Adaptation Strategies to Effects of Climate Change on Arable Crops Production in Southwestern Nigeria

Agriculture is an important aspect of Nigerian economy in that it provides food, employment, raw material for industries. This sector can affect and can be affected by climate change variations in the area. These effects need to be identified and adaptation strategies ascertained on arable crop farmers. The study was designed to identify visible climate change effects on arable crop production and the adaptation strategies to these effects by arable crop farmers. It was conducted in the southwestern Nigeria. A total of 120 respondents were selected from two states of the southwestern Nigeria. Questionnaire was used to elicit information on the topic from the respondents. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive analysis and linear regression analysis was used for inferential analysis. The result showed that prominent arable crops among the respondents are maize (21.7%), yam (20.0%), cassava (14.2%), rice (9.2%) and plantain (6.7%). Annual income from arable crops farming showed that 19.2% of the respondents make between 501,000.00 and 600,000.00, 14.3% make between 601,000.00 and 700,000.00 and 18.7% of the make above 700,000.00 naira from arable crops farming annually. Reduction in crop yield (6.7%), pest and diseases infestation (21.7%), late maturity of crops (20.0%) and extinction of crops (6.7%) were identified to be the visible effects of climate change. Migration and relocation were also identified by arable crop farmers as visible effects of climate change. Crop rotation (34.2%), intercropping (20.0%), diversification (21.7%), resistance varieties (20.0%) and mix cropping (4.2%) were ascertained to be the adaptation strategies to climate change by arable crop farmers in the zone. Inferential analysis revealed that educational status (r = 0.033, p = 0.070), social status (r = 0.231, p = 0.009) and farming experience (r = 0.0292, p = 0.023) have positive coefficients and are significantly related to productivity.