Climate change impact and adaptation strategies of farmers and fishermen in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The fishing and farming are the mainstays of the people of the Niger-delta livelihoods and activities. Unfortunately, these livelihoods have been impacted by the activities of climate change. This study seeks to examine the impact of climate change on farmers and fishermen as well as adaptation strategies in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The study employed a cross sectional household survey to interview a total of 200 farmers and 200 fishermen from twelve communities in three Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State. A checklist was used to guide the semi-structured interview. Findings of the study showed that 92.75% of the participants had good perception of climate change and its impact on farming and fishing activities in the area. Also, decreased quantity and quality of crop yield with mean values of 3.75 was the most devastating effect of climate change according to the farmers while decreasing fish resources and increasing distance to fishing ground with increasing mean values of 3.72 was the most devastating impact of climate change on fishermen. The most favoured on-farm adaptation strategy by farmers was changing of planting time (92.5%) and livelihood diversification for off-farm livelihood diversification (95%) while fishers also preferred to diversify their livelihood sources to non-fishery activities (93.5%). Both farming and fishing livelihood were found to be moderately vulnerable to climate change impact with overall livelihood vulnerability index of 0.392 and 0.390 as well as -0.086 and -0.089 for the approach index respectively. From this study it is evident that farmers and fishers observed elements of climate change in the study area and refers to the change in climate currently experienced as, “bad” compared to what was experienced in the past. It is recommended that the farming communities should assess their vulnerabilities due to climate change particularly as it affects post-harvest so as to engage relevant authorities to help initiate adaptive capacity. Secondly, the fishing communities should be assisted and provided with the needed support by way of fishing boats and technical skills needed to be effective water navigators.