Gender and Agricultural Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in the Savanna Eco-Climatic Belts of Nigeria

Abstract

Participation in economic activities and the adoption of coping strategies have gender dimension owing to environmental and socio-economic factors. This paper, therefore, examines gender and agricultural adaptation strategies to climate change in Kogi, Kaduna and Sokoto States as case studies from the savanna eco-climatic belts of Nigeria. A Sample size of 482, broken into 99, 149 and 234 for Kogi, Kaduna and Sokoto States respectively, based on household sizes, was used in this study. Frequency and percentage were essentially used to investigate gender variations with a range of agricultural adaptation strategies to climate among local farmers. The results revealed differential prevalence of agricultural adaptation strategies to climate change with more male farmers adopting strenuous strategies. The paper, therefore, recommends mainstreaming of gender in the design, implementation and monitoring phases of climate change agricultural adaptation programmes.