Faman Journal, Vol. 24, No.

1, 2024

DETERMINANTS OF RICE FARMERS’ COPING AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES

TO PERCEIVED CLIMATE CHANGE IN JIGAWA STATE OF NIGERIA
1Muhammad, M.B., 2Mohammed, A.M., 1Abubakar, S.B. and 1Zakari, F.S.
1
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal
University, Dutse, Jigawa State
2
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture and
Agricultural Technology, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Bauchi State, Nigeria
Corresponding email: [email protected]
Phone number: 08035871740
ABSTRACT
The study assessed determinants of rice farmers’ perception on climate change and coping
strategies in Jigawa State of Nigeria. This study describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the
rice farmers in the study area; analyzed coping strategies to climate change employed by the
farmers, determine the socioeconomic factors influencing respondents perceived effects of climate
change, and, describe the constraints militating against the rice farmers’ coping and adaptation
strategies in the study area. A multistage sampling procedure was used for the study and
questionnaire was used to elicit information from 232 farmers. The study revealed that almost all
of the farmers were male 93.9%, married 93.9% and had non-formal education 41.7%. Main
information used by the farmers was informal sources of friends, families and neighbors. The main
coping and adaptation strategies employed by the farmers include changing from farming to non-
farming activities 87% and moving away from crops production to livestock rearing 85.6%
respectively. The result of the regression analysis shows that age (β=0.989, P=0.02), farming
experience (β=1.012, p=0.038) and membership of association (β=1.256, P=0.001), were
significant at 5% and 1% respectively. The study recommends that farmers should be encouraged
to change and improve their management practices in line with sustainable climate change
demands. Also, the training of extension workers on efficient selection of coping and adaptation
strategies should be regularly carried out.
Keywords: Determinants, climate change, perception and coping strategies
INTRODUCTION
Climate change is undoubtedly one of the most prominent problems affecting global socio-
economic development and agricultural productivity. It has also become one of the major and
probably most important variable influencing and threatening agriculture in Nigeria because of the
sole reliance on rain fed agriculture (Musafiri et al., 2021). In recent times, effects of climate
change has exacerbated in sub-Saharan Africa threatening a sustainable agricultural system,
especially the small-scale farming communities who constitute the majority of farmers in
developing countries (Franklin et al., 2021).
Climate change refers to a broad array of any alterations in the earth’s climate that last over a long
time that is marked by shifts in average conditions and in the frequency and severity of extreme
conditions (Ojuederie and Ogunsola, 2017) resulting in significant reduction in yields from rain-

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fed agriculture that could potentially cause food insecurity for well over 9 billion people by 2050
(Abid et al., 2015). Trenberth et al. (2015) have reported a projected intense dryness in sub Saharan
Africa by 2040 making climate change the new normal which farmers have to contend with it.
Rice (Oryza sativa) is an important food security crop that is grown in Nigeria and found in the
diet of most Nigerian households. According to Food and Agriculture Organization, the country is
the continent’s largest producer of rice. Reports by FAO (2018) showed that prior to the
government’s policy restricting the importation of rice, Nigeria doubles as the continent’s leading
consumer of rice and one of the largest rice importer in the world, thus, underscoring the
importance of this food item to the country. This statistics also suggest that Nigeria is not self-
sufficient with respect to rice production.
With the advent of the ban on rice importation, it therefore, suggests that Nigeria will henceforth,
supply all its demand for rice and for this to happen, the country must double its production
capacity and equally address the challenges facing the agricultural sector particularly, those
associated with climate change. Rice farming is highly dependent on environmental factors which
alter cropping season and reduce productivity. Research by FAO (2018) has shown that rice
production will be thwarted as drought, floods and temperatures in rice-growing areas increase
with continued change in climate.

