ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS INFLUENCING USE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION PRACTICES BY RICE FARMERS IN NORTH-WEST NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

 

Researches on adaptation-climate change interaction have been conducted mainly in the southern parts of Nigeria with relatively few in North-East and North-Central and seldom, if any, in the North-West. This study, covering three States in the North-West, therefore, will bridge the existing gap in knowledge on climate change adaptation information in Nigeria. It assessed the factors influencing the use of climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers in Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States of North-West Nigeria. This study specifically assessed the perceived effects of climate change on rice production among the farmers, examined the rice farmers‘ attitude to use of climate change adaptation practices in the study area, determined the factors influencing the use of climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers, and identified and described the constraints to the use of climate change adaptation practices by rice farmers among others. Data were collected from a sample of 522 farmers randomly selected in a multistage sampling procedure. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Frequencies, percentages and means were used for data analysis. Chi-square analysis was used to determine the relationship between perceived effects of climate change on rice production and rice yield, the relationship between attitude of rice farmers and use of climate change adaptation practices and the relationship between farmers‘ use climate change adaptation practices and their level of living. Tobit regression analysis was used to determine the factors influencing the use of climate change adaptation practices by the respondents. Linear regression was used to determine the relationship between factors influencing the use of climate change adaptation practices and perceived effects of climate change on rice production. Results of the data analysis revealed that majority (61.49%) of the respondents fell within the range of 41–60 years of age, were males (93.49%) and married (87.74%) with a household size of 10-19 (57.35%) individuals. Over 55% of them had a formal education. Their mean farming experience was 25.49 years. They had an average rice income of N308,742.00. Majority (84.48%) of the respondents used improved rice varieties, intercropping (77.40%), moderate use of fertilizers (93.10%) and chemicals (89.85%)as climate change adaptation practices. Result of the Tobit regression analysis indicated that education, weather information, extension contact, years of cooperative membership and affordability of using climate change adaptation practices were statistically significant (p<0.01). Farming experience and farm size were significant (p<0.05) while sex was significant (p<0.10). Majority of the respondents perceived most of the climate change adaptation practices as affordable, usable and favourable. They, also, perceived that climate change is posing risks to rice production (X=2.16), would lower rice production (X =2.07) and would continue to affect storage of rice (X =2.01).Result of the Chi-square test showed a significant relationship (p<0.01) between attitude of the rice farmers to use of climate change adaptation practices and use of the practices with a chi-square value of 12.7952. Majority of the respondents (85.82%) reported low income, high cost of improved rice varieties (83.14%) and poor access to information relevant to adaptation (79.89%) as constraints to use of climate change adaptation practices among others. It was concluded that years of formal education, farm size, climate change awareness, extension contact, years of cooperative membership and affordability of using climate change adaptation practices were the major factors influencing the use of climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers in North-West, Nigeria. Other factors were sex, farming experience and weather information. The need for improving the extension agents-farmer contact by the State governments, making enough credits readily available to farmers and awareness creation campaign by both governments and non-governmental organizations concerned with agricultural development to educate the farmers on the importance of mulching, planting   of   cover   crops    and   trees    for   soil    conservation   were    some    of   the recommendations made.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1.         Background to the Study

Climate change is one of the biggest environmental, social and economic threats that the world is experiencing (Mendelsohn et al., 2006). It is a threat to the fight against hunger, malnutrition, disease and poverty in Africa and Nigeria in particular, mainly through its impact on agricultural productivity. Agriculture, upon which society depends for the food, feed, and fibre that enable sustainable livelihoods, is one of the sectors that is most vulnerable to shifts in climate (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2007; National Research Council [NRC], 2010).

Climate change is said to exist when the level of climatic deviation from the normal is very significant over a long period of time (preferably centuries) and such deviations have clear and permanent impacts on the ecosystem (Odjugo, 2009). A drastic change in the climate systems either due to natural forces or unsustainable human activities results in climate change. The latter is regarded as the basic cause of on-going climate change and the advanced countries are most responsible (DeWeerdt, 2007).

Adaptation in the context of climate change is an adjustment in a system in response to actual or expected climatic changes and its impacts. It includes adjustments designed to moderate and offset potential damages or to capitalize on the changes in climate (PELUM 2010). Although climate change adaptation is recognised in Nigeria‘s development programmes and mainstreaming plans already begun, many policy analysts are of the opinion that policy statements declaring government‘s intentions are not new and the major limitation is whether appropriate mechanisms are put in place to ensure that the poorest farmers benefit from government‘s plan (Odozi, 2014).

Rice is Nigeria‘s most important staple crop, but despite ever-growing demand, the sector remains largely underdeveloped. There is great potential for production, particularly in the north, but Nigeria is actually one of the largest rice importers in the world, importing $3bn per year (Hussaini, 2016). Only 10% of Nigerian rice farmers have access to improved seed stock, compared to 25% in East Africa and 60% in Asia (Gyimah-Brempong et al., 2016), so national production is inevitably sub-optimal.

Rice transformation strategy under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) was launched in 2010 by the FGN to make Nigeria become rice self sufficient. The strategy was to produce more paddy and industrial grade milled rice that could compete with imported rice in the market. To this end, 268,000 farmers were given leverage through subsidies in seeds, fertilizers, provision of watering pumps for irrigation farming in ten

• States of the north namely: Niger, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano, Zamfara, Bauchi Jigawa Katsina, Kogi and Gombe (FGN, 2011). This indicates the importance of North-West

Nigeria and particularly Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States in rice production. However, variation in weather and climate has led to a lot of devastating consequences and effects in various parts of the country (Odjugo, 2010). These include flooding, deforestation, desertification, erosion, drought, sea level rise, heat stress, pests and diseases, erratic rainfall patterns, and land degradation. When temperature exceeds the optimal level for biological processes, crops often respond negatively with a steep drop in net growth and yield. Khanal (2009), stated that heat stress might affect the whole physiological development, maturation and finally reduces the yield of cultivated crop. One of the most serious long-term challenges to achieve sustainable growth in rice production is climate change (Wassmann et al., 2007). Rice productivity and sustainability are threatened by biotic and abiotic stresses, and the effects of these stresses can be further aggravated by dramatic changes in global climate. Drought and flood already cause widespread rice yield losses across the globe and the expected increase in drought and flood occurrence due to climate change would further add to rice production losses in the future. Thus the major challenge is the potential adverse effect of changing climate on rice production and being the factor limiting increase in annual yield (Ayinde et al., 2013).

1.2. Problem Statement

In terms of rice production in Nigeria, the North-West was second in the year 2013, after the North-Central, with production of 1,294,200 Metric Tonnes which was 28.6% of the country‘s total(Rapu, 2016).According to Ezedinma (2008) Kebbi and Sokoto States are among the major rainfed upland and irrigated rice ecologies in Nigeria, producing 44% of total domestic production at an average yield of 1.7t/ha and 2.2t/ha for the rainfed upland and irrigated rice, respectively. However, rice farming is highly dependent on environmental factors which are the most important among several factors that influence agricultural production(Onyegbula, 2017).

According to Edeh et al. (2011), rice production depends on optimum combination of factors of production in order to achieve remarkable yield. These factors are not limited to the familiar production inputs but include the various environmental factors provided by nature. Rainfall characteristics (intensity and duration), relative humidity and temperature constitute these weather-related and environmental factors that affect rice yield and its variability. Rice production which is one of the world‘s most important crops for ensuring food security and addressing poverty will be thwarted as temperatures in rice-growing areas, increase with continued change in climate(Gumm, 2010).

Climate change has brought uncertainty to weather conditions in Nigeria most especially in the northern part of the country which accounts for the major food crops produced e.g. rice. Hence, the most viable option for the rice farmers is to use the climate change adaptation practices.

Farmers have a long history of responding to climate variability. Traditional and newly introduced adaptation practices can help farmers to cope with both current climate variability and future climate change. However, the debate about the adaptation of small-scale farmers to climate change has occurred in the absence of knowledge about existing and potential adaptation practices. Because prevailing ideas about adaptation are vague, conducting focused research on potential adaptation practices and formulating appropriate advice for implementing new practices is difficult (Below et al., 2010).

The evident fallout of climate change according to IPCC (2007); Kurukulasuriya and Mendelsohn (2006) can be reduced through adaptation. Although, African farmers have a low capacity to adapt to changes owing to low technological development, poverty and illiteracy, they have survived and coped in various ways. Better understanding of how they have done this is essential for designing incentives to enhance adaptation (Mohammed et al., 2014). Supporting the adaptation strategies of local farmers through appropriate public policy and investment and collective actions can help increase the adaptation measures that will reduce the negative consequences of predicted changes in future climate with great benefits to vulnerable rural communities in Africa and Nigeria in particular (Hassan and Nhemachena, 2008).

Research on adaptation-climate change interaction have been conducted mainly in the southern part of Nigeria (Ajewole and Aiyeloya, 2004; Onyenechere and Igbozurike, 2008; Apata et al., 2009; Ozor, 2009; Nwalieji and Onwubuya, 2012; Ugwoke et al., 2012; Ayanwuyi et al., 2010, Oyerinde et al., 2010; Anyoha et al. 2013 and Bako, 2013) with relatively few in North-East and North-Central (Adebayo et al., 2012; Idrisa et al., 2012; Falaki et al., 2013 and Ayinde et al. 2013) and seldom if any, in the North-West. Moreover, the information obtained from these studies is not sufficient to represent the whole country as most of the previous studies focused on different agro-ecological zones with different social, institutional and environmental settings. This study, covering three States in the North-West, therefore will bridge the existing gap in knowledge on climate change adaptation information in the North-West and Nigeria in general. It seems that there is a gap between the rate at which climate is changing and the response to reduce its impact through employment of adaptation strategies that ensure sustainable food security (Mudzonga, 2012). In spite of this, factors that influence farmers‘ decisions to adapt to climate change in North-West, Nigeria are not well known. This study seeks to investigate the factors that influence farmers‘ decision to adapt to climate change in order to inform policy formulation that enhances farmers‘ capacity to adapt to climate change. It investigates the factors influencing climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers in Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States of North-West, Nigeria. Kebbi and Sokoto States were among the fifteen states identified under the Rice Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) (The other states were Kano, Niger, Kaduna, Taraba, Adamawa, Kwara, Ebonyi, Cross River, Bayelsa, Borno, Enugu, Ekiti and Ogun). They produce mainly lowland rice. This study intends to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the socioeconomic characteristics of rice farmers in the study area?
2. What is the level of awareness of climate change by rice farmers?

• What are the climate change adaptation practices employed by rice farmers in the area?

1. What are the perceived effects of climate change on rice production among the farmers?
2. How does the use of climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers affect their level of living?
3. What are the farmers‘ attitudes to climate change adaptation practices?

• What are the factors influencing the use of climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers?
• What are the constraints to the use of climate change adaptation practices by the rice farmers?

1.3. Objectives of the Study

The broad objective of the study was to assess the factors influencing the use of climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers in Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States of North-West Nigeria. The specific objectives were to:

1. describe the socioeconomic characteristics of rice farmers in the study area;
2. determine the level of awareness of climate change by rice farmers;

• identify the climate change adaptation practices employed by rice farmers;

1. assess the perceived effects of climate change on rice production among the farmers;
2. determine the effect rice farmers‘ use of climate change adaptation practices on their level of living;
3. examine the rice farmers‘ attitude to use of climate change adaptation practices in the study area;

• determine the factors influencing use of climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers; and
• identify the constraints to use of climate change adaptation practices by rice farmers.

1.4. Hypotheses of the Study

The following hypotheses were tested:

1. There is no significant relationship between farmers‘ perceived effects of climate change and rice yield.
2. There is no significant relationship between factors affecting use of climate change adaptation practices and perceived effects of climate change on rice production.

• There is no significant relationship between use of climate change adaptation practices and farmers‘ level of living.

1. There is no significant relationship between attitude of rice farmers and use of climate change adaptation practices.
2. There is no significant relationship between the farmers‘ socioeconomic, institutional and technological characteristics and use of climate change adaptation practices

1.5. Justification of the Study

Adaptation has the potential to alleviate adverse impacts, as well as to capitalize on new opportunities created by climate change. Since the Third Assessment Report (TAR) of IPCC in 2001, there has been significant documentation and analysis of emerging adaptation practices. Adaptation is occurring in both the developed and developing worlds, both to climate variability and, in a limited number of cases, to observed or anticipated climate change. However, the end goal of all adaptation is to address climate risks, enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability. Effective adaptation initiatives for peasant farmers according to Gumm (2010) must be put in place. The IPCC (2007) has estimated that adaptation to climate change could cost Africa some 5-10 percent of its gross domestic products; however, both adaptation and mitigation will require the alteration of governments and policy makers in order to coordinate and lead initiatives. Identifying both the generic and climate-specific elements of farmers‘ adaptation behaviour is vital in order to facilitate a societal response to the changes in climate that scientists have predicted. Tailoring adaptation practices to specific societies may make it possible to offset the adverse impacts of climate change (Fussel, 2007). With appropriate adaptation practices in place, the vulnerability to climate change will be minimized. Although the issue of climate change and agriculture is not a recent development, there has been little or no efforts aimed at documenting scientifically what the existing situations in northern Nigerian agrarian communities are as regards the various indigenous innovative technologies and adaptation measures embarked upon to combat the negative effects of climate change. The need for such baseline information, especially relating to designing appropriate strategies for mitigating its effect on agriculture, cannot be overemphasized (Farauta et al., 2011). Climate change is expected to present a heightened risk, new combinations of risks and potentially grave consequences in Africa and Nigeria in particular, due to its direct dependence on rain-fed agriculture. Hence, the need to assess the effect of adaptation practices to climate change mitigation among rice farmers in Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States of North-West Nigeria.

This study when in public domain, would provide information on the factors influencing climate change adaptation practices among rice farmers in Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States. It would help policy makers in designing appropriate policies against the threats of climate change; the social and economic threats, the threat against hunger, malnutrition, disease and poverty in the study area and Nigeria at large. Unless appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures are taken, climate change will frustrate farmers‘ efforts to achieve sustainable agricultural production and food security. However, developing such strategies will require information from the farmers since the ability to adapt and cope with climate change depends on their knowledge, skills, experiences and other socio economic factors (Maharjan et al., 2011). This study could help farmers in employing the best adaptation practices identified in order to minimize rice losses due to climate change menace. It is important because one of the challenges facing Nigeria as a nation is how to improve the productivity of cereal crops, especially rice that has been marked as a major staple food crop (Julius and Chukwumah, 2014). It could also serve as a baseline and reference material for further research in the study area.

 

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