Adapting to dams: Agrarian change downstream of the Tiga Dam, Northern Nigeria

In Africa, the economic and social impacts of large dams on communities inh abiting floodplains downstream have mostly been adverse. Most studies of th e impacts of darns have been short term, however, and confined to the years immediately following dam closure. This paper takes a longer term perspect ive, examining the changes that have occurred in the 20 years since the con struction of the Tiga Dam in northern Nigeria. The paper shows that despite adverse short-term environmental impacts of dam construction (exacerbated by drought), in the longer term, farmers have managed to adapt their agricu lture in the floodplain. Factors important in this adaptation include the e ffects of environmental change themselves and the availability of new agric ultural technologies, although, there are indicators which suggest that in some cases this increased level of production may not be sustainable. The i mplications of the response of floodplain farmers to desiccation over a per iod of decades are discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.