Accordingly, developing countries are mostly vulnerable to climate change due to warm climate
and level of poverty that impede their capacity to mitigate the effect of climate change through the
use of coping and adaptation strategies as observed by Georgieva et al, (2022). Food prices are
expected to rise due to the impact of climate change, thereby worsening the food insecurity and
poor nutritional health conditions in Nigeria (Okou et al., 2022).
Putting these increasing challenges in perspective, it is imperative that farmers in Jigawa State
must come to terms with this climate challenges and adopt strategies to curtail climate change
events given that the state in almost its entirety suffers from relentless annual flooding. Owing to
these reasons, a better understanding of farmers reasoning to opt for different coping and
adaptation strategies is important for policy makers and stakeholders of sustainable agriculture. It
is therefore important, to devote time and resources to assess determinants of rice farmers’
perception on climate change and coping strategies in Jigawa State. This study therefore, attempted
to describe some of the socioeconomic characteristics of the rice farmers in the study area;
analyzed coping strategies to climate change employed by the farmers; determine the
socioeconomic factors influencing respondents perceived effects of climate change.
METHODOLOGY
Jigawa State is a state of northwestern Nigeria situated in between latitudes 11.00°N to 13.00°N
and longitudes 8.00°E to 10.15°E. Jigawa State has an international border with Zinder of the
Niger Republic to the North. The state shares common borders with Kano and Katsina States to
the west, Bauchi and Yobe States to the east and northeast, respectively. (Jigawa State
Comprehensive Development Framework Document (CDF), 2010). The state has population of
7.64 million peoples on 3.2% growth rate projected to 2023 national population census (NPC)
(2006). The study area is located within the northern guinea savannah and experiences two seasons
namely the dry and wet seasons. The wet season is between June and October lasting about 5
months with August having the highest amount of rainfall. The average temperature is 30o Celsius
with April and May being the hottest months recording over 40o Celsius.

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The population for the study were mainly rice farmers. A sampling frame of the farmers was
obtained from the Jigawa Agricultural Development Authority (JARDA) in 2022. A multistage
sampling procedure was used for the study. The first stage involved convenient selection of Dutse
Emirate comprising of 7 Local Government Areas. The second stage involved the purposive
selection of five major rice producing areas based on the predominance of rice production. The
selected areas were Kaci, Kudai, Madobi, Jigawar - tsada and Chamo. The third stage involved
selection of three villages from each of the selected areas while the fourth stage involved a simple
random sampling of 20% of the sampling frame obtained from JARDA from each of the selected
villages to give a total sample of 264 respondents.
Table 1 : Sampling Frame of Rice Farmers in the Study Area
Emirate Area Village Sampling frame 20% of the sampling frame
Dutse emirate
Kaci Burtulan 72 14
Fagoji 47 10
Zai 90 18
Kudai Yalwa 98 20
Dadin duniya 126 26
Bakin jeji 84 16
Madobi Baranda 115 24
Kafin jiba 189 38
Jangawa 77 16

Jigawar tsada Jaudi 60 12

Manganda 46 10
Dutsawa 41 8
Chamo Isari 85 18
Kwadage 72 14
Digawa 101 20
Total 5 15 1303 264
Source: JARDA Survey, 2022
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Socio-economic Characteristics of the Respondents

The results in Table 2 showed that 40.2% of the respondents were between the age category of 31-
50 years, implying presence of youthful and agile population indicating probable interest of youth
farming. This is an important asset for efficient production and change. The result on age agrees
with the findings of Adekunmi (2022) in the study of rice farmers awareness and perception of
climate change in Ondo State, Nigeria who also reported similar age range for rice farmers. Also,
almost all of the respondents were married and male, who as expected dominated rice production
in the study area. Over half (58.3%) of the respondents had formal education with no membership
of any associations. The educational level of farmers could enhance their level of understanding
and desirability of adopting innovation and farm technologies or interacting with extension agents.
Educated farmers are in better position to comprehend associated issues related to climate change
as observed by Mwinkom et al. (2021) in their study of factors influencing climate change coping
and adaptation strategies in North-western Ghana. Similarly, almost all of the farmers had farm

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size of less than 1 hectare mainly acquired through inheritance, thus indicating that rice cultivation
in the study area was on a marginal technical smallholder unit. This result disagree with the
findings of Adekunmi (2022) who reported that majority (74%) of the farmers had farm size of
between 1-3 hectares.

