Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Environment

Vol.9.No.2 (2022) 215-234

doi: 10.24191/myse.v9i2.18835

MANAGING COMMUNITY OPEN SPACES IN

SEMI-ARID REGION, KATSINA NIGERIA
*Gidado, Usman Muhammad1, *Suhardi Maulan2,
Mohd Johari Mohd Yusof3 & Roziya Ibrahim4
*Corresponding Authors
1,2,3,4
Department of Landscape Architecture,
Faculty of Design and Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

[email protected], [email protected]
[email protected], [email protected]
Received: 14 April 2022
Accepted: 26 May 2022
Published: 31 August 2022

ABSTRACT

Desertification hurts the agricultural lands and water sources, as well as the
community's open spaces. Open spaces are regarded as an integral feature
of the landscape in rural communities in semi-arid regions because they host
the community's socio-cultural and economic activities. In North-Western
Nigeria, the menace of land degradation is a result of desertification. Thus,
this makes it necessary for the communities to develop some strategies to
manage the open spaces. Therefore, there is a need to ensure an organized
and well-managed open space in North-Western Nigeria to accommodate
the culture and the ethical values of the communities. An in-depth interview
with the community leaders and site observation approaches on community
open spaces was conducted to investigate the community’s management
strategies (local approaches) for the sustainability of open spaces in hosting
the socio-cultural activities in a semi-arid region of North-Western Nigeria
and the management strategies. The results were analyzed using ATLAS Ti
with the actual analysis done during the writing phase and presented using
simple statistical tools. The study revealed the typology and the functions
of the community open spaces, and further, explored the stakeholders
and management strategies. The study suggests that governments should
recognize and support community-based organizations (CBOs) financially
and otherwise, to enable them to achieve their goals in managing community
Copyright© 2021 UiTM Press.
This is an open access article
under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Environment

open spaces. The result will serve as a guiding document for policymakers,
resource planners, and decision-makers. It will also ensure proper order in
the use of open spaces by the communities.

© 2022 MySE, FSPU, UiTM Perak, All rights reserved

Keywords: Community open space, Desertification, Local knowledge,

Management strategies, Semi-arid region

INTRODUCTION

Desertification is one of the most severe and disturbing socio-economic and

environmental issues in recent times (Azare, et al., 2020). Desertification
is an ecological issue of global concern because it affects both the
developed and developing nations (Olagunju, 2015). The phenomenon of
desertification will most likely increase due to the current global warming
as a result of climate change (Audu & Adie, 2018), and human activities.
These do not only accelerate the process of desertification but aggravate its
consequences (Abdi et al., 2013). Furthermore, urbanization, land clearing
for agricultural activities, construction, and mining activity do more than just
make things worse, but also make it difficult for the community to manage
the consequences. (Tan & Li, 2015). The desertification issue in semi-arid
regions has become a crisis that destabilizes communities at an alarming rate
as presented by the UN report (UNCCD, 2014). Desertification is one of the
most critical challenges faced in Northern Nigeria, affecting 580,841 km2 of
the country's total land area of 927,892 km2 and impacting over 62 million
Nigerians directly or indirectly, with roughly one-fifth of the country's land
area becoming degraded (Nwokocha, 2017). Additionally, desertification
in northern Nigeria has a significant effect not only on agricultural lands
and water sources, but also on the community open, which is seen as an
important part of the landscape (Abdul & Juanil, 2020; Macaulay, 2014;
Nwilo et al., 2020). In rural Nigeria, communities use open spaces for their
socio-cultural activities. Thus, the cultural activities in open spaces must be
sustained, but desertification has made this difficult. As a result,there is a
rapid decline in socio-cultural activities especially in the community's open
spaces. This has caused the communities to lose their traditional values
(Alabi, 2009; Officha et al., 2012).

