INVESTIGATING THE UPTAKE OF ADAPTATION APPROACHES AMONG FARMERS TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE AND VARIABILITY
Abstract:
The research study titled “Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Variability by Farmers in the Agricultural Zone of Niger State, Nigeria” aimed to investigate the socioeconomic characteristics of farming households, their awareness of climate change and variability, the adaptation strategies they employed, and their perception of these strategies’ effectiveness. The study also sought to identify factors influencing the adoption of adaptation measures and the challenges faced by farming households in implementing climate change adaptation strategies in the study area.
Utilizing a multistage random sampling method based on the Yamane formula of 1967, a total of 188 respondents were selected for the study. Primary data were collected through questionnaires and interview schedules and analyzed using various statistical techniques including percentages, mean scores, Likert-type rating scale, and Poisson regression.
The results revealed that the majority of respondents (88.3%) were male, with 83.5% falling within the age range of 26 to 50 years and a mean age of 35 years. The household size most commonly reported (42.6%) ranged from 6 to 10 individuals, with an average of 5 persons per household. Moreover, 76.6% of respondents had received some form of education. Approximately 90.4% of respondents were engaged in farming, with an average farming experience of 18 years and an average farm size of 1 to 5 hectares.
The study identified specific climate change and variability factors affecting the respondents, with heavy rainfall causing damage to crops and livestock (mean score of 2.71) and decreasing average temperatures over the years (lowest mean score of 1.60). Among the adaptation strategies adopted, planting early maturing and high-yielding crop varieties were reported as the most widely adopted (100%), followed closely by the use of agrochemicals and organic/inorganic manure (98.9%). In contrast, strategies such as rural-urban migration (44.1%) and reducing cultivated farm size (42.0%) were least favored.
Furthermore, the effectiveness of adopted adaptation strategies was assessed using Poisson regression analysis. Variables like age (z-value: 1.98), education (z-value: 3.94), and farm size (z-value: 5.23) were found to be positively and significantly correlated with the effectiveness of the strategies.
In conclusion, effective adaptation strategies were identified, suggesting potential ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change and variability on farming households. Based on the study’s findings, recommendations were made, including the need for reliable weather information dissemination, the availability of high-yielding and early maturing crop varieties at subsidized rates, and improved accessibility to soft loans through government and non-governmental initiatives.
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