DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND REGIONAL PLANNING

Land Cover Change poses a significant challenge to agricultural land use, food security, and environmental sustainability. In Ikpoba-Okha LGA, Edo State, rapid urbanisation, population growth, and industrial expansion have resulted in large-scale conversion of agricultural land into residential, commercial, and industrial uses. This study assesses the rate, drivers of land cover changes, the land use changes across the study area over 30 years (1993–2023), its impacts on agricultural land use, and the mitigation strategies adopted by household heads. The study employed a mixed-method approach, integrating Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for spatial analysis, alongside questionnaires and focus group discussions. A purposive sampling technique was used to select household heads from ten communities across Ikpoba-Okha. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, including percentages, presented through tables, charts, and maps. Results revealed that between 1993 and 2023, agricultural land decreased by 27.58%, while built-up areas increased by 33.45%, indicating significant urban encroachment. The most notable increase in built-up land occurred between 2013 and 2023, rising by 25.62%, whereas bare surfaces declined by 10.39% in the same period, suggesting land conversion. Water bodies showed minor but consistent growth (+0.16% overall). The sharpest decline in agricultural land (-21.93%) was observed between 1993 and 2003. The findings indicate that Land cover change has significantly reduced agricultural land, exacerbating land-use conflicts, food insecurity, and environmental degradation in Ikpoba-Okha. The study recommends stronger zoning regulations, financial support for farmers, and improved infrastructure to balance urban growth with agricultural sustainability.

The role of industry in the socioeconomic development of a nation remains a subject of interest in modern societies. It is expected that industrial activities and operation will lead to improved socioeconomic development in their areas such industries are situated. It was on this premise that this study investigated the role of industry on national development using a case study of PRESCO PLC in Obaretin Community in Edo state, Nigeria. A total of 291 participants selected at random were sampled for this study. Useful data were elicited from these participants using a well-structured questionnaire. A simple descriptive analytical approach was utilised to address the research questions of interest. The results of the study indicated that more of the participants (77.4%) agreed that the siting of PRESCO contributed in alleviating poverty in the host community. Further findings revealed that PRESCO’s corporate social responsibility impacted, at least to a high extent, on the host community. The studyhowever, found that majority of the participants (82.6%) at least agreed that siting of PRESCO brought about high development to the host community. Although, it was found that 92.5 percent of the responses were of the view that PRESCO had provided employment to host community to at least a high extent. It was recommended amongst others, that the company should scale up her provision of basic facilities, endeavour to continuously initiate programmes that will support and promote small scale businesses in the area, and improve social and economic development of host community.

This project discusses the National Social Investment Program (NSIP) and its roleonsustainable poverty reduction in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The study examinesthe impact of NSIP on youth enterprise, focusing on beneficiaries of the N-Powerand Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs. NSIP was established in 2016toaddress social and economic inequalities, aiming to empower the most vulnerableNigerians, provide education and health services, promote social inclusion, andreduce poverty in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Thisstudy draws on various theories, including Social Investment theory, HumanCapital Theory, Capability Approach, Social Exclusion Theory, and Institutional Theory, toexplain sustainable poverty reduction. Qualitative and quantitative researchtechniques were employed, with 415 valid structured questionnaires analyzedusingIBM SPSS 2016. The research findings revealed that NSIP has achievedconsiderable success in sustainable poverty reduction in Benin City despite facingchallenges. Beneficiaries provided valuable recommendations and adjustmentstoensure the program’s long-term sustainability. They emphasize the needforsustained program continuity and expansion, alongside increased payment amountsand transparent financial processes to promote sustainable poverty reduction.