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In Nigeria, desertification has a severe impact not just on the land, but
also on people's lives and culture. The top-down approach in addressing
the impact of desertification rendered the community’s role insignificant
and that contradicts the sustainable development agenda that pledge to
leave no one behind (Gannon et al., 2020). Besides, the socio-cultural
activities in that community’s open spaces are fast diminishing making the
communities lose their heritage values (Alabi, 2009; Officha et al., 2012).
This necessitates the development of agricultural and water resource policies
by the communities (Fanen & Olalekan, 2014; Umar et al., 2017). It's unclear
whether local knowledge has been adapted to maintain vital traditional rural
open spaces, and documentation on how these open spaces managed by
the communities is inadequate.

The potential of any open space to encourage healthy social living

should be the ultimate objective as this will provide a vibrant place for people
to live in. The open space is especially essential to the least popular groups of
people as places to meet and socialize (Agboola et al., 2017). As noted, open
spaces are meant to improve well-being, provide a sense of security, and
stimulate social cohesion and community responsibility (Summan, 2019).
Open spaces that are well-organized and managed have several advantages,
including ecological, environmental, phycological, economic, educational,
cultural assimilation, and ethical behaviors (Rakhshandehroo et al., 2015)

In response to the impact of desertification on open spaces in north-

western Nigeria, communities devised certain management strategies, but
they are yet to determine if these strategies are sufficient to ensure that
such open spaces can accommodate and retain the communities' traditional
values. Therefore, there is a need to explore management strategies of open
space by the local communities in the face of desertification in North-
Western Nigeria. This is to establish the adequacy in making the open spaces
suitable to accommodate and sustain the culture and the ethical values of
the communities.

In this study, the documentation of the management strategies will

add to the knowledge bank in the field of open space management. More
so, the result of this study will lead to the development of a management
framework and serve as a guiding document for policymakers in drawing

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decisions on managing the open spaces, and also for resource planners to
ensure that it is an adequate and comprehensive plan.

METHODOLOGY

Kumar (2011) argued that the exact suitability of a research method is

determined by the nature of the social phenomenon to be investigated.
Several authors, including Merriam (2002), Shipton (2001), Steven et
al. (2016) argue that not everything, especially aspects of community
interaction, can be quantified. Therefore, a qualitative method is required
to provide the possibility to explore and comprehend the study's subject.
Katsina State lies in northwest Nigeria, near the Niger border, in the Sahel
Savannah. Katsina State is bordered by the states of Kaduna, Zamfara,
Kano, and Jigawa. Katsina State is Nigeria's fifth-largest state by population
(Abdulmalik and Mudassir, 2019). The Hausa-Fulani are the state's main
ethnic group, and Islam is the most widely practiced religion. The state
displays a typical character of North-Western Nigeria, this justifies applying
the results to the entire North-Western Nigeria.

Field observation was conducted at four (4) rural communities from

two (2) local government areas of Katsina State. An observation checklist
was developed to guide the observations. The data were analysed based
on the visible and non-visual features present in the various places. The
observation was used to determine the physical structure, the facilities
provided in open spaces, and efforts in managing the open spaces. To elicit
detail information about the community behaviors in terms of managing
their open spaces, an in-depth interview was the best tool for obtaining
this information. Purposive or convenience sampling was determined
by the nature and type of study. As such, the researcher determined what
information was required and then sought out persons who can and will offer
it as applied in this study. Several studies (Benoot, Hannes, & Bilsen, 2016;
Etikan, 2016; Serra, Psarra, & O’Brien, 2018; Tongco, 2007) recommend
purposive sampling when it comes to community study. Therefore, an in-
depth interview with community leaders was conducted. Realizing that
the community leaders are the caretakers of the community's culture and
tradition. local language (Hausa) was used to conduct the in-depth interview
because the respondents expressed themselves in their local language

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better. Coleman (2019) supported this opinion. Additionally, experts in

transcription and translation were assigned the task of transcribing and
translating the interview results into English for analysis.

