The Perception and Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change by Rice Farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the perception and adaption of rice farmers to climate change in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Three Local Government Areas were purposively selected based on level of rice production in Ekiti. Well-structured and pre- tested interview schedule was used to collect relevant information from ninety respondents. Analysis was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study showed that majority of the respondents were married (85.6%) and the mean age was 50 years. Also, they were mostly males (81.1 percent) practicing farming as primary occupation (78.9%) and had secondary education (91.1%). Major source of information was from friends and family. The study established that the respondents were very much aware of the fact that climate is changing and their level of perception varies. Intensive manure application, introduction of new variety of same crop and increased weeding were the mostly adopted coping strategies with the mean of 3.9 respectively. The other identified adopted strategies by respondents in mitigating the effect of climate change to their farms include; moving to a different site, expansion of cultivated land, breeding of heat and drought resistant crop. Study concluded that rice farmers’ perception affects the adoption strategies and that farmers’ perception is affected by their socio-economic characteristics.