As gas price rises, trees fall

The relentless rise in the price of cooking gas is no longer merely an economic inconvenience for Nigerian households; it is fast becoming an environmental and food security emergency. As Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) slips beyond the reach of millions of families, an alarming trend is unfolding across the country. Households that had embraced clean cooking energy are reverting to firewood and charcoal. The implication is simple yet profound: as gas price rises, trees fall, accelerating deforestation, degrading farmlands and threatening Nigeria’s agricultural future.

For over a decade, successive governments, supported by development partners and environmental advocates, invested heavily in promoting LPG as a cleaner alternative to traditional cooking fuels. The objective was to reduce dependence on firewood, improve public health, curb greenhouse gas emissions and protect Nigeria’s rapidly diminishing forests. While significant progress was recorded, the recent surge in LPG prices now threatens to erase those gains.

today, across cities, towns and villages, many households have quietly abandoned gas cylinders for firewood. Restaurants, food vendors and even middle-income families now ration gas use or combine it with charcoal to reduce cooking costs. What appears to be a rational household response to economic hardship is, in reality, a ticking environmental time bomb.

The numbers paint an alarming picture. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Nigeria loses an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 hectares of forests every year, placing it among the countries with the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Meanwhile, the World Bank estimates that over 85 million Nigerians still rely primarily on firewood and charcoal for cooking. As LPG becomes increasingly unaffordable, this number is likely to rise, placing even greater pressure on already fragile forest ecosystems.

The consequences extend far beyond disappearing trees. Forests perform invaluable ecological functions. They regulate rainfall, recharge groundwater, prevent soil erosion, preserve biodiversity, moderate temperatures and absorb carbon dioxide that would otherwise contribute to global warming. Every tree felled weakens nature’s ability to sustain agriculture and protect communities from climate extremes.

Agriculture provides livelihood for more than one-third of Nigeria’s workforce. Yet its success depends heavily on healthy soils, favourable microclimates and reliable rainfall, all of which are sustained by adequate vegetation cover.

When forests are cleared for firewood, fertile topsoil becomes exposed to erosion by wind and water. Organic matter declines, soil moisture evaporates more rapidly and the land gradually loses its productive capacity. Crop yields decline while farmers are forced to spend more on fertilisers simply to maintain previous levels of production.

Northern Nigeria illustrates this danger most vividly. Environmental experts estimate that over 60 per cent of Nigeria’s landmass is already affected by varying degrees of desertification, with the northern states bearing the greatest burden. Trees serve as natural windbreaks that slow desert encroachment, conserve soil moisture and protect grazing lands. Their indiscriminate removal accelerates land degradation, reduces pasture availability and intensifies competition over shrinking natural resources.

For livestock producers, shrinking vegetation translates directly into declining pasture quality and reduced fodder availability. For crop farmers, it means lower harvests and greater vulnerability to erratic rainfall and prolonged droughts. The inevitable consequence is reduced food production and rising food prices. This creates a dangerous cycle that feeds itself.

Expensive cooking gas forces households back to firewood. Increased firewood demand accelerates deforestation. Deforestation degrades agricultural land and reduces food production. Food shortages push inflation higher, leaving households with even less disposable income to afford cooking gas. Thus, poverty, environmental degradation and food insecurity reinforce one another in a vicious and self-perpetuating cycle.

The economic cost of forest degradation is equally staggering. Depleted forests reduce biodiversity, increase flood risks, diminish water resources and weaken Nigeria’s resilience to climate change. They also undermine national efforts to achieve sustainable development and fulfil international climate commitments. Simply put, every hectare of forest lost today compounds tomorrow’s environmental and economic challenges.

Ironically, all this is happening in a country blessed with one of Africa’s largest proven natural gas reserves estimated at over 200 trillion cubic feet. Nigeria possesses sufficient natural gas resources to make clean cooking energy affordable. The challenge lies not in resource availability but in inadequate infrastructure, policy inconsistencies and market inefficiencies that continue to keep prices beyond the reach of ordinary citizens.

Policies aimed at expanding domestic LPG processing capacity, improving storage facilities, strengthening distribution networks and reducing supply bottlenecks are urgently needed. Targeted fiscal incentives, tax relief and carefully designed subsidies for vulnerable households could help stabilise prices without distorting the market.

Equally important is a massive national reforestation campaign. Community-based tree planting, school environmental clubs, local government initiatives and stronger enforcement against indiscriminate tree felling must become central pillars of Nigeria’s environmental strategy. Restoring degraded forests is not merely an ecological obligation; it is an investment in food security, water conservation and rural livelihoods.

The private sector also has an important role to play. Financial institutions can develop innovative financing schemes that enable households to purchase LPG cylinders and accessories through affordable instalment plans. Clean energy companies should be encouraged to expand distribution into underserved rural communities where dependence on biomass remains highest.

Ultimately, affordable cooking gas should not be viewed as a luxury or merely a consumer welfare issue. It is a strategic investment in environmental conservation, public health, agricultural sustainability and national economic stability. Energy poverty has become an ecological challenge whose consequences extend far beyond the kitchen.

The lesson is unmistakable: as gas price rises, trees fall. Every unaffordable gas refill becomes another tree felled; another hectare of degraded land is another setback in Nigeria’s quest for food security and climate resilience.

We cannot continue to celebrate our enormous natural gas wealth while millions of our citizens are priced back into the forests for survival. Ensuring affordable access to clean cooking energy is no longer simply an economic policy choice; it is an environmental imperative and an agricultural necessity.

If we fail to act decisively today, Nigeria will pay a far greater price tomorrow, not merely in expensive cooking gas, but in disappearing forests, degraded farmlands, dwindling harvests and a future made increasingly vulnerable by climate change.

The choice before us is clear make clean energy affordable, protect our forests and secure our agricultural future or can continue to watch our trees fall as gas prices rise.

Ahmad  resides at FMA2,  off Yaya Abubbakar Road, Fadamar Mada, Bauchi

[email protected]

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