Using ATLAS.ti to process and analyse the results based on themes and
relationships. The three stages of data processing were coding, networking
then interpreting. The data were studied and analysed on the reviewing issue
in content analysis, which is a form of qualitative analysis. There were three
stages of using ATLAS.tii for data processing, though, during the actual
analysis, it took place during the writing phase, while summarizing and
interpreting the findings (Friese, 2012). The three stages are:

i.Coding is a process for transforming data from disorganized and

fragmented information into well-organized concepts about what's
going on. We ask analytic questions about our data through coding,
and you answer them by creating code labels based on a more precise
interpretation of data. It is possible to examine the data once it has
been coded and a code system has been built.
ii.Description of data, which is exploring the data, reading or looking
through it, and noticing interesting things that you begin to collect
during coding. This necessitates the reading of transcripts, field notes,
documents, and reports, as well as the viewing of video or image
material and listening to audio recordings. The goal is to create a
code list that names and explains the issues, aspects, phenomena, and
themes found in the data, as well as to try to make sense of them in
terms of similarities and differences.
iii.Finding answers or spotting relationships through querying data. The
aim now is to examine the data from a new perspective, that of the
research questions. You begin querying the data based on your coding
by starting with one of your questions. Numbers, coded quotations, or
visualization could be used to display the results of queries.

Study Limitation

Almost all social activities have been halted because of the Coronavirus
(COVID 19) epidemic. COVID 19's total lockdown, movement restrictions,
and social distancing impede research and prevent access to a vast amount of
factual data. The researcher's background and community leaders' capacity

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to give the necessary information were both sufficient for the investigation.
Furthermore, the study's language barrier was a hindrance; the interview
was conducted in the local language, and professionals transcribed and
translated the interview; the researcher's participation in data collection,
transcribing, and translation ensured the data's adequacy and correctness.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Community Open Spaces in North-Western Nigeria

The concept and typology of community open space in the study are
unique due to the uniqueness of the semi-arid environment of North-Western
Nigeria, though lessons can be drawn from other ecosystems (Veitch et
al., 2021). The study revealed the existence of five (5) community open
spaces. Kofar Gida (house front), Kangiwa or Kofar Fada (palace square),
Makabarta (burial ground), and Kasuwa (market spaces). These are the
community open spaces in rural communities in North-Western Nigeria
as explained in Table 1. Yara (daily markets) takes place in front of some
houses. community and neighborhood parks. These location are defined by
the community members (members determine where community certain
recreational activities take place). However, there is no defined space for
recreation that coincides with what Dewi (2017) and (Malek et al. (2011)
reported.

Table 1. Community Open Spaces in North-Western Nigeria

S/No Typology Description from observation notes
1 Kofar Fada The palace ‘Fada’ refers to the entire courtyard associated
(Palace square) with the Emirs’ palace consisting of a large central Mosque,
court, and some government offices these together are
arranged to have a large open space at the center which
hosts the most traditional, religious, and commercial
gatherings and is referred to as kofar fada
2 Kofar Gida Kofar gida is a term referred to as house frontage, the is a
(House space by the front of a house building that is normally part
frontage) of the house and belongs to the house owner, sometimes,
this space is along a road which makes it difficult to identify a
boundary between the space and road reservations.

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3 Yara ( Daily ‘Yara’ refers to a space where consumables, retail, and

Market) emergency items are gotten within the community, and is a
daily market, also use for some cultural display.
4 Kasuwa Village and Roadside Markets serve dispersed villages, the
(Periodic space is quite small, containing a limited number of buyers
Market) and sellers and a variety of commodities for resale, these
markets are periodic, and these markets are convenient and
facilitate the last stage before the final consumer.
5 Makabarta A graveyard (cemetery or burial ground) is an area of land,
(Burial Ground) where dead bodies are buried. Burial grounds are prominent
sites in rural areas because the culture of most communities
demands that the body be returned to their village for burial,
normally the sites are left natural.
Source: Author’s Analysis, (2022)

Based on the observation, most of the open spaces in North-Western

Nigeria rely on existing buildings. Fada translates to the palace, while
Kofar refers to the open space in front of the palace; in the same way, Gida
is referred to as the house, and the space in front of the house is referred
to as Kofar Gida. Kofar Gida also hosts other open spaces such as Yara.

