ABSTRACT: Climate variability has caused tremendous effects on agricultural production system in Nigeria. These require that smallholder farmer that constitutes the majority of the farming population uses different adaptation strategies to mitigate these climate effect. This study analysed vulnerability and adaptation strategies to climate change among smallholder rice farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 208 respondents from major rice producing clusters in Ogun State. Interview guide and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were used to obtain primary data on the features and elements technologies, adaptation strategies to climate change, effects of climate change on rice production and yield of rice crop. Data were analyzed of climate change, farmers’ vulnerability to climatic variation change, production using frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, Logit regression analysis, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Results showed that 93.8% of the smallholder rice farmers were married with a mean age, household size and farming experience of 46.25 years, 9 persons and 8.36 years respectively. Major climatic variabilities experienced were irregular rainfall pattern (???????? = 2.88),
increased temperature (???????? = 2.80) and excessive heat (???????? = 2.76). Adaptation strategies used by smallholder rice farmers were appropriate spacing and sowing density of seeds (????? = 3.66), altering planting schedule (????? = 3.19) and construction of drainage canal (????? = 2.13). Logit regression analysis revealed that age (β = 0.011, p < 0.05) and farm experience (β = 0.014, p < 0.05) increased the likelihood of high rice yield in the study area. PPMC showed significant (P<0.05) relationships between adaptation strategies for ware shortage (r = 0.488), flooding (r = 0.281), collective action (r= 0.295) and rice yield. The study concluded that appropriate spacing, sowing density of seeds and altering planting schedule were the main adaptive strategies that positively influence rice production in the study area. The study therefore recommended that more adaptation strategies should be disseminated to smallholder rice farmers to mitigate the effect of climate change and improve yield.
Keywords: Vulnerability, Climate Change, Adaptation Strategies, Smallholder Rice Farmers.
JoST. 2021. 11(2): 26-44
Accepted for Publication: October 07, 2021
