Assessment of Farmers’ Adoption of Climate Change Mitigation Technologies in Uyo Agricultural Zone of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

Climate change has been fingered as the main factor responsible for the continuous decline in sustainable agricultural production and environmental degradation particularly in the developing countries. Against this background, a study was conducted in Uyo Agricultural Zone of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria in 2014 from where crop farmers participating in Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP) activities were selected. A two-staged sampling technique was used to select one hundred and fifty (150) farmers participating in the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) in Uyo for the study. Data were collected from primary sources using structured questionnaire and Focus Group Discussions with the farmers (respondents) in the agricultural extension block selected. Oral interview involving face to face questioning of the respondents in order to further extract more information was used to affirm opinion where need arose. Few observations were also made by the researcher. Descriptive statistics and Likert scale rating techniques were used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that out of the 23 climate change mitigation technologies identified, few (5) recorded very high adoption rate. Therefore, the null hypothesis (P= 0.05%) which stated that there was no significant difference between the sample and population means was accepted. The study recommends that Extension contact with farmers should be intensified. Also, general enlightenment campaigns to boost farmers’ participation in the ADP programmes should be sustained.