Alternative entrepreneurial options: a policy mitigation strategy against climate change in Abia state, Nigeria

Abstract

This study focused on alternative entrepreneurial options as a mitigation strategy against climate change among part-time farmers in Abia state Nigeria. Some farmers abandoned farming in the face of reoccurring adverse weather conditions to other livelihood sustaining activities. The objectives were to examine the entrepreneurial options, identify factors influencing the entrepreneurs alternating entrepreneurial activities and compare the output of operators with respect to entrepreneurial options. The respondents are leather product based business men in Ariaria market by profession and secondly part-time entrepreneurs engaging in farming. One hundred part-time entrepreneurs were analysed. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The technique of data analyses were descriptive statistics for all the objectives except objective one which was analysed by ranking. The result revealed that majority of the entrepreneurs (45%) were inexperienced in farming and there are more males than females, thus making entrepreneurship alternating easier. Majority (45%) of the entrepreneurs abandoned farming to selling of shoes while the least (8%) opted for the sales of leather accessories. The ranking of the prime factors inducing entrepreneurial alternative options conveyed that dry season longevity and rainfall inconsistency ranked first and second respectively. These factors are consequent upon climate change influences. Thus, this study recommends alternative entrepreneurial options strategies as a militating policy strategy against climate change variability threats in the study area

Key words: Entrepreneurial, Options, Mitigation, Strategy, Climate-Change