Assessment of climate change adaptation strategies used by rural farmers in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was undertaken to assess the climate change adaptation strategies used by rural farmers in Edo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 240 respondents for questionnaire administration and interviews. Descriptive statistics and Chi – square tests were used for data analysis. Results showed that the respondents were majorly male (81.3%) and married (62.5%) with a mean age of 38 years. Respondents were educated (82.0%), had a mean household size of 9 persons with farming experience of 14 years. About 93% of the farmers practice mixed cropping and all sourced their information on climate change from fellow farmers. Mixed farming (mean-3.76), increased use of fertilizer or other technologies to increase yield (mean=3.36), use of improve variety/early maturing plant (mean=3.36), use of irrigation (mean=3.32), use of drought tolerant crops or livestock (mean=3.07), planting cover crops (mean=3.06) and of soil and water conservation methods (mean=3.06) were the leading climate change adaptation strategies used by the farmers. The respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics had significant association with the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies adopted by the farmers. It was concluded that the farmers have experienced the effect of climate change on their production, as such took some steps further to source information on climate change through various sources. It was recommended that extension service providers should expose farmers in the study area to improved climate change adaptation practices and to also provide necessary funds that will enable the farmers execute these improved practices.