Nigeria, Sept. 1 -- For decades, the orange glow from gas flares has lit up the skies of Umuechem in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State long after sunset.

For 65-year-old Rose Ordu, the flames are more than a permanent feature of the landscape; they have become part of her daily struggle.

Standing on her cassava and vegetable farm in April, Ms Ordu pointed to crops she said no longer grow as they once did. Her farmland, located a few hundred metres from an oil facility operated by Heirs Energies under Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, has supported her family for years. She says harvests have steadily declined.

"When I plant vegetables, they don't grow well because of the heat from the flare. They wither quickly. Even when I apply fe...