17/06/2026
🌍 WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT 2026
"Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore."
Wednesday, 17th June 2026
Today, the Centre for Arid Zone and Wetlands Ecology (CAWE), Federal University Dutse (FUD), joins the global community in marking the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
Across Northern Nigeria and the Sahel, rangelands sustain livestock, wildlife and farming communities. Yet desertification strips them of vegetative cover while drought dries out soils and fails groundwater systems — together creating a vicious cycle of degradation. The World Meteorological Organization has confirmed that El Niño conditions are currently active and strengthening, with an 80% probability of persisting through June to August 2026, intensifying drought and accelerating rangeland loss across our region.
The consequences reach far beyond the rangelands themselves. At CAWE, we sit at the crossroads where rangelands meet wetlands — and we witness how the destruction of one devastates the other. Eroded soils choke the Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands, groundwater recharge fails and biodiversity collapses. As rangelands shrink, pastoralist herders are forced southward in search of grazing land, colliding with farming communities over what remains. The farmers-herders conflict that has claimed thousands of lives across Nigeria is, at its root, a rangeland crisis. Restored rangelands mean restored peace.
This is why this year's theme — Recognize. Respect. Restore. — matters so deeply for Nigeria: recognising the value of our rangelands, respecting the knowledge of pastoralist communities and restoring degraded land through sustainable, science-based action.
The land beneath our feet is not just soil.
It is our food. Our water. Our future. Our peace.
Today we choose to protect it.
Global observance hosted by Kenya in partnership with UNCCD
Information adapted from UNCCD, WMO and United Nations Desertification and Drought Day 2026 official communications.
Photo: Isah Dahiru, "Gidan Dalla — environmental degradation caused by drought." Wikimedia Commons, 9 February 2019. CC BY-SA 4.0.
🌍 RANAR DUNIYA TA YAKI DA HAMADA DA FARI 2026
"Filayen Kiwo: Mu Gane Su. Mu Girmama Su. Mu Farfaɗo da Su."
Laraba, 17 ga Yuni, 2026
A yau, Cibiyar Nazarin Muhallin Yankunan Hamada da Dausayin Ruwa (CAWE), Jami’ar Tarayya ta Dutse (FUD), tana tare da al’ummar duniya wajen tunawa da Ranar Duniya ta Yaki da Hamada da Fari.
A duk faɗin Arewacin Najeriya da yankin Sahel, filayen kiwo suna tallafawa kiwon dabbobi, namun daji da kuma al’ummomin manoma. Sai dai hamada tana kawar da ciyayi da tsirrai, yayin da fari ke busar da ƙasa tare da rage samar da ruwan karkashin ƙasa. Waɗannan matsaloli biyu suna haɗuwa suna haifar da mummunar lalacewar muhalli.
Hukumar Kula da Yanayi ta Duniya (WMO) ta tabbatar da cewa yanayin El Niño yana aiki a halin yanzu kuma yana ƙaruwa, tare da yiwuwar kashi 80% na ci gaba daga watan Yuni zuwa Agusta 2026. Wannan zai ƙara tsananta fari tare da hanzarta lalacewar filayen kiwo a yankinmu.
Illolin wannan matsala ba su tsaya ga filayen kiwo kaɗai ba. A CAWE, muna a wurin da filayen kiwo ke haɗuwa da dausayin ruwa, kuma muna ganin yadda lalacewar ɗaya ke haifar da lalacewar ɗayan. Ƙasa da ambaliya ke kwashewa tana cike dausayin Hadejia-Nguru da laka, sake cikar ruwan karkashin ƙasa yana raguwa, yayin da nau’o’in halittu da dama ke fuskantar barazanar bacewa.
Yayin da filayen kiwo ke raguwa, makiyaya suna tilasta matsawa zuwa kudu domin neman wuraren kiwo. Wannan yana haifar da rikice-rikice tsakaninsu da manoma kan ƙarancin albarkatun ƙasa da s**a rage. Rikicin manoma da makiyaya da ya yi sanadin rasa dubban rayuka a Najeriya yana da alaƙa kai tsaye da lalacewar filayen kiwo. Idan aka farfaɗo da filayen kiwo, za a taimaka wajen dawo da zaman lafiya.
Wannan ne ya sa taken bana — "Mu Gane Su. Mu Girmama Su. Mu Farfaɗo da Su." — yake da muhimmanci sosai ga Najeriya. Ya na nufin gane muhimmancin filayen kiwo, girmama ilimin al’ummomin makiyaya, da kuma farfaɗo da ƙasashen da s**a lalace ta hanyoyin kimiyya masu ɗorewa.
Ƙasar da muke taka ba ƙasa ce kawai ba.
Ita ce tushen abincinmu.
Ita ce tushen ruwanmu.
Ita ce makomarmu.
Ita ce zaman lafiyarmu.
A yau mun zaɓi kare ta. 🌍
🌐 Ana gudanar da bikin bana a duniya ne ƙarƙashin jagorancin ƙasar Kenya tare da haɗin gwiwar UNCCD.
📚 An tattara bayanai daga UNCCD, WMO da kuma sanarwar hukuma ta Majalisar Ɗinkin Duniya game da Ranar Yaki da Hamada da Fari ta 2026.
📸 Hoto: Isah Dahiru, "Gidan Dalla — lalacewar muhalli sakamakon fari." Wikimedia Commons, 9 Fabrairu 2019. CC BY-SA 4.0.
