FARMERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON CROP PRODUCTIVITY AND INCOME IN SAMARU AGRICULTURAL ZONE OF KADUNA STATE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGES
Title Page i
Approval Page ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables ix
Abstract x
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 10
Purpose of the Study 11
Significance of the Study 12
Research Questions 13
Research Hypothesis 14
Delimitation of the Study 14
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Conceptual Framework 15
Climate Change 15
Crop Productivity 20
Food Security 26
Farmers’ Income 29
Living Standard 31
Mitigating Strategies 33
Impact Assessment Models 38
Socio-economic model 39
Before and after model 42
Related Empirical Studies 43
Summary of Literature Review 50
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
Design of the Study 51
Area of the Study 51
Population of the Study 52
Sample and sampling technique 52
Instrument for Data Collection 53
Validation of the Instrument 54
Reliability of the Study 55
Method of Data Collection 55
Method of Data Analysis 55
CHAPTER IV PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
Research Question 1/Hypothesis 1 58
Research Question 2 /Hypothesis 2 60
Research Question 3/Hypothesis 3 62
Research Question 4 /Hypothesis 4 65
Research Question 5 67
Findings of the Study 69
Discussion of Findings 72
CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Re-Statement of the Problem 75
Summary of Procedures Used 77
Major Findings 78
Conclusion 79
Implication of the Study 80
Recommendations 80
Suggestions for Further Studies 81
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Distribution of Crop Farmers in Samaru Agricultural
Zone of Kaduna state 90
Appendix B: Letter to Validate 91
Appendix C: Questionnaire 92
Appendix E: Result of Data Analysis 99
LIST OF TABLES
- Mean Ratings, Standard Deviation and t-test Analysis of Farmers
Responses on Level of Crop Yields Before and After Climate Change
as Perceived by Farmers in Samaru Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State 58
- Mean Ratings, Standard Deviation t-test Analysis of Farmers Responses
on Level of Farmers’Income before and After Climate Change as
Perceived by Farmers in Samaru Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State. 60
3 Mean Ratings, Standard Deviation and t-test Analysis of Farmers
Responses on Level of Food Security Before and After Climate Change
as Perceived by Farmers in Samaru Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State 63
4 Mean Ratings, Standard Deviation and t-test of Farmers Responses on
Level of Farmers’ Living Standard Before and After Climate Change as
perceived by Farmers in Samaru Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State 65
5 Mean Ratings and Standard Deviation of Farmers Responses on the
Coping Strategies Employed for Mitigating the Negative Impact of
Climate Change on Farmers’ Productivity and Income in Samaru
Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State 68
Abstract
The study was carried out to ascertain the farmers’ perception of the impact of climate change on crop productivity and income in Samaru Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State. Five research questions guided the study while four null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised all 10,509 registered crop farmers with the Kaduna Agricultural Development Project in 2012.Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 375 farmers. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Cronbach alpha reliability method was employed to determine the internal consistency of the items in the questionnaire and 0.82 reliability coefficient was obtained. Data collected were analyzed using the mean and standard deviation for the research questions while t- test was used for testing the null hypotheses. It was found out from the study that climate change had high impact on the level of crop yield of farmers, level of crop farmers’ income, food security and living standard in Samaru Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State. The study identified thirteen strategies employed by farmers in coping with the negative impact of climate change in Samaru Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State. There was no significant difference between the mean responses of farmers on the yield of crops, levels of farmer’s income, level of food security and level of living standard of famers before and after the commencement of climate change in samaru zone of Kaduna state. It was recommended that crop farmers should be trained and educated through workshop and seminar on proper ways for coping with the effect of climate change on crops.
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
Background of the Study
Nigeria is an agrarian country with about 70% of the population engaging in crop farming. Crop farming is a major occupation and important source of livelihood to the majority of rural farmers. The major proportion of food consumed in the country is produced by small holder farmers who live and operate in the rural areas (Farauta, Egbule, Idrisa & Agu, 2011). These crop farmers are characterized by relatively low scale farming enterprise using mainly local input, traditional cultural practices with low capital base.
Most of the crop farmers in Samaru Zone are peasant farmers. They practice continuous crop farming with mixed cropping which do not permit the use of modern farming implements and agro-chemicals like herbicides and pesticides. The crop farmers use simple tools such as hoes, cutlasses, and animal drawn implements for cultivation. The vast majority of crop farmers have limited access to modern input and productive resources like pesticides and fertilizer without form of public sector intervention (Abaje & Giwa, 2007).
The crops mainly produced by farmers in Samaru Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State are cereals like maize, millet, sorghum and hungry rice; legumes like cowpea, soybeans and groundnut; root and tubers like cassava, cocoyam and yam; vegetables like tomato, okra, pepper, garden egg, and onion; rhizomes like ginger. Others include tree crops like mango, citrus, grape fruits and palm oil. Food crops farming predominates the farming system with one or several other crops in mixture or rotation. Crop farming is important to the livelihood of millions of people in Samaru Agricultural Zone by providing food, livestock feeds and income that improve their living standard. The real strength of crop production lies in the wide ecological variability and good weather for most part of the year, which accounts for the large spectrum of agricultural commodities including crops (Nigeria Agricultural Digest, 2010).Most often crop farming is influenced or determined by climate.
Climate is the average weather condition of a place for long period of time (about thirty-five years) including weather pattern, the frequency and intensity of storms, cold spell and hot weather.(Neriberina, 2007). Weather is the daily fluctuating state of the atmosphere around us. The climatic factors are rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, sunlight, (day length), cloud cover, air pressure and wind (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 2007). However, crop production is influenced in different dimension and stages of crop growth by climatic factors. Temperature is the hotness and coolness of an area which is determinant of the rate at which crop progresses through morphological stages towards maturity. Rainfall is the water that falls from the sky over a period of time. Rainfall is a crucial input to crop growth and adequate rainfall is very important during germination and growth. Wind is a moving air across the surface of the planet or atmosphere. Wind influences crop production by aiding pollination and dissemination of seeds and fruit. Relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air, which helps crops to grow, mature and flower. Relative humidity determines the types of crops to be grown. Solar radiation (day length) increases and encourages higher production of crops through photosynthesis. Generally, climatic factors interrelate to produce high crop productivity (Salinger, 2005).
Crop production however depends highly on climate; climate is the main driver of crop growth and high productivity. Decrease in farmer’s productivity is attributed to increase in temperature, decrease in rainfall, flood, desertification and drought caused by climate change,
Climate change is a long time shifts, alteration or change in the type of climate prevailing over specific location, region, or entire planet (Adejuwon 2004).According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)( 2001) climate change is a change in weather pattern which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activities that alter the composition of global atmosphere and natural climate variability observed over a comparable time period. Climate change is interchangeably used with anthropogenic global warming. Thus, global warming is an average increase in temperature of the atmosphere near the earth surface and in the troposphere which contributes to changes in global climate pattern caused by increased emission of greenhouse gases and human activities (IPCC, 2007).Global warming is one of the key aspects of climate change. It is obvious that climate change is an inherent attribution of climate which is caused by natural processes and human activities.