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The rural people have been recognized as knowledge holders on climate variability/change and key actors for developing policies to mitigate and cope with its effects. The study attempts to assess perception level of rural people to Climate change in selected communities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from 120 rural dwellers in 4 communities. This data centered on knowledge (awareness) level of climate variability/change causes, effects, mitigation and adaptive strategies. The data generated were analyzed using the descriptive statistics. Results showed 71.7% of the people are aware of climate change. They also indicated that the onset of rains is now delayed while cessation is earlier against the trend in the past. This corroborates the meteorological parameters obtained from Nigeria Meteorological Agency. The Study further indicates that, though there are natural causes, 66.7% of rural people accepted human activities as major causes of climate change/variability. The results also showed that the effects of climate in rural areas include poor crop yields (56.7% response); reduced soil fertility (66.7% response); increase flood (56.7%), poverty and food shortage (50% response). The sources of peoples' awareness show widespread information from environmental education/sensitization by NGOs and extension workers as well as media which at the moment is lacking and limited to radio talks and jingles. It is recommended that the more awareness should be created on the effect of human activities on climate; also, indigenous knowledge system should complement global modern knowledge systems to enhance climate change mitigation.

Linking areas of production with that of consumption is an effective approach for resource management and enhance productivity. Transportation remains a catalyst for efficient utilization of environmental resources for agricultural development safeguarding food security and rural livelihood. This study therefore is tailored towards assessing the impact of rural transportation on agricultural development in Boki LGA. The study adopts a questionnaire survey method for data collection as well as key informant interview and Focus Group Discussion. The study area was segmented into two based on accessibility viz, accessible and inaccessible communities. The result reveals that in inaccessible communities, common to the people is the use of head porterage (44%) as a means of conveying their goods to the market, while in accessible areas; the common means is the use of landrover. Accessibility has therefore influenced positively the income, employment and easy access to market thereby increasing farm holdings. The paired sample test indicates that the farm holdings vary significantly in terms of farm sizes-Less than 1 hectares shows significant variation (t=5.245; p<0.05) and above 13 hectares (t=4.804; p<0.05). The difference between low income and high income earnings in both areas is statistically significant (t=2.687; p<0.05 and t=2.856; p<0.05). This result shows that transportation is vital for rural agricultural development. Hence it is recommended that rural transportation be given utmost priority to ensure sustainable food production.

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