Comparative Evaluation of Farmers’ Perception and Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Variability in Bako Tibe, Ethiopia and Abeokuta, Nigeria

Chizoba Obianuju Oranu,Amanuel Zenebe,Anthonia Ifeyinwa Achike,Abadi Teklehaimanot

doi:10.4236/ajcc.2018.74038

Abstract

Comparing the perception of farmers to climate change and variability in Bako Tibe, Ethiopia and Abeokuta, Nigeria is important in promoting sustainable agriculture and in understanding the impact of climate change and variability on agriculture in Africa. A total of 153 farmers were interviewed in both study areas using well structure questionnaire. The study describes the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers using descriptive statistics and thereafter the perception of Bako Tibe and Abeokuta farmers to climate change and variability was examined using Likert type scale. The binary logistics regression was later used to ascertain the effect of socioeconomic characteristics on perception of the farmers in both study areas. The farmers in both study areas believed that there have been changes in the amount of rainfall and temperature in the past thirty years. The farmers in Bako agreed that there have been increased temperature and decreased rainfall, contrary to the farmer’s perception in Abeokuta. The binary logistic regression results showed that socioeconomic characteristics of farmers in Bako Tibe, have no effect on the perception of farmers on climate change and variability. However, in Abeokuta, age, land ownership, and distance to market had an effect on the perception on the farmers on climate change and variability. The adaptation strategies to climate change and variability commonly used by Bako Tibe farmers was, improved seed (drought resistance) adaptation method, while most farmers in Abeokuta used soil moisture conservation adaptation method. The study recommends that government and Non-Governmental Organization of both countries should promote more adaptation and mitigation practices to climate change and variability through policy interventions to help curb the impact of climate change and variability to agriculture.

Highlights

Climate change and variability have adverse effects on economic development, and the effects are felt more in the rural economy, where there is high dependency on agriculture as source of livelihood
This could be due to the fact that in Bako Tibe, people go into farming at a relatively younger age, when compared to the average age in Abeokuta (As indicated above the average age of farmers in Bako Tibe was 45 years, while that of Abeokuta was 55 years), so they might see no need for education, when they can already earn a living from agriculture
The binary logistics regression showed that land ownership, age and distance to market had an effect on the perception of farmers in Abeokuta, while in Bako Tibe, the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers have no effect on their perception

Summary

Introduction

Climate change and variability have adverse effects on economic development, and the effects are felt more in the rural economy, where there is high dependency on agriculture as source of livelihood. Climate change and variability has been one of the leading global concerns, as it poses threat to man and its environment One of such threats is its effect on agricultural production, which without adequate mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change and variability could lead to food insecurity. The knowledge of the impact of climate change and variability is important for farmers in both countries, because climate extremes have an adverse effect on food production, so the knowledge of the impacts can help farmers develop adaptation strategies to curb food insecurity. The perception of farmers to climate change and variability is important in mitigation and adaptation processes, because without the farmers perceiving climate change and variability, it will be difficult to plan adequate mitigation and adaptation strategies. The knowledge of farmer’s perception to climate change and variability is a guide to formulating adaptation policies to help curb the negative impact of climate change and variability

Methods

Results

Conclusion