The Effects of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies on Food Crop Production Efficiency in Southwestern Nigeria
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The broad objective of this study is to examine the influence of climate change adaptation strategies on efficiency in food crop production in Southwestern Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:
- describe the socio-economic characteristics of farmers and farming systems in food crop production in the study area;
- identify climate change adaptation strategies used by food crop farmers in the study area;
- identify factors that influence the choice of climate change adaptation strategies used by food crop farmers;
- estimate technical and profit efficiencies in food crop production in the study area;
- determine the influence of climate change adaptation strategies used by the farmers on food crop production efficiency in the study area;
- assess the variations in levels of technical efficiency in food crop production as a result of simulated changes in selected climate change adaptation strategies that could be influenced by policy;
- identify constraints to climate change adaptation by the respondents in the study area;
- make recommendations for improving food crop production efficiency vis-à-vis the climate change.
| CHAPTER TWO | |
| LITERATURE REVIEW | |
| Concept of Climate Change |
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (as cited in Onyeneke & Madukwe, 2010) defines climate change as a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global and/or regional atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.
IPCC (2007) defines climate change as a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. by using statistical tests) by change in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period typically decades or longer.
Although the Earth’s climate is constantly changing and global climate change occurs naturally, the rate of future climate change may be more rapid than at any time in the last 10,000 years. The majority of the world’s scientists who study this topic conclude that this expected climate change would differ from previous climate change because of human activities. Therefore, climate change is the slow change in the composition of the global atmosphere, which is caused directly and indirectly by various human activities in addition to natural climate variability over time (Koehler-Munro & Goddard, 2010).
Koehler-Munro and Goddard (2010) further observed that the atmosphere has an effect like a greenhouse on the earth’s atmosphere. The energy from the sun reaching the earth is balanced by the energy that the earth emits back to space. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) trap some of this energy that the earth releases to space. These GHGs in the atmosphere act as a thermostat controlling the earth’s climate. Without this natural greenhouse effect, the average temperature 14 on earth would be –18oC instead of the current +15oC. Therefore, life as we know it would be impossible.
The major GHGs in our atmosphere are water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), halocarbons, which are used as refrigerants, and nitrous oxide (N2O). Since 1750, the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased by approximately 31%, 151%, and 17%, respectively. Modern industry and lifestyles have led to elevated levels on existing GHGs such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide and in some cases, completely new GHGs such as halocarbons. Current rates of increase per year are 0.5% for carbon dioxide, 0.6% for methane and 0.3% for nitrous oxide. The scientific evidence for this is very solid. In a 2001 scientific assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded, “the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on climate change.” (Koehler-Munro & Goddard, 2010). IPCC (2007) reported that 90-95% of climate change is likely to have been in part caused by human action.
Human activities increase the GHG levels in the atmosphere by introducing new sources or removing natural sinks, such as forests. Sources are processes or activities that release greenhouse gases; sinks are processes, activities or mechanisms that remove greenhouse gases. A balance between sources and sinks determines the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (Koehler-Munro & Goddard, 2010).
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
Study Area
The study area is the Southwestern zone of Nigeria. There are six states in the zone namely, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Oyo and Lagos. It is located in the coastal region of the Nigeria and is characterized by humid to sub-humid eco-climate. The vegetation ranges from forest to savanna woodland or forest-savanna transition zone (Adebayo et al., 2011), as shown in figure 3.1. It is bounded in the north and east by Kwara and Kogi states of Nigeria; in the west by the Republic of Benin and in the south by the Atlantic Ocean. Adebayo et al. (2011) observed that crop production is the dominant agricultural enterprise that farmers in southwest Nigeria engage in. It is practiced by over 90% in the savanna and rainforest zone, but only 37.82% in the swamp regions where the primary agricultural enterprise is fishing/fish farming. Based on this, Lagos State was exempted from the study.
The principal food crops grown in the zone are yams, cassava and maize, (Fasola, 2007). Root crops grown in the zone are cassava, yams, taro (cocoyams), and sweet potatoes. The main cash crops in the zone are cocoa, oil palm, and rubber. This study focused on the major food crops (yam, cassava, maize and cocoyam).
According to 2006 Census as stipulated by the National Bureau of Statistics {NBS}, the population of the south-west zone is 27,581,992.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FOOD CROP FARMERS
Age of food crop farmers
Majority (70%) of all the food crop farmers, about 79% and about 61% of them in the Savanna and the Rainforest agro-ecological zones, respectively fall within 20-60 years age bracket. The average age of the respondents was 53 years in Southwestern Nigeria. And the age of the food crop farmers in the Savanna and Rainforest agro-ecological zones were about 51 years and 55 years, respectively (Table 4.1). These results imply that food crop farmers in the area were above the dependent age i.e. not within the economically active age range, which means that food crop production is tending towards the declining productivity class of greater than 50 years. This further implies that if the occupation does not witness the injection of young able men from now, food crop production may suffer set back. These findings agree with the study of Chavanapoonphol et al. (2005) that found out that Thailand rice farmers were quite old of average age of 51 years, and also agrees with the study of Nwaru and Onuoha (2010) that the respondents were a bit old with average age of about 52 and 55 years for smallholder food crop farmers using credit and those not using credit respectively in Imo State, Nigeria. But this disagrees with the findings of Otitoju (2008) which found out that small and medium-scale soybean farmers in Benue State, Nigeria had average age of about 33 and 39 years respectively.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY
This study examined the effects of climate change adaptation strategies on food crop production efficiency in Southwestern Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 360 farm units (180 from savanna and 180 from the rainforest agro-ecological zones). Structured interview scheduled was used to obtain the required information from the selected food crop farm units.
Descriptive and relevant inferential statistics such as frequency, percentages, mean, line graph, standard deviation, likert-type rating technique, multinomial logit (MNL) model, stochastic frontier production and profit models, z-test, t-test, and factor analysis were used for data analysis. Socioeconomic, farm-specific and institutional characteristics of the food crop farmers and the climate change adaptation strategies used constitute the explanatory variables for the study. Possible constraints to climate change adaptation among food crop producing households were also identified.
Considering the socioeconomic characteristics of food crop producing households in the study area, greater percentage of about 50% of them fell between age range of 41-60years while their computed average age was about 53 years in the study area. In the savanna and the rainforest agro-ecological zones of the region, the greater percentage of about 57% and 43% fell between the age range of 41-60 years while their average age range was about 51 and 55 years, respectively. Male dominated food crop production in the study area, about 86% in the study area were male; about 84% and about 83% were male in the savanna and the rainforest agro-ecological zones of the region, respectively. Greater percentage of about 32% of the food crop farmers had primary education with average of about 8 years of formal education in the study 156 area; while greater percentage of about 31% had secondary education with average of about 9 years of formal education and about 38% had primary education with average of about 8 years of formal education in the savanna and the rainforest agro-ecological zones, respectively. Greater percentage of about 48% the food crop producing households fell within the household size of 6 -10 with computed average of about 7 people; while greater percentage of about 46% with average of about 6 people and 49% with computed average of about 9 people fell between the household size between 6 – 10 in the savanna and the rainforest agro-ecological zones of the southwestern region, respectively. Majority of the respondents were married (about 92% in the whole region, 90% in the savanna AEZ and about 94% in the rainforest AEZ). About 27% of the respondents had extension contact that fell between 11- 15 times with computed average of about 8 contacts or visits in the cropping season; 30% with average of about 9 contacts or visits in the cropping year and about 24% with average of about 8 contacts or visits had extension contact that fell between 11- 15 times in the cropping season among the respondents in the Savanna AEZ and the Rainforest AEZ of the region, respectively.
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