Assessment of Drought Intensity in Katsina And Its Environs

Abstract

This study examined drought occurrences and their intensities in Katsina and its environs. Katsina is an area
prone to drought. Rainfall data covering 1971 to 2010 was obtained from the archives of Nigerian
Meteorological Agency. The data was analyzed using Normalized Rainfall Index .The Normalized Rainfall
Index was used to characterize drought occurrences. This was with the intention of finding out their percentages
of occurrences over a 40 year period (1971-2010). Results showed that moderate intensity drought prevailed in
the study area during the study period representing about 38.46% of the total drought occurrences in the period
of study. Findings further indicated that mild and severe droughts were the least occurred intensities in the area
representing 30.77% each. These situations means that farmers and other stakeholders like government and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) in the study area need to have a reorientation of not waiting for the
occurrence and effects of high intensity drought, but put in place policies and measures that will consistently
mitigate occurrences and effects of low intensity drought. The paper concludes that the study area has been
tilting towards decreasing number of drought occurrence and intensity due to increasing wetness over the recent
years. The paper recommends that there is the need to use spatial and temporal characteristics of past droughts
to serve as indicators of their future patterns of occurrence. There is also the need to shift emphasis away from
the old methods of tackling high intensity drought effects to newer methods of combating the effects of
moderate and low intensity droughts.