CAPITAL ASSETS AS BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES AND SUSTAINABILITY AMONG RURAL DWELLERS IN HADEJIA-NGURU WETLANDS, NIGERIA

Farming remains the most important livelihood activity in many communities. However, it is increasingly becoming unable to provide sufficient means of survival for the rural populace on its own. To that effect, people over the years have diversified their livelihood portfolios into other non-farm activities in an attempt to build their resiliency. This paper examines capital assets’ availability and productivity, and the resilience strategies adopted by rural dwellers in the Hadejia-Nguru-Gashua wetlands in mitigating their prevailing ecological, environmental and management challenges. Stratified random sampling technique was used to draw 172 respondents from 15 communities of the wetlands. The study assessed assets availability and utilisation, as well as the pattern of the resilience strategies adopted. Results revealed that the people have access to capital assets and have developed multiple livelihood portfolios. It is therefore, recommended that more awareness should be created to facilitate construction and expansion of these livelihood activities. Keywords : Capital assets, resilience, livelihood activities, wetlands, rural community