Palace Square and house front are the most prominent and well
patronized, they host all socio-cultural activities, while creating and
supporting a sense of togetherness as submitted by Francis et al. (2012)
and Lane et al. (2020). Daily market and market, due to settlement
expansion are becoming one as serving the same purpose and could be
found anywhere within the community. Unlike stated by Wash et al. (2022)
where recreation influences the function of the open space, in this study, the
function determines the particular space to use. Nonetheless, the definition
of community parks by community Dewi (2017), and neighborhood parks
by (Malek et al. (2011) are similar to community open spaces in this study
because they all meet the recreational needs of local communities. The
concept and typology of community open space in the study are unique due
to the uniqueness of the semi-arid environment of north-western Nigeria.
At the same time, as stated by Veitch et al. (2021) lessons can be drawn
from other ecosystems .

Role And Functions of Community Open Spaces In North-

Western Nigeria

In rural communities in North-Western Nigeria, open areas provide a

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variety of functions that speaks more for their culture and values. Table 2
describes such functions as displayed by rural communities. These functions
include cultural, commercial, conservation, educational, recreational, and
religious functions.

Table 2. Functions Of Community Open Spaces In North-Western Nigeria

Function Activities Open Spaces
Cultural •Host annual cultural or traditional festivities. *Palace Square
•Host marriages and naming ceremonies. *House Front
•Members of the community congregate at *Market Spaces
various times to socialize based on their age
groups and gender.
•As a place to play and learn the fundamentals of
communal life.
Commercial •Generate more income for the community. *House Front
•It's a place for buying and selling goods and *MarketSpace
services. *Hospital Space
•Outdoor markets and street vendors are key
business opportunities.
•They bring in revenue for local governments.
Conservation •Trees are planted to save the environment. *Farmland
•Open drainage regulates rainwater and
stormwater runoff.
•It enhances people's living conditions by also
preserving ecological services.
Educational •Transmitting both formal and informal education *House Front
•Is a way for the government to communicate *Palace Square
information and discoveries to the community
through announcements and movies.
•Political rallies and campaigns are held here.
Recreational •Provide recreational opportunities for residents *Palace Square
by encouraging residents and visitors to become *House Front
active by providing exercise and play spaces. *Market Spaces
•Encourage and motivate people to participate in *School
physical activities such as walking. Playground
Religious •Serve as areas for learning and teaching *Palace Square
Qur'anic recitation and interpretations for both *House Front
children and adults of both genders, *Eid Ground
*Burial Ground
Source: Author’s Analysis, (2022)

From the study, the proximity of the community to the open space is
what stimulated social contact and this has activated the sense of community.
This substantiates the claim made by Edwin et al. (2015). Guests are also
received in open spaces. This concept differs from Afon and Adebara (2019).

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According to Afon and Adebara (2019) guests should be entertained indoors

for a curtsy. Aesthetic functions of open spaces are not taken into account;
instead, whenever the community intends to use a particular open space
for a specific function, the space is arranged as per the intended function.

Environmental issues as it affects Open Spaces in North-

Western Nigeria

The studied area is characterized by high sun intensity, high

evapotranspiration, low precipitation, and over-exploration of natural
resources with desert encroachment, resulting in the following environmental
problems, which are wind erosion, dunes, sand accumulation, and excessive
heat. Table 3 explains the environmental challenges and their effects on the
open spaces in the semi-arid region of North-Western Nigeria.

The studied area is characterized by high sun intensity, high

evapotranspiration, low precipitation, and over-exploration of natural
resources with desert encroachment, resulting in the following environmental
problems, which are wind erosion, dunes, and excessive heat as explained
in the table.

One of the respondents during an in-depth interview said that: “Dunes

started moving in on the community about 25 years ago,” the statement
quoted 68-years-old. According to him, the long-term weather changes have
severely changed people’s lives in the community. It is observed that the
environment has a significant impact on one's sense of community and that
the landscape should consider creating more people-oriented open spaces
rather than simply expanding the size, number, and amenities of current
ones. This is also the same claim made by Yu (2021).

Table 3. Environmental issues as it affects open spaces in North-Western

Nigeria
Explanation Effect
Wind Erosion Winds roll soil particles along •Washing away the topsoil and
the surface, then a strong wind soil nutrients
lifts a significant volume of soil •Reduction of soil ability to
particles into the air, causing dust retain water
storms and stranding the ground •Increased runoff
surface. •Loss of newly planted trees
• Silt deposits in low-lying areas

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Sand Dunes Sand grains accumulate when •Difficult to move around it

the wind drives sand from the •Disrupts recreational activities
desert into a sheltered location •Host sand snakes and lizards
behind an obstruction, forming that are dangerous to people
a dune.
Excessive Heat Excessive heat is caused by high Cause several heat stress and
temperatures combined with high disorders, including heatstroke
humidity. and dehydration, as well as
death.
Source: Author’s Analysis, (2022)

Stakeholders in Managing Community Open Spaces in North-

Western Nigeria

According to the findings, there are four (4) different stakeholders

involved in managing adaptation in North-Western Nigeria's rural
communities. The state government oversees general security and is
followed by the local government authority, who supervises the actions
of community leaders, the community leaders serve as a link between the
community and the government. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
enlighten the public about the importance of environmental management
and connect them to organizations and bodies that can contribute to the
community good. The community-based organizations are constituted
by communities, such as aid groups, religious groups, and professional
organizations. These organizations ensure that activities are carried out
within the community by providing the necessary manpower. The roles of
these stakeholders in managing community adaptations are highlighted in
Table 4.

Table 4. Stakeholders and Their Roles In Managing Open Spaces In North-

Western Nigeria
Stakeholders Roles
State Government •Responsible for the community's overall security.
•Appoints heads to community institutions (such as schools and
clinics).
Local government •Appoints community leaders based on traditional leadership
Authority advice.
•Organise and manage internally generated revenue.

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Community Leaders •Serves as a conduit between the community and other

stakeholders, employing tacit knowledge such as the ability to
network, seek resources, and recognize local talent.
•Community leaders advocate for the community and can
persuade other stakeholders to participate.
Non-governmental •Raise community members' understanding on the importance
organizations (NGOs) of environmental management.
•Promote conversation with civil society to assist them in living
more sustainable lifestyles.
•Provide Seedlings and other incentives to communities.
Community-Based •Provide the manpower required to carry out any decisions
Organizations made by the community.
(CBOs) •Execute projects that benefit the communities in which they
work.
•Safeguard the community's facilities from vandalism.
•Raise money to execute projects decided by the community.
Community Members •CBO members are chosen from the local community.
•They will carry out whatever project the community has agreed
to.
•They are the ones who are affected by whatever decision is
made.
Source: Author’s Analysis, (2022)

During the interview a community head said:

“Well, in our community, things have begun to improve since several

organizations have been conducting enlightenment campaigns on how to
manage our environment, and people are responding positively. There has
been progressing in this area due to the establishment of a special plant
nursery where people were given seedlings to plant in their farmlands and
around their homes.” Respondent 3

In rural settings, community leaders and community-based

organizations are the primary actors in adaptation management. This is
because community leaders, on the one hand, connect the community to
the government and other stakeholders, and also, motivate and persuade the
community members, thus supporting the submission by the community
(Atanga, 2020; Izumi & Shaw, 2012). The community-based organizations
emerged from communities, and members are drawn from the same
community, making decision-making and implementation simple as
supported by (Sakip et al., 2016).

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Sources of Fund for Management Open Spaces in North-

western Nigeria

In managing open spaces in rural communities, the study identifies

three (3) sources of funding. These sources include cash from the state
and local governments, individual contributions, and income generated
by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Based on the 80 percent of
the community leaders interviewed, government (both local and state)
rarely releases funds to the community for community projects. The NGOs
assist the people by offering incentives such as seedlings and fertilizer.
Community-based organizations devise strategies to raise funds naturally
amongst themselves to carry out whatever project they wish to undertake.

Open Space Management Strategies in North-western Nigeria

The research revealed that open space management differs depending

on who owns the space. This conforms with Islam M's claim (2017).
Respondents indicated that community open spaces could be owned by a
person, such as a house frontage, which is owned by the house owner, who
manages and regulates the activities in the space.

"The management of open spaces is solely the responsibility of the

space's owner; for example, Kofar Gida (house front) belongs to the house
owner, hence the house owner is also responsible for its management...."
Respondents 1, 2, and 3.

Yara (daily market space), Kasuwa (periodic market space), and

Makabarta (burial ground) are all community-owned and hence governed
by the community, while the community head owns Kofar Fada (palace
space), he (the community head) manages the space.

There are two conflicting arguments about open space. The first was
by Jansson et al. (2019) who supported the public participation in open space
management as it can improve democracy, responsibility, and openness. The
second argued for public-private partnership (Siu, Xiao, & Wong, 2019;
Tedong, Azriyati, Aziz, & Hanif, 2018)

Environmentally, by planting trees resistant to the region, such as

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Azadirachta indica, Mangifera indica, Khaya senegalensis; and Bauhinia

thonningiican ?. This strategy has been in use and supported by Msalilwa
et al. (2017). This strategy is working effectively, with the exception that
plants are difficult to maintain in Semi-Arid areas where people use trees
for household uses (firewood for cooking) as well as for construction.

Physically, they build shades, or "runfa," from local materials like

tree branches, grasses, and sand (mud), which they used as a form of heat
protection because it creates a comfortable microclimate even during hot
conditions. The community members clean up the spaces and maintain the
drainages alongside the roads.

Jansson et al. (2019) recommended that the Government sphere the

relations between [local] government and private sector and the community
as well as the non-governmental organization on the management of open
spaces. This recommendation goes well with the current study.

CONCLUSION
The relevance of open spaces as measured by their functions was
investigated, the main function of the open spaces is cultural, and all
activities in the study area are a showcase of culture. Besides, the impact
of environmental challenges on open spaces was also explored. The key
environmental concerns are wind erosion, dunes, and excessive heat, all
of which require an immediate and comprehensive response. Several
management strategies employed by rural communities demonstrated how
they use their local knowledge with the available materials were highlighted.
In terms of management, key stakeholders' capacities and financial sources
have been identified. The community-based organizations are found to be
the most relevant and functional among the stakeholders.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the study, the following recommendations are drawn:

i.Alternative sources of energy should be harnessed and made accessible
to the rural communities to reduce their dependency on firewood.

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ii.Government should subsidize building materials to enable rural

communities to have alternative construction materials other the tree
logs.
iii.Because semi-arid communities are considered outdoor communities, the
local government authority should have an office in charge in managing
the open spaces in rural communities. The office will coordinate and
supervise the roles of all stakeholders in managing the community
open spaces
iv.Both local and state governments should recognize and support
community-based organizations (CBOs) which are at the heart of
any rural development, financially and otherwise, to enable them to
achieve their goals in managing community open spaces.
v.Community-based organizations (CBOs) should promote capacity
development to train interested individual members of the community
on technical know-how on developing management strategies and to
ensure the sustainability of such handicrafts.

Directions For Further Research

The study was carried out in Nigeria's northwest region; however,

comparable research might be carried out in Nigeria's northeast region,
which has similar ecological characteristics, for comparison. Furthermore,
due to the strong influence of urban areas on rural communities, particularly
where the communities are close to each other, there is a need for research
on the influence of the closeness of urban areas on rural open spaces.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors wish to thank the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund)
Nigeria and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria, for sponsoring the
study. This study and paper would not have been possible without the
financial support received from TETFund

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declared there is no conflict of interest from the inception of

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 Managing Community Open Spaces in Semi-Arid Region

the study until the conclusion.

FUNDING

There is no funding for this research.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declared there is no conflict of interest from the inception of

the study until the conclusion.

AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTION

All authors assigned and deliberated the study. An accrued the data were
used. The first and second authors performed the analysis. The second and
fourth authors aided in interpreting the results. All authors discussed the
results and contributed to the final manuscript. The second, third and fourth
authors were involved in planning and supervising the research.

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