Knowledge, Perception and Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change among Farmers in Southern Agricultural Zone of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Climate change is perhaps the most serious environmental threat facing mankind worldwide. The study was designed to assess the knowledge, perception and adaptation strategies to climate change among farmers in southern agricultural zone of Nasarawa state. The specific objectives were to: identify the sources of information on climate change by respondents; assess their knowledge and perception of climate change phenomenon; identify adaptation strategies used and the factors militating against their adaptive capacity. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select a total of 150 respondents from the zone for the study. Data collection was through an interview schedule. Simple descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage and mean scores were used to achieve the objectives. The null hypothesis was tested using a multiple regression model. The mean age of the respondents was 48 years. Majority (89.33%) of them were males while their average farming experience was 27 years. Most (38%) of the farmers in the area had no formal education and majority (76.7%) of them used inherited farmlands. Annual income level of the respondents was encouraging with a mean of N326, 461.30 per annum. Most (68%) of them relied on radio as their major source of information on climate change. The perceived indicators of climate change included excessive high temperatures, low and irregular rainfall pattern and low crop yields among others. Adaptation strategies used by the respondents included agro-forestry practices, crop diversification, use of organic manures, planting of early maturing and disease/drought resistant varieties. The major constraints to adaptation by the respondents were inadequate finance, poor infrastructures, unfavourable government/trade policies and poor technology. It was recommended that adult education programmes should be strengthened in the area to reduce illiteracy among farmers. Extension agents in the area should incorporate climate change information in their extension messages while government should intensify efforts in the area of integrated rural development.

Farmers’ Perception of and Coping Strategies to Climate Change: Evidence From Six Agro-Ecological Zones of Uganda

“…Similar coping strategies were reported from various studies conducted in different parts of Africa like Ethiopia, South Africa and Nigeria (Giorgis et al, 2006;Hassan & Nhemachena, 2008;Salau, 2012). Adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to changes in climatic events is usually low due to dependence on natural resources, constraints in human and physical capital, and poor infrastructure (Shewmake, 2008;Salau, 2012;Gukurume, 2013). In this survey, factors that hindered adaptation included poverty (inability to pay for farm inputs, equipment and services like labor), unreliable weather forecasts, and shortage of food to store, among others.…”

“…In countries like Senegal, China, Ghana, Nepal, Bangladesh, Nigeria, United States of America, farmers have been mentioned to perceive and even adapt to changes in the climate (Mertz et al, 2009;Byg & Salick, 2009;Fosu-Mensah et al, 2010;Maharjan et al, 2011;Haque et al, 2011;Salau, 2012;Arbuckle et al, 2013). Socioeconomic and environmental factors have been demonstrated in various studies to influence farmers' perception and adaptation to changes in the climate (Deressa et al, 2011), those include education, household size, livestock ownership, agro-ecological zone, farm size and access to credit among others.…”

Socio-economic factors and profitability of groundnut processing by women in Kano State, Nigeria

“…The average extension visit to the respondents was once in a year. This indicates that extension service delivery is far below the recommended schedules as Salau et al (2012) reported that the recommended visit schedules of village extension agents under the T&V system is two extension visit per month. On the average, the women have been engaged in groundnut processing for 13 years indicating that they have many years of processing experience.…”

The Political Economy of Cardamom Farming in Eastern Nepal: Crop Disease, Coping Strategies, and Institutional Innovation

“…First, the Cardamom Development Center alone cannot fulfill farmers' needs. Community-level institutions are essential to smooth service delivery and have the best potential to strengthen farmers' capacity through extension services and provision of agricultural inputs (Salau, Onuk, & Ibrahim, 2012).…”