PERCEPTION OF RURAL CROP FARMERS ON EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: THE CASE OF OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the effects of climate change on crop production in rural areas of Osun State, Nigeria. A multi stage sampling technique was employed to select two hundred and forty respondents used for the study. The data collected was analyzed with Frequency counts, Percentages, mean and Probit regression analysis The average age of the respondents was 28.4 years, with the percentage of males to females being 75.4 percent and 24.6 percent respectively. About 65.8 percent of the respondents were married and the primary occupation of most of the respondents (83.8%) was farming Most of the respondents (76.2%) could read and write. The major pre-disposing factors engendering climate variability were bush burning, deforestation, and over-cropping of land. The problems confronting farmers as a result of climate change were shortage of water supply (52.9%), rise in surface temperature (54.2%), and shortage soil moisture (46.7%). Some of the coping strategies employed by the respondents to reduce the effects of climate change were the application of green manure (83.8%), prompt weeding to avoid low production through weeds competition with crop plants (83.3%), intercropping/mixed cropping (62.5%). The result of the probit regression model shows that six variables were statistically significant to the effect of climate variability; these are: age (t = 2.25), education (t = -2.36), marital status (t = -1.26), income (t = -2.3), farm size (t = 2.02) and farming experience (t = -2.42). It is recommended that farmers should widely and further be enlightened with regards to climate change, its effects, and solutions to reduce it.