The study was conducted to examine the perception of and adaptation to climate change among cocoa farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Also, determinants of farmers' level of perception and adaptation to change in climatic conditions were examined. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 200 farmers but after removing cases of incomplete or non-response, the final sample size came to 160 cocoa farmers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the farmers' socio-economics characteristics while Heckman's two-step procedure was used to identify the determinants of respondents' perception and adaptation to climate change. The results revealed that the cocoa farmers' population was ageing and cocoa production in the study area was dominated by men. The household size ranged between 1 and 20 persons while the mean was 8 persons. The majority of the farmers solely made use of hired labour. The average farm size was 7 hectares while 83.75 percent of cocoa farmers had no access to credit. Most of the respondents perceived climate change in the study area. In order to adapt to climate change, 10 different types of adaptation strategies were used by 83.75% of the farmers while 16.25% did nothing. 7 variables (age, education, farming experience, household size, farm size, access to extension services, and distance to farm input purchasing market) significantly determined whether or not cocoa farmers perceive climate change while again another 7 independent variables (age, education, farming experience, farm size, access to extension services, access to credit and training on climate change) significantly determined whether or not they would adapt to it. The study therefore, recommends that credit should be made available to the farmers and an effective extension service system should be put in place.

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Attaining food security is one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the various efforts made by governments, food insecurity continues to be a major developmental problem across the globe. Research shows that food production in Nigeria is increasing at a rate of less than 2.0% while the population growth rate is estimated to be increasing at 2.5% per annum. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess rural households’ food insecurity in Ekiti state, Nigeria. Descriptive statistics, Per-capita Food Consumption Expenditure, Probit Regression Analysis, Likert Rating Scale, and Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) were used to achieve the objectives. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 240 respondents used for the study. Results show that the respondents were in their active working age with an average age of about 46 years and marital status, educational qualification, primary occupation, access to credit, and age were significant drivers of food insecurity in the study area. Also, 68.33% of the respondents were food insecure while only 31.67% of the respondents were food secure. Seven out of ten generated perception statements developed were rated ‘agreed’ while the remaining three statements were rated disagreed. The results of HFIAS show that 31.7% of the respondents were least food insecure and 48.2% were moderately food insecure while the remaining 20.1% were most food insecure. Recommendations were made based on the findings of the research work that governmental and non-governmental organizations should make credit facilities available to the people in the study area in other to augment income inconsistency and policy measures that will enhance increase scale of production should be encouraged.

Maize is cereal crops commonly grown in Nigeria and it is a source of livelihood for many farming households. This study analyzed the resource use efficiency in maize production among smallholder farmers in southwest, Nigeria. A multistage sampling method was used to select two hundred and seventy (270) farmers for this study. Primary data were collected using well-structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis and stochastic frontier production function were used as analytical tools. The results showed that the mean age of the farmers was 47.7 years. Most (76.3%) are males which were married (82.2%) with household size of 5.8. There is high (82.9%) level of literacy among the farmers. The average output of production was 5,038.25kg which were gotten from planting of improved maize seeds (88.5%). Maize cultivation is profitable enterprise because for every ₦1 invested, ₦1.74will be realized as gain. The Maximum Likelihood Estimate (MLE) results revealed that the technical efficiency of maize farmers varied due to the presence of technical inefficiency effects on maize production. Farm size (5%), quantity of fertilizer (10%) and capital input (1%) are the factors significantly affecting technical efficiency. Also, household size (5%), marital status (1%) and gender (10%) are the factors that significantly influence technical inefficiency. The explanatory variables can account for 66% of the total variations in the efficiencies of production, while 34% of the variations are given to error. Policies and programmes that focus on encouraging more young people and women to agriculture should be enacted and implemented.

The study assessed the determinants of the use of Ethno-Veterinary Management (EVM) practices among sheep and goats farmers in southwest, Nigeria. A validated interview schedule was used to source information from one hundred and twenty farmers for the study. Data were collected on selected farmers’ socio-economic characteristics, various EVM practices and constraints encountered on the use of various EVM practices. Descriptive statistics such as frequency count, percentage, means, standard deviation and ranking were employed to summarize the data. Binomial logit regression analysis was employed to assess the determinants of the use of EVM practices among sheep and goats farmers. The study revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 32.7 years with 58.3% males. Also, 91.7% were able to read and write and the mean household size was 4 while 40% received information on EVM practices. The common diseases and pests of sheep and goats in the study area were foot rot, mastitis, pneumonia, conjunctivitis, trypanosomiasis, ticks, fleas and mites. Common EVM practices employed by the farmers were: the use of spent engine oil, kerosene, oil extracts of palm oil vernonia conferta leaves etc. Age and sex had negative relationships with the use of EVM practices at 5% level of significance while educational level, household size, farming experience, sources of information on EVM practices had positive significant relationships with the use of EVM practices. Insufficient fund was the major constraint hindering the rearing of sheep and goats in the study area. It was concluded that small ruminants’ farmers did manage their stocks employing some EVM practices and sensitize farmers on the efficacy of some EVM practices. Government should encourage veterinary practices which will integrate western medicines and EVM practices together for the use of small ruminants’ farmers.