Climate Change and Adaptation by Yam Farmers in Anambra West Local Government Area in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined climate change and adaptation by yam farmers in Anambra West Local Government Area in Anambra state, Nigeria. 12 farmers each from the communities that make up the local government were selected using random sampling techniques and this gave a total sample size of 120 farmers. Interview schedule was used for data collection and frequency, percentage, mean score and standard deviation were used in analyzing the data. The result shows that 81.7% of the respondents were male and the mean age was 40.1. About 45.8% of the respondents were married while majorities (69.2%) of the respondents were full-time farmers. Use of mounds and ridges (2.87), early planting of crops (2.80), increase in farm size (2.75), early harvesting of crops (2.70), shifting from water to dried region (2.68) and change in farming system (2.24) were used as coping strategies for climate change by the farmers. However, traditional beliefs (2.72), lack of access to information (2.71), high illiterate levels among farmers (2.57), no knowledge of weather forecast by the farmers (2.67) and lack of knowledge on climate change (2.43) were seen as constraints to climate change adaptation strategies in the study area.