1.1. Geographic position of the country
1.2. Socio-economic information
1.3. Ecological information
The dry region of Nigeria lies between Latitude 13°N and 11°S and Longitude 4°W and 14°E, covering a band of 342,158 km² or 85% total land area of Nigeria (Thulin, 1966; FAO, 1979). The land area occupied by the region is probably by far the largest single agricultural land use in Nigeria covering six states of the Federation.
The rural population in 1997 was 58.71% of a total population of 118.4 million inhabitants with an annual rate of change (1995-2000) of 2.8 % (FAO, 1999). The per capita income in 1995 was 260 dollars with an annual growth rate of GDP (1990-1995) of 1.6 % (FAO, 1999).
The major sectors of employment are agriculture, services and industrial concerns.
The region is characterized with lower precipitation than evapo-transpiration with an annual rainfall of about 400-1140 mm. There are only 2 - 7 months with rainfall in excess of 50 mm in most parts of the region. The landscape is characterized by parklands with patchy grasslands dotted with naturally slow growing, drought tolerant and tire hardy indigenous woody tree.
The dry region is further sub-divided into three ecological zones (A, B, C) on the basis of rainfall and vegetation:
