Publication: The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in Nigeria: Cross River, Delta and Lagos States
Loading...
Published
2020-10
ISSN
Date
2020-11-09
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Nigeria is Africa’s richest economy. The country has a large population, abundant natural resources, and diverse cultures. Coastal areas are particularly unique: extending along more than 800 km, they are home to rich ecosystems, thriving industries, and booming opportunities. But these areas are also fragile. Every year, floods, erosion, and pollution of air and water have alarming consequences: they cause death, sicken children, and wash away land and houses. The poor bear the brunt. How big is the damage? This report provides a clear answer to this important question. Using a consistent valuation methodology, it estimates the cost of coastal degradation in three Nigerian states: Cross River, Delta and Lagos. The results are striking: in 2018 alone, floods, erosion and pollution in these three states cost society US$9.7 billion, or 2.4 percent of the country’s GDP. As this estimate covers less than a half of the country’s coastline, the total cost of coastal degradation in Nigeria is certainly higher. This report demonstrates the benefits of doing a coordinated study that builds on state and local level analyses. Its findings will inform the country’s multi-sectoral investment plan for the coastal zone, and will support its efforts to mobilize financing for coastal resilience as part of the West Africa Coastal Areas program. Investing in coastal resilience will save lives and prevent future damages. The time is now.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Croitoru, Lelia; Miranda, Juan Jose; Khattabi, Abdellatif; Lee, Jia Jun. 2020. The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in Nigeria: Cross River, Delta and Lagos States. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34758 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-03-13)West Africa’s coastal areas host about one third of the region’s population and generate 56 percent of its GDP. They are home for valuable wetlands, fisheries, oil and gas reserves, and high tourism potential. However, these areas are affected by severe pressures: rapid urbanization along the coast has increased the demands on land, water, and other natural resources; man-made infrastructure and sand extraction have contributed to significant coastal retreat; moreover, climate change and disaster risks are exacerbating these threats. As a result, coastal areas are undergoing alarming environmental degradation leading to deaths (due to floods, air and water pollution), losses of assets (houses, infrastructure) and damages to critical ecosystems (mangroves, marine habitat). This study estimates in monetary terms the Cost of Environmental Degradation (COED) in the coastal areas of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo. Specifically,it values the impacts of degradation that occur during one year, as a result of three major factors: flooding, erosion, and pollution (from water, air and waste). The final results are expressed in 2017 prices. They are reflected in absolute (USD) and in relative terms, as percentage of the countries’ GDP. Overall, the COED of the four countries is estimated at aboutUSD 3.8 billion, or 5.3 percent of the countries’ GDP in 2017. Flooding and erosion are the main forms of degradation, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total cost. Moreover, coastal degradation causes over 13,000 deaths a year, primarily due to air and water pollution, and to floods.Publication The Cost of Environmental Degradation : Case Studies from the Middle East and North Africa(World Bank, 2010-08-01)Environmental degradation is costly, to individuals, to societies, and to the environment. This book, edited by Lelia Croitoru and Maria Sarraf, makes these costs clear by examining a number of studies carried out over the past few years by the World Bank's Middle East and North Africa region. Even more important than estimating the monetary cost of environmental degradation (COED), however, are the clear guidance and policy implications derived from these findings. This volume presents a new approach to estimating the impacts of environmental degradation. In the past, when government officials asked researchers the simple question how large are the impacts of environmental degradation? The response was often an emphatic 'large!' a rather imprecise number. The strength of this work is that it actually quantifies in economic terms how large is 'large' and thereby gains the attention of decision makers and offers specific insights for improved policy making. Finally, this book demonstrates the benefits of doing a coordinated, regional COED analysis that builds on the country-level studies. This two-tiered approach produces important synergies, in terms of both the methodologies used and the lessons learned.Publication Climate Change Impacts on Rural Poverty in Low-Elevation Coastal Zones(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11)This paper identifies the low-elevation coastal zone populations and developing regions most vulnerable to sea-level rise and other coastal hazards, such as storm surges, coastal erosion, and salt-water intrusion. The focus is on the rural poor in the low-elevation coastal zone, as their economic livelihoods are especially endangered directly by coastal hazards and indirectly through the impacts of climate change on key coastal and near-shore ecosystems. Using geo-spatially referenced malnutrition and infant mortality data for 2000 as a proxy for poverty, this study finds that just 15 developing countries contain over 90 percent of the world’s low-elevation coastal zone rural poor. Low-income countries as a group have the highest incidence of poverty, which declines somewhat for lower-middle-income countries, and then is much lower for upper-middle-income economies. South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and Sub-Saharan Africa account for most of the world’s low-elevation coastal zone rural poor, and have a high incidence of poverty among their rural low-elevation coastal zone populations. Although fostering growth, especially in coastal areas, may reduce rural poverty in the low-elevation coastal zone, additional policy actions will be required to protect vulnerable communities from disasters, to conserve and restore key coastal and near-shore ecosystems, and to promote key infrastructure investments and coastal community response capability.Publication Sri Lanka - Valuation of Environmental Services in Sri Lanka : A Case Study of Soil and Watershed Benefits in the Southern Province(Washington, DC, 2010-06)This 2010 report, Valuation of Environmental Services in Sri Lanka : A Case Study of Soil and Watershed Benefits in the Southern Province, uses valuation tools to evaluate environmental services to allow policymakers to efficiently address sustainable economic development and environment protection within the country s economic policy. The Government of Sri Lanka has committed to a 10-year development framework of increased growth and policymakers in the Southern Province have embarked on an ambitious program of improved roads and other large infrastructure projects. Watershed management is perhaps the most significant issue since they supply such a wide variety of environmental services to the population and environment. Due to the numerous beneficial flows it is difficult to visualize any development that would not affect any of these values to some degree.Publication Managing the Marine and Coastal Environment of Sub-Saharan Africa : Strategic Directions for Sustainable Development(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-07)The trends toward ecosystem degradation and social change are affecting coastal areas around the world, not least in Sub-Saharan Africa. The crisis affecting this region's coastal and marine areas requires an urgent and resolute response from the global community. This report details the challenges facing coastal and marine environments in Sub-Saharan Africa. It describes the World Bank's strategy for supporting sustainable development in the sector, while stressing an integrated approach to coastal management in Sub-Saharan Africa, which will be strategic in design, with both traditional investments in fisheries, or coastal biodiversity, and creative interventions for making large-scale investments in infrastructure, or water "coastal friendly", to avert impacts, while bringing tangible benefits to coastal populations, and ecosystems.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication The World Bank Group in Tanzania, Fiscal Years 2012–22(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-22)This evaluation assesses the relevance and effectiveness of the World Bank Group's support to Tanzania between Fiscal Years 2012 and 2022. Over the past decade, Tanzania has experienced resilient growth, with an average annual per capita GDP increase of 2.2%. However, poverty remains widespread and slow to decline, underscoring the need for more inclusive growth. The report examines the Bank Group's strategic and operational approaches during this period, which were aligned with Tanzania's development priorities and focused on industrialization, human development, and public sector reforms. The evaluation includes thematic chapters on the Bank Group's support for private sector-led growth and spatial transformation, as well as lessons to inform future support to the country.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication FY 2025 China Country Opinion Survey Report(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-08-04)The Country Opinion Survey in China assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in China perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society in China on 1) their views regarding the general environment in China; 2) their overall attitudes toward the WBG in China; 3) overall impressions of the WBG’s effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities, and communication and information sharing in China; and 4) their perceptions of the WBG’s future role in China.Publication The World Bank Group in Georgia, 2014-23(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-30)This Country Program Evaluation assesses the performance and effectiveness of the World Bank Group’s support to Georgia in achieving the country’s development objectives. In the decade leading up to the evaluation period, Georgia pursued economic reforms to attract critical investments for becoming a regional trade and transport hub. Ambitious economic reforms went hand in hand with efforts to improve human development and strengthening social protection systems. Growing geopolitical tensions and internal political polarization have challenged Georgia’s reform progress in recent years. The Bank Group’s strategy adapted well to Georgia’s development needs and was well coordinated with other development partners. It successfully employed a range of instruments to help increase competitiveness, growth, and job creation, and effectively contributed to improved infrastructure and increased trade by using programmatic and innovative approaches. The Bank Group’s regular investments in analytical work and the switch to results-based programmatic support helped improve the efficiency and effectiveness of education and health care systems. The IEG offers the following lessons based on the evidence and analysis in the Country Program Evaluation: (i) Prioritizing Bank Group support around the move towards deeper regional integration was an effective anchor for key economic reforms for economic convergence. (ii) Pursuing a selective and adaptive approach in a country with high implementation capacity and institutions, strong coordination among development partners, and access to a wide range of external resources can allow the Bank Group to exercise significant influence in areas of comparative advantage and global expertise. (iii) A stronger focus on outcome-based programmatic approaches helped to build local capacity and crowd-in partner financing.Publication Evaluation Insight Note(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-11-12)This Evaluation Insight Note (EIN) aims to contribute to the World Bank’s goal of encouraging the use of data, digital technology, and innovation towards transforming agri-food systems in client countries. The EIN was guided by the overall question: “How are World Bank agriculture and irrigation projects using technologies and what insights can be drawn from them” In answering this question, the EIN draws from a portfolio identification and review of 158 active and 113 closed projects (FY16-23) World Bank agriculture and irrigation projects to describe the extent and utilization of agricultural technologies. It supplemented the findings from the review with insights drawn from four project evaluations (Project Performance Assessment Reports) prepared by IEG in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cote d’Ivoire, and Vietnam, which were selected because of their likely lessons on agriculture technology. The portfolio and systematic review provided the basis for seven main insights on coverage and nature of technologies used in World Bank agriculture projects, demand-based technological solutions, technology diffusion, collaboration, and investment in enabling environment factors, among others. (1) The World Bank Agriculture and Irrigation portfolio shows limited coverage of advanced technologies. (2) The technologies that are prevalent in projects are mainly focused on increasing agricultural productivity with limited focus on technologies for facilitating market linkages. (3) Among the technologies promoted in Bank agriculture and irrigation projects, some technologies, and applications such GIS, early warning systems and MIS are more concentrated than others. (4) Combining demand-based technological solutions with training and technical assistance supported uptake of those solutions. (5) Technology diffusion worked well when there was strong collaboration between key research and extension agencies, each with well-defined roles and responsibilities in the projects. (6) When technology dissemination efforts are combined with investments in enabling environment factors such as infrastructure (i.e., roads, markets), they facilitated technology adoption. (7) Building sustainable institutional models – key for technology uptake and use – continue to be challenging in Bank supported projects.