STAKEHOLDER AND POLICY MAPPING FOR BIOCHAR IN ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Soil degradation affects 68% of Nigeria's arable land, while the country's NDC commits to a 40% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030. Although the use of biochar is still quite limited, its multi-purpose benefits as a soil amendment, pollutant adsorbent, and carbon sequester suggest a broad potential application. In this study we identify the stakeholders and policies influencing biochar deployment for environmental applications in Nigeria, by combining a qualitative dominant, desk based and mixed methodology that involves a synthesis of more than 120 sources screened using PRISMA. To understand stakeholder salience, Mendelow's power-interest matrix was used; for policy content, the Walt and Gilson policy triangle was used; and for the coordination patterns, NVivo thematic coding and density analysis with Gephi network analysis (density = 0.41) were used. The Federal Ministry of Environment (9.4/10) and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (8.9/10) are the dominant promoters while farmers are a low power group (4.2/10) and the Biochar Initiative of Nigeria (7.6/10) and Releaf Earth (8.7/10) are key technology players. Nigeria's policy environment score is 4.1/10, while the EU Biochar Certificate is 8.9/10, meaning that Nigeria has a significant MRV deficit (1.9/10). Although there is a good soil-yield relationship (r = 0.68), field trials are focused in the south (75%) while erosion prone northern savannahs are underrepresented. Structure in communities holds promise (15% soil organic carbon gains, 80% peer trust) but is still not connected to finance and policy. The study finds that institutional fragmentation is a key constraint, and not the technical one, and suggests a set of measures that include harmonised MRV protocols, blended finance, participatory extension, and equity measures.