Table 2: Distribution of Respondents’ Socio-economic Characteristics

Variables Frequency Percentage (%)
Age (Years)
21-30 54 20.4
31-40 106 40.2
41-50 80 30.3
>50 24 9.1
Sex
Male 248 93.9
Female 16 6.1
Marital status
Married 248 93.9
Single 12 4.5
Divorced 2 0.8
Widow/widower 2 0.8
Household size
1-5 40 15.2
6-10 146 55.3
11-15 54 20.5
>15 24 9.0
Education level
Primary 66 25.0
Secondary 50 18.9
Tertiary 38 14.4
Non-Formal 110 41.7
Membership of association
Member 110 41.7
Non-member 154 58.3
Rice farming experience (years)
1-5 132 50.0
6-10 90 34.1
11-15 37 14.0
16-20 5 1.9
Source of land acquisition
Inheritance 174 65.9
Rent 72 27.3
Purchase 18 6.8
Total 264 100
Source: Field Survey, 2022

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Adaptation and Coping Strategies Used by Rice Farmers

The results in Table 3 showed that about 88% and 87% change from farming to non-farming
activities and from crop to livestock production respectively. The strategy to grow number of
different crops ranked third. These findings concurred with that of Adimassu and Kessler (2021)
in their study of factors affecting farmers’ coping and adaptation strategies to perceived trends of
declining rainfall and crop productivity in the central rift valley of Ethiopia. The least measures
adopted were water recycling (37.2%), change of time for fertilizer application (40.2%) and crop
rotation (42%). The results agree with Nhamo et al. (2014), who revealed that planting early
maturing varieties of seeds, usage of chemical fertilizer, early planting, crop diversity, and
mulching, tillage and water conservation were the strategies adopted by farmers in the Volta
Region of Ghana to combat the effect of climate change.

Table 3: Distribution of Respondents Adaptation and Coping Strategies Adopted

Adaptation Strategies *Frequency %

Early planting and harvesting 148 56.1
Use of early maturing variety 208 78.8
Alter frequency of irrigation 108 40.9
Growing a number of different crops 216 81.8
Using different varieties 138 52.3
Use of water harvesting and storage 190 72.0
Changing from farming to non- farming activities 232 87.9
Moving from crops to livestock 226 85.6
Relocation 164 62.1
Paying attention to disaster warning 130 49.2
Changing water use practice to save water 194 73.5
Changing time of labor 164 62.1
Changing time of fertilizer use 106 40.2
Using crop rotation 112 42.2
Recycling water 98 37.1
Source: Field Survey, 2022 Note * = Multiple choice
Socio-economic Factors Influencing Perceived Effects of Climate Change
The most pertinent factors influencing the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and
respondents perceived effects of climate change is based on regression coefficients and odd ratios.
The positive sign of the variable signifies an increase in the probability of the perception while a
negative sign signifies otherwise. The regression revealed that age (β= 0.989, p= 0.02), farming
experience (β= 1.012, p= 0.038) and membership of association (β= 1.256, p= 0.001) shows
significant relationship and are the main factors influencing the perceived effect of climate change.
An increase in age, farming experience and membership of association by one unit implies an
increase in the farmer’s perception of the effect of climate change. These could be helpful in
understanding the prediction and perceived effects associated with climate change. It can therefore
be inferred from this study that membership of association, years of farming experience and age
are key variables to factors influencing the perceived effects of climate change as was revealed in
study carried out by Montle and Teweldemedhin (2014).

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Table 4: Regression Analysis of Socio-economic Factors Influencing Perceived Effects of

Climate Change

Parameters Exp.β Standard error Sig.

Intercept 11.367 .2689 .000
Sex 1.140 .1443 .363
Age 0.0989 .0049 .020
Household size 0.999 .0049 .962
Educational level 1.037 .0853 .668
Membership 1.256 .0689 .001
Association
Farming experience 1.012 .0057 .038
Farm size .981 .0197 .338
Income source .824 .1728 .262

LR-Chi sq = 43.979 0.000

Source: Field Survey, 2022
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Rice farmers devised different strategies of coping and adaptation to climate changes based on
their perception on climate change which was obtained mainly from informal sources of
information. Majority of the respondents perceived effects of climate change to be change in
rainfall, increase in temperature and decreased in crop yields. The main coping and adaptation
strategies include, changing from farming to non-farming activities and moving from crops to
livestock farming. An increase in age, farming experience and membership of association by one
unit implies an increase in the farmer’s perception of the effect of climate change. Based on the
findings of the study, the following recommendations were made;

1. Farmers should be encouraged by government to change and improve their management

practices in line with sustainable climate change demands.
2. The training of extension workers on efficient selection of coping and adaptation strategies
should be regularly carried out.
3. Policy makers should device avenues to ensure timely availability of reliable climate
related information to guide the farmers’ agricultural activities.
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