Sustaining the Environment and Reducing Poverty in Nigeria: Which Comes First?

Abstract

Which of these two developmental strategies should a country adopt first in a bid to improve the material lives of its citizenry; utilizing the Renewable Natural Resources (RNRs) to the point of creating employment opportunities aimed at reducing poverty for the present generation or creating employment opportunities to sidetrack poverty with a view to deterring the over-utilization of Renewable Natural Resources (RNRs)? This paper appreciates the link between poverty reduction and environmental sustainability and concludes that development demands an effective integration of these two strategies with a possibility of merging both into a single institution.