Factors influencing adaptation to climate change among smallholder farming communities in Nigeria

Abstract

The determinants of adaptation strategies to climate change by farmers in sub-Saharan Africa have generated considerable development interest. From a policy perspective, it is important to document the experiences of farming communities in adapting to climate change, in order to determine suitable adaptation options for the future. The objective of this study was to analyse adaptation and coping strategies to climate change, and ascertain the factors influencing adaptation by farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 180 households; while descriptive statistics and multinomial logit (MNL) were used to analyse the household data collected. The results show that the most widely used adaptation and coping strategies included diversifying household income sources, sharing planting materials and land in case of crisis, adjusting tasks within the households, listening to weather forecasts on radio, television and reading newspapers; and use of agro-chemical inputs and irrigation schemes. Factors influencing farmers’ choice of adaptation methods included household size, access to credit and to extension agents, monthly farm income and access to climate change information. Consequently, to strengthen adaptive capacity of farmers to climate change, relevant agencies should liberalise access to credit, deepen scope of extension services and improve access to climate change information.

Key words: Adoption, coping strategies, credit, radio