Centres
Centre for Arid Zone Studies
The Centre studies the dry country north and east of Maiduguri - the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin - and the people who farm, herd and live in it.
Why the arid zone matters
Most of the region the University serves is arid or semi-arid. Rainfall is short and unreliable, the soils are light, and the economy rests on rain-fed farming and on herds. Work done in the dry zone therefore has to start from those conditions rather than from them.
The Centre brings the University’s agricultural, biological, geological and social scientists together on questions of land and water in the dry zone, and keeps a record of the research carried out, so that a later student does not have to begin again.
Research themes
- Rain-fed agriculture: cropping under short and erratic rainfall, and the agronomy of the sandy soils of the region.
- Water: the surface and groundwater of the Lake Chad basin, and the use made of it.
- Pastoralism: the herding economy, and the movement of herds across the dry season.
- Climate and environment: desertification, land degradation and the effect of climate change on the dry zone.
Fields of work
The Centre’s research is organised around four themes.
Rain-fed agricultureCropping and soils under short rainfall.
Water resourcesSurface and groundwater of the Lake Chad basin.
PastoralismHerd economies and seasonal movement.
Climate and environmentDesertification, land degradation and change.