Adaptation Strategies on Climate Change among Maize Farming Households in Oyo State, Nigeria

B.Sc. OLUWASEYI OLASOJI, BSc

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The world’s population is growing at an exponential rate putting more pressure on agricultural productivity. It is expected that by the year 2050, there would be 3.5 billion more people in the world to feed. To meet up with the ever-growing demand, agricultural production is expected to increase. However, all over the world, the climate is changing and negatively influencing agricultural productivity due to changes in temperature and rainfall patterns. To cope with these changes and the adverse effects that accompany it, farmers need to adapt. This study was conducted to identify the factors influencing the adoption of adaptation strategies among maize farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria. A total of 197 respondents were interviewed for this study. About 85.8% of the respondents claimed that they were highly concerned about their future as farmers. About 58.4% of the farmers believe that rainfall patterns have become unpredictable while 62.9% of the respondents believe that the average temperature has increased. The most practised adaptation strategy was mixed cropping (89.8%) while the least practised adaptation strategy was conservation tillage (12.7%). The binary logit regression model was used to analyse the factors influencing the adoption of organic fertilizers, irrigation, cultivation of different crops, cultivation of improved cultivars and agroforestry adaptation strategies. The study showed that marital status, age, respondent as household heads, off-farm employment, years of farming experience, the use of family labour, farm distance to the market, cooperative membership, access to credit, access to weather information, practice of contract farming and information sourced from research institutes, friends and family were statistically significant and influenced the adoption of adaptation strategies. It is very important for farmers to improve their adaptive capacities. This way they can cope better with the adverse effects of climate change. The government and research institutes also have important roles to play in enabling the farmers cope with the adverse effects of climate change.

Keywords

Climate Change, Adaptation Strategies, Maize, Farming Households, Binary Logit Model

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 23. 4. 2021

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: doc. Ing. Miroslava Bavorová, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / International Development and Agricultural Economics