Assessment of food crop farmers indigenous strategies to climate change mitigation and adaptation in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Food crop farmers’ indigenous strategies to climate change mitigation and adaptation in Imo State, Nigeria was analyzed. The specific objectives were to; ascertain food crop farmers’ awareness of climate change; determine the farmers’ perceived effects of climate change on food crop production in the study area; identify the indigenous strategies adopted in climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as identify constraints faced by farmers in mitigating and adapting to climate change in the study area. The study used 2018 survey data from rural farming households which were selected using a random sampling technique. The farmers (65.30%) were aware of climate change effects on crop production. Indigenous strategies used include use of disease resistant varieties (58.33%), livelihood diversification (37.50%) and agro forestry practices (63.89%).The study recommends the establishment of research institutes to investigate successful adaptation and mitigation measures for scaling up and down as well as expansion of agricultural extension advisory services to educate farmers on indigenous strategies to mitigate climate change effect on crop production.

Keywords: Perceived, Awareness, Indigenous, Climate Change, Farmers