Back
 AS  Vol.5 No.12 , October 2014
Farming Families and Climate Change Issues in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: Extent of Impact and Adaptation Strategies
Michael E. Ikehi1*, Francis M. Onu1, Florence O. Ifeanyieze1, Patrick S. Paradang2
Show more
Abstract: The study focused on the impacts of climate change on the farmer and the farming families in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. The study specifically evaluated the perceived resultant situations attributed to climate change to determine the extent of impacts of climate change on the farmer and the farming families and also explored adoptable strategies for coping with the situations. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The population for the study was 246,909 respondents made up of farmers and extension workers who are registered with the State Ministries of Agriculture. Out of the nine Niger Delta states, Bayelsa and Delta states were randomly chosen for the study. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 5,038 respondents. Structured questionnaire and interview were used to collect data. The instruments were validated by three experts. Cronbach Alpha method was used to determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire items which yielded a coefficient of 0.81. The Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS v 20.0) was employed for data analysis. The statistical tools used for data analysis were weighted mean to answer research questions and standard deviation to validate the closeness of the respondents from the mean and from each other in their responses while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that the extent of impacts of climate change on farmers and the farming families in Niger Delta region of Nigeria are moderate. Findings further revealed that climate change has led to increased poverty level and raised cost of production (input and labour cost) as indicated by the farmers. The study recommends that farmers in the region should be encouraged by providing incentives and subsidizing inputs for them by Federal and State governments as well as other non-governmental organizations, as this will go a long way in improving production especially as most farmers agree to continue cultivation even with the observed impacts.
Keywords: Climate Change, Farming Families, Impacts, Flooding, Sea Level Rise, Adaptation, Temperature
Cite this paper: Ikehi, M. , Onu, F. , Ifeanyieze, F. and Paradang, P. (2014) Farming Families and Climate Change Issues in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: Extent of Impact and Adaptation Strategies. Agricultural Sciences, 5, 1140-1151. doi: 10.4236/as.2014.512124.
References

[1]   Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (2012) Nigeria’s Key GDP Contributors. Federal Bureau of Statistics, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

[2]   Lemke, P. (2006) Synthesis Report. Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Science.
http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/518.htm

[3]   Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Summary for Policymakers, in Climate Change: Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf

[4]   Ugolor, D. (2004) Oil of Poverty in the Niger Delta. African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, 24, 243-348.

[5]   Fapojuwo, O.E., Ajayi, M.T. and Abiona, B.G. (2012) The Roles of Agricultural Education and Training in Nigerian Graduates Employment Situation. University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.

[6]   Aweto, A. O. (2011) Agriculture in Urhoboland.
http://www.waado.org/geography/Agriculture/Agruclture-Aweto.html

[7]   Rosemary, N.O., Okoh, P.N., Michael, I., Ajibefun, I.A., Idehen, K.I., Ajieh, P.C. and Osakwuni, E.U. (2012) Assessment of Impacts, Vulnerability, Adaptive Capacity and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Niger Delta Area, Nigeria.
http://rurallinkage.net/project_details.php?project_id=3&pix_id=4&category_id=2

[8]   Abisola, A. (2013) Where Cultivation Meets Conflict: Farming in the Niger Delta. Nourishing the Planet.
http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/where-cultivation-
meets-conflict-farming-in-the-niger-delta/

[9]   Uyigue, E. and Agho, M. (2007) Coping with Climate Change and Environmental Degradation in the Niger Delta of Southern Nigeria. Community Research and Development Centre (CREDC), Benin, Nigeria. CREDC Press, Benin.

[10]   Engber, D. (2006) How Gasoline Becomes CO2. Slate Magazine. m www.slate.com

[11]   The Guardian (2012) World Carbon Emissions: The League Table of Every Country.
http://m.guardian.co.uk/environment/datablog/2012/jun/21/world-carbon-
emissions-league-table-country

[12]   Akinro, A.O., Opeyemi, D.A. and Ologunagba, I.B. (2008) Climate Change and Environmental Degradation in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria: Its Vulnerability, Impacts and Possible Mitigations. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, 3, 167-173.

[13]   World Bank (2008) World Bank Development Report: Agriculture for Development. Washington DC.

[14]   Olurin, T.A. and Agbola, T. (2003) Land Use and Land Cover Change in the Niger Delta. Centre for Democracy and Development, Nigeria.

[15]   Ogundele, B. (2012) Flood Disasters Will Be Greatest Humanitarian Crisis after Civil War as Flood Sacks More Rivers’ Communities. Nigerian Tribune.
www.nigeriantribune.com

[16]   Cruz, R.V., Harasawa, H., Lal, M., Wu, S., Anokhin, Y., Punsalmaa, B., Honda, Y., Jafari, M., Li, C. and Huu Ninh, N. (2007) Asia. In: Parry, M.L., Canziani, O.F., Palutikof, J.P., van der Linden, P.J. and Hanson, C.E., Eds., Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 469-506.

[17]   Magrin, G., Gay García, C., Cruz Choque, D., Giménez, J.C., Moreno, A.R., Nagy, G.J., Nobre, C. and Villamizar, A. (2007) Latin America. In: Parry, M.L., Canziani, O.F., Palutikof, J.P., van der Linden, P.J. and Hanson, C.E., Eds., Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 581-615.

[18]   Myers, N. (2005) Environmental Refugees: An Emergent Security Issue. 13th Economic Forum, Prague, 23-27 May 2005, 23-27.

[19]   Mimura, N., Nurse, L., McLean, R.F., Agard, J., Briguglio, L., Lefale, P., Payet, R. and Sem, G. (2007) Small Islands. In: Parry, M.L., Canziani, O.F., Palutikof, J.P., van der Linden, P.J. and Hanson, C.E., Eds., Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 687-716

[20]   Boko, M., Niang, I., Nyong, A., Vogel, C., Githeko, A., Medany, M., Osman-Elasha, B., Tabo, R. and Yanda, P. (2007) Africa. In: Parry, M.L., Canziani, O.F., Palutikof, J.P., van der Linden, P.J. and Hanson, C.E., Eds., Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 433-467.

[21]   Hassan, A. (2012) Nigeria: Floods—Country Shall Not Have Food Crises or Famine.
www.allafrica.com

[22]   Idowu, A.A., Ayoola, S.O., Opele, A.I. and Ikenweiwe, N.B. (2011) Impact of Climate Change in Nigeria. Iranica Journal of Energy & Environment, 2, 145-152.

[23]   Apata, T.G. (2010) Effects of Global Climate Change on Nigerian Agriculture: An Empirical Analysis. CBN Journal of Applied Statistics, 2, 31-50.

[24]   Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001) Impact, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report of IPCC. University Press, Cambridge.

[25]   Newton, C., Paci, D. and Ogden, A.E. (2005) Climate Change Adaptation and Regional Forest Planning in Southern Yukon, Canada. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 13, 833-861.

[26]   Wolfe, D.W. (2007) Climate Change Impacts on Northeast Agriculture. Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

[27]   Chakeredza, S., Temu, A.B., Yaye, A., Mukingwa, S. and Saka, J.D. (2009) Mainstreaming Climate Change into Agricultural Education: Challenges and Perspectives. ICRAF Working Paper No. 82. World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi.

[28]   Bhusal, Y.R. (2009) Local Peoples’ Perceptions on Climate Change, Its Impacts and Adaptation Measures in Mid-Mountain Area of Nepal (A Case Study from Kaski District). Unpublished. Forestry Research Thesis Submitted to Tribhubhan University, Institute of Forestry, Pokhara.

[29]   Miguel, A.A. and Koohafkan, P. (2010) Impacts of Climate Change on Traditional Family Farming Communities. Oxford University Press, New York.

 
 
Top