Ricardian analysis of the impact of climate change on millet farms in Sokoto state

Abstract

In recent years the main global concern about climate change is the risk it poses to food production, especially in countries that relied heavily on agriculture for survival. Current forecast of the impact of climate change in Nigeria reveals that crop yield will significantly decline. Millet which is widely grown in Sokoto state will also be affected. The main objective of this study is to measure the economic impact of climate change on maize productivity in Sokoto state. Ricardian technique involving panel data was used for the study. The units of analysis were farmers who grow millet crop. Sampling of respondents was done in stages, firstly, local government and districts that produce millet on wide scale were purposively chosen for the study, at the second stage respondents from two districts in the chosen LGA’s were randomly selected via systematic random sampling method. About 500 respondents were selected from the sampling frame. In the first stage of the analysis the model measured the economic impact of climate change on millet and in the second stage; marginal and future impacts of climate change were estimated. Results showed that climate change will have varying impact on net farm income from millet crop, element of temperature will impact more on net income as against rainfall. In addition, market, farm size and farm power significantly affected farm income. Findings of the study revealed that future change in climate will lead to decline in farm income.