Adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural Practices among Cassava Farmers in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed cassava farmers’ adoption of climate-smart agriculture in Abia State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting one hundred and fifty-eight respondents. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed with frequency, mean, and Tobit regression. The results show that cooperative associations (59.5%) and neighbours and friends (51.3%) were the major sources of climate-smart agriculture information. The use of previous experience to predict climatic outcomes (62.0%) and the cultivation of cover crops to retain soil moisture (63.9%) were the major weather and water-smart agricultural practices adopted by farmers. Farmers had positive perceptions of weather-smart ( