Climate change awareness and tree planting as mitigation measure in a rural West African Community

Abstract

Climate change awareness and tree planting as mitigation measure in a rural West African Community Background: Africa is under significant threat from climate change. In accordance with the Paris Agreement, after 2020, the global community has agreed to major emission reduction programs. Reforestation can complement these emission reduction strategies. Due to carbon sequestration of forests, reforestation has remained a climate mitigation tool. However, at individual and community level, such mitigative response are possible when individuals understand climate change and its impacts. Education is thus an essential element of the global response to climate change. This study was therefore conducted to assess Climate change awareness and tree planting amongst members of a rural West African Community. Methods: A cross-sectional, community based descriptive study conducted among household heads in Nasarawan Buhari, a rural agrarian community in Nigeria. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 104 household heads, selected using systematic random sampling technique. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS (version 20).Results:A majority of the respondents were males (79.8%) and their mean age was 40.6 ± 12.6 years. Half (50%) were aware of climate change and their main source of information was radio (63.5%). Most (98.1%) use fire wood for cooking in their households. Only a minority (27.9% ) planted a tree in the past 1 year preceding the study. Climate change awareness was not a determinant of tree planting (P=0.827)Conclusion:Half of respondents were aware of climate change but most use firewood for household cooking. Tree planting is practiced by few. There is need for a climate change education campaign that will elaborate the relationship between deforestation/reforestation and climate change and encourage use of clean cooking methods and tree planting. Key words: Climate awareness, tree planting, rural West African Community