Unintended pregnancy is one that is either unwanted or mistimed, reflecting a complex interplay of reproductive intentions, contraceptive access and usage, sociocultural norms, and health system factors. Amidst concerns for and responsiveness to Population growth, Reproductive health care delivery and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3, Target 7 & 8 which emphasises that by the year 2030, it will ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes. This research thoroughly examines the multi-dimensional implications of the prevalence and the determinants of unintended pregnancies in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals in Edo South, Nigeria and probes the ways in which sexually active women utilize and meet their sexual, reproductive health-care needs and unmet needs within the research area
The study employed a dominant–less dominant mixed-method design (also called the explanatory design), in which the quantitative component drives the research process, while the qualitative component plays a supportive role (triangulation). The sample size was 1,006 women of reproductive age of which 44 percent of the respondents (pregnant women) representing 444 were selected from health facilities, while the remaining 56 percent are women (age 15 – 49 years) that is 562 from households. The primary sources of data were through the use of questionnaire and interview guide. This study also explored contraceptive use, accessibility to family planning services, the impacts of unintended pregnancy, and qualitative insights from health practitioners on barriers and strategies for family planning in Edo South, drawing on quantitative data and a reflexive thematic analysis of health facilitators’ responses. The stated hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Chi Square, Man-Whitney U Test, Kruskal Wallis Test, Multinomial Logistic Regression, Multivariate Logistics Regression and Inverse Distance Weight etc. ANOVA was used to test if there were statistically significant differences in the number of times respondent’s experienced unintended pregnancies across the various communities in Edo South. The result showed that there was a statistically significant difference in unintended pregnancy experiences between the groups, F(22, 179) = 2.051, p < .001. This suggests that the occurrence of unintended pregnancy varied meaningfully across the different communities studied.
The result of the findings established unintended pregnancy as a significant public health concern in the study area. It revealed that for every 100 respondents who had never experienced an unintended pregnancy, about 36 had, reflecting a prevalence consistent with global trends. It established that despite an overall contraceptive use rate, the disparity in the quality of awareness and method preference highlighted a critical gap: widespread awareness did not always translate to effective contraceptive practices. It showed critical insights into the depth of contraceptive knowledge, attitudinal barriers, and geographical disparities influencing reproductive health outcomes. Based on these findings; several actionable recommendations are presented to inform policy, program design, and service delivery. Some of the major challenges in this research include concealment of true experiences and fear of cultural and religious stigmatization.

This study accesses the socio-economic effects of rural-urban migration on selected peri-urban and rural settlements in Ovia North-East Local Government Area. The objectives of the study were to identify the causes of rural-urban migration in the
selected rural and peri-urban community, highlight the effects of rural-urban migration and suggest ways of controlling rural-urban migration in the study area. The study was carried out through the use of cross-sectional survey design, which essentially
involves the collection of data from sampled population at one point in time to be used to draw inferences for the entire population. Structured questionnaire was administered to obtain information through field survey conducted in the study area. The method of data collection was through questionnaire. The questions were structured in a way that it consists of tructured/close–ended questions and unstructured/open-ended questions, to collect information on the socio-economic and
demographic characteristics of the respondents, the causes and effects of rural-urban migration in the study area as well as the possible ways to checkmate the increasing rate of rural-urban migration. The questions also elicit response for the purpose of
analysing the socio-economic effects of rural-urban migration on selected peri-urban rural settlements in Ekiadolor and Ugbogiobo. From the analysis of data the study showed that the out-migration of people to urban areas from the study area has had significant impacts on Ekiadolor and Ugbogiobo Communities as affirmed by 70.78% of the sampled population, unemployment and lack of basic amenities are major 12 factors responsible for the migration of people from the study area to urban areas. The study recommends that government should put appropriate structures in place to create a conducive and enabling environment for rural businesses in Ekiadolor and Ugbogiobo to thrive and also create skill acquisition centres in the study area aimed to complement employment opportunities by enabling the youth to be trained within their rural domain while still having the opportunity to participate in agricultural activities such as farming.

The study was designed to investigated the agricultural potentials of a degraded Ultisols in a humid ecological zone of Edo State. The objectives of the study is to investigate the agricultural potentials of the soil. A reconnaissance survey was undertaking to identify the field characteristics, and a representative profile was dug at the University of Benin Agriculture farm. Themorphology, physical and chemical properties of the soil was evaluated. Soil sample was collected from the profile horizons and analyzed using standard procedures. Generally, the soil was well drained, deep, absence of rock. The soil was generally sandy loam in texture. Soil reaction was acidic (5.2 – 5.3), ECEC was low (1.29 – 1.64Cmol kg-1) and base saturation was high (84.96 – 90.00%). Correlation analysis was employed to show the relationship between the physical and chemical parameters of the soil. Six soil properties were positively significant while two were negatively significant. The study provided baseline information forfuture research efforts on soil quality. The study recommended sound agronomic practices especially erosion control measures should be encouraged that further detailed studies could be conducted to examine soil quality in specific time period for sustainable land use

This study examines the spatial distribution of automobile mechanic workshop, and road condition in Egor local government area of Edo state Nigeria. the objectives of the study were to examine the distribution pattern of mechanic workshop in Egor; to assess the condition of roads; to ascertain the level of patronage of automobile mechanics during dry season and raining season; to identify some of the major challenges faced by vehicle owners: to examine the factors that influence the location of automobile mechanic workshop, and finally to examinethe effect of seasonal change in relation to the number of times vehicle owners visit automobile mechanic. Questionnaires were administered to a total of 200 respondents and the data collected was fed into the SPSS, ArcGIS and Microsoft Excel . The frequency table, bar graph, pie chart and regression model were applied to achieve the objectives and to test stated hypothesis, from our study, we realize that the automobile mechanic workshop are randomly distributed across the study area. We also discover that the condition of the road are very bad and has a direct effect on vehicles which therefore encourages the spatial location of the automobile mechanic workshop for vehicle maintenance and repair.

The study was carried out to assess the profile distribution of morphological, physical, chemical and biological properties in Idunowina and University of Benin which are the study areas and a profile sample was dug in both study areas. The morphological study was carried out in the field, while the physical, chemical and biological properties drawn from genetic soil horizons were carried out in the laboratory. The morphological properties show that the soil colour was moisture dependent because of the differences in soil value and chroma when dry and when moist. The soils were mostly moderate and weak in structure in Idunowina and weak, medium in Uniben. The bulk density was found to be within acceptable limit (1.41 and 1.31Mgm-3) while the WHC was highest in the subsoil horizons than in the space soil. There were a lot of fine roots and artefacts and burrows in both study areas. The organic matter was majorly low as well as the basic cations, the micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn) were moderate but not in quantities that pose danger to the soil. The pH of the soil was slightly acidic to neutral. The level of nitrogen and carbon were also observed as they tend to support heterogeneous bacteria and fungi activities.The soil contained high levels of heterogeneous bacteria and fungi with microbial activities being high at the topsoil, there was evidence of eluviation, illuviation, leaching and translocation of minerals in the soils. There was high variability in soil physical properties than in the chemical. Correlation studies revealed that positive significant relationship (P<0.05) exist between SOM and cations (Ca, Mg, K, Na) and negative relationship between sand and WHC, pH and Fe, Cu at Idunowina. At Uniben a high positive relationship exist between THBC and micronutrients and a negative correlation between pH and EA. The soil was classified as Ruptic-Alfic Eutrudept (Orlu Clayey) in Idunowina and as Typic-Eutrudept (Alagba-Clayey). The soil recommend implementing a good water and drainage system in the area as well as strategy that will enhance the organic matter content of the area and planting of trees is another conservative strategy that is encouraged

This study examined the impact of population growth on the socio economic activities in Egor Local Government Area of Edo state as a case study. It consisted of three (3) research questions, which were used to elicit data from the respondents. The study adopted the survey design. Three research questions were raised and one hypothesis was formulated and tested in
the study. The population under study was 445,800, which comprised of the population in Egor LGA of Edo state as at the time of this research. 100 residents formed the research sample size using Taro Yamane sampling technique. The research instrument used was the structured questionnaire, which was administered to the respondents by the researcher. The data gathered
was analyzed using the IBM SPSS statistics (version 19), where descriptive statistics (Frequency, simple percentage and count) was used to analyze the responses and t-test used to test the hypothesis formulated. Results from the analyzed data indicated that overpopulation is caused by various factors which over the years, has caused damages to the socio economic health of Egor LGA.The study recommends that there should be campaigns to sensitize families on the need to maintain a manageable family size will go a long way in reducing the population size. Secondly, Nigerian families especially the men need to be sensitized on the unbiased strengths of a female child. Lastly policies that check immigration should be taken seriously.

This study examines housing quality as a determinant of residential rental value in Benin City,Edo state. The study was carried out using both primary and secondary data. In all 308 questionnaires were administered in 20 zones of the three residential areasmapped out in the study area and respondents were randomly
selected along major streets. But only 280 questionnaires were returned valid for
analysis. Using the statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS),various statistical
techniques and presentations were employed in analyzing the data. The hedonic
regression model was used to test the first hypothesis of the study. The result showed
that there was a significant relationship between housing quality and residential
rental value in the study area with 50% of type of floor finish having the highest beta
coefficient at -.215.