~ 196 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2019; 8(7): 196-203 ISSN (E): 2277- 7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.03 TPI 2019; 8(7): 196-203 © 2019 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 16-05-2019 Accepted: 17-06-2019 Maishanu HM Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria Mainasara MM Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria Dahiru SS Zamfara State College of Art and Social Sciences, Gusau Zamfara State, Nigeria Shuni IA Zamfara State College of Art and Social Sciences, Gusau Zamfara State, Nigeria Correspondence Mainasara MM Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria Awareness and perceptions of desertification in Dange/Shuni local government area Sokoto state Nigeria Maishanu HM, Mainasara MM, Dahiru SS and Shuni IA Abstract This research project was conducted to assess the level of awareness and human perspectives regarding desertification in Dange –shuni local government area of Sokoto state, Nigeria. The study was undertaking by the use of structured questionnaire and personal communication (interview) on desertification. Analyses of data showed individual response on desertification with different opinion in the study area. Base on the results, it was recommended that, intensive mass campaigned on tree planting to avoid desertification and to determine the deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological or economic properties of the soil. Effective prevention of desertification requires both local management and micro policy approaches that promote sustainability of ecosystem services. It is advisable to focus on prevention, because attempts to rehabilitate desertification areas are costly and tend to deliver limited results. Keywords: Desertification, awareness, perspectives, Dange-Shuni, Nigeria Introduction The phenomenon of desertification involves the loss of biological or economic productivity and biodiversity in arid and semiarid croplands, pastures, rangelands, and sub humid woodlands due mainly to non-sustainable human activities, such as over cultivation, fuel gathering, overgrazing by domestic animals, deforestation, and poor irrigation practices and often triggered or exacerbated by climate variability, mainly drought (Veron, Paruelo, & Oesterheld, 2006) [19] . Desertification is the extension of desert – like condition to areas which are not of desert origin. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Desertification is a change in soil properties, vegetation or climate, which results in a persistent loss of ecosystem services that are fundamental to sustaining life (D’Odorico, Bhattachan, Davis, Ravi, & Runyan, 2013) [6] . desertification as “land degradation in arid, semi – arid and dry sub - humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities (Audu, 2013) [4] . Because of the complexity of the mechanism of desertification, it is quite difficult to identify the exact role of specific variable in the context of the synergistic effect of various driving factors of desertification. In particular, the interaction between economic factors and desertification is still far from being fully understood. As the population increases steadily and the economy continues to grow, the earth's capacity of supporting human beings is diminished (Ge, Li, Luloff, Dong, & Xiao, 2015) [8] . Northern Nigeria is prone to desertification mostly due to its proximity to Sahara Desert. Nigeria is losing about 351, 000 km2 to the desert representing 38% of its total landmass. It is also estimated that more than 30 million people in Nigeria live under the hardship of desertification (Audu, 2013; Idris Medugu, Rafee Majid, & Johar, 2011) [4, 11] . Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with an estimated population of over 140 million and a total land area of 923,773 km². The country is currently losing about 351,000 ha annually to advancing desert and such conditions are estimated to be advancing southwards at the rate of about 0.6 km per year. The dunes are threatening life-supporting oasis, burying water points, and in some cases, engulfing major roads in the affected areas. Trees planted by the government as shelterbelts to check the advancing dunes are withering due to the lack of attention (Audu, 2013; Idris Medugu et al., 2011) [4, 11] . More recently, desertification has been approached from a different conceptual framework, one that strengthens the link between nature and human welfare (Rock, 2006). Thus this conceptualization of desertification focuses primary on the assessment of ecosystems services, local communities’ perception and economic indicators (Verón, Blanco, Texeira, Irisarri, & Paruelo, 2017) [20] .