Rural Farmers’ Adaptation Decision to Climate Change in Niger Delta Region, Nigeria

Abstract

The agricultural sector remains the major source of livelihood for rural communities in Nigeria. But the sector is faced with challenges of changes in climate. These continuous changes have adversely affected rural farmers who are dependent on rainfall for farming and livelihood as evident in low precipitation and drought. The continuous changes in pattern of climate have necessitated adaptation to its impact. A study was therefore conducted to estimate the factors influencing rural farmers’ adaptation decision to the effects of climate change. Multistage sampling technique was employed to select the representative farmers for the study. Primary data were obtained from a cross section of 300 rural farmers using questionnaire. Multinomial logit model was used to estimate the determinants of rural farmers’ adaptation decision to climate change in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Adaptation strategies identified were crop diversification, conservation agriculture, adjustment of planting date, and crop and livestock integration. Findings indicate that educational level, access to weather information through extension contact, family size, and income were significant factors influencing farmers’ adaptation decisions to climate change. The most used adaptation strategy was adjustment in planting date (28.67%), followed by crop diversification (27.33%), conservation agriculture (22.67%), and crop and livestock integration (16%). Results further revealed that the major source of information on climate change was from extension personnel. Policies to improve the literacy level of rural farmers and increase in the awareness of information on weather and climate would be sensible decisions.