Assessment of farmers’ awareness of climate change and adaptation measures in The Northern Zone of Sokoto State Agricultural Development Project

Abstract

The study assessed the awareness of climate change and adaptation measures among arable crop farmers in the northern zone of Sokoto State Agricultural Development Project. Five out of the 12 Local Government Areas in the zone were purposively selected using multistage random sampling techniques. Two hundred and forty farmers were randomly selected for the study from the list of registered farmers in Sokoto State Agricultural Development Project (SADP). Primary data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square analysis. The results revealed that the causes of climate change in the study area were attributed to overgrazing (99.3%), deforestation (90.0%) and other agricultural activities (88.3%). The effects of climate change, according to the respondents, include: altering crop growing season, reduced crop yield, altering crop planting dates and altering crop harvesting dates. The adaptation measures adopted by the farmers were early sowing (100%), planting more than one crop (100%), use of cover crops (92.9%) and using early maturing crops (35.4%). The study revealed that the farmers were fully aware of climate change in the area with a mean of 17 years in witnessing the occurrence. Chi-square test of association indicated a significant association between awareness and the adaptation measures adopted by the farmers. The constraints to adaptation measures includes: inadequate operating capital, illiteracy and inadequate markets. Farmers should endeavor to obtain formal education through literacy programme. Improved education and disseminating information from agricultural research institutes are important policy measures for stimulating awareness and local participation in various development and natural resource management initiatives.