupings as well as the complex historical, social, cultural, and legal considerations.

The paper provides a rational, holistic, practicable and comprehensive approach for finding solutions to the problems of drought and desertification in Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to compute the amount of methane generated from the waste of livestock from 1980 to 2008; then use the information in forecasting subsequent methane emissions by the sector in Malaysia from 2009 to 2020.

The research study employed two approaches; computing methane emissions from 1980 to 2008 using the IPCC guidelines, and forecasting methane emissions for the animals from 2009 to 2020 using the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model from the predictive analysis software (PASW-SPSS 18.0).

Methane emissions from cattle, buffaloes and pigs accounted for over 95 per cent of total emissions and emissions from cattle are predicted to increase from 67.0 Gg in 2009 to 77.0 Gg by 2020. Emissions from the others will not be appreciable although poultry emissions will rise to 11.0 Gg by 2020. Attempt by the Malaysian Government to increase cattle production is not necessary at the moment as protein requirement has been met.

ARIMA model suffers from linear and data limitation: the future value of a variable assumed to be a linear function of several past observations in ARIMA is sometimes unrealistic. Large amounts of historical data are needed in ARIMA models in order to get desired results. The inventory of the animals was taken from 1980 to 2008.This needs to be improved upon by updating it to cover up to 2011 so that the forecast will start from 2012.

The chosen ARIMA method has demonstrated its correctness in being adequate as a predicting tool for animal methane emissions. Policy makers can apply it so as to take practical steps to avoid these emissions.

This is a novice idea as animal methane emission forecasting tool. This model will be of immense use and help in predicting methane emissions from livestock.

The provision of facilities management (FM) services, facilitated by a well-suited sourcing strategy, significantly influences the optimization of dwelling unit performance, augmentation of occupants’ living experiences and the establishment of a secure and comfortable environment. Consequently, this study aims to examine the sourcing approach used for delivering FM services in social housing within Nigeria’s semi-arid climate and to assess the effectiveness of the chosen sourcing approach in the provision of FM services.

Data collection involved one-on-one interviews conducted with five principal/senior staff members of the Borno State Housing Corporation in Maiduguri, Northern Nigeria. For data analysis, the NVivo R1 software package and Stata 13.0 were used. Thematic analysis was applied to the data, and the findings were presented through narrations and direct quotes from participants. Logistic regression analysis was subsequently used to assess the effectiveness of the adopted in-house approach in providing FM services in the context of social housing.

Administrators of social housing in the semi-arid climate of Nigeria exclusively adopted an in-house sourcing approach for providing FM services. Nevertheless, the in-house approach was conclusively determined to be ineffective in delivering FM services within the specific context of social housing in the semi-arid climate of Nigeria.

This investigation centred on examining the sourcing strategy used by social housing administrators for delivering FM services in social housing within a semi-arid climate of Nigeria. Additionally, the study delved into evaluating the efficacy of the chosen sourcing approach in the actual provision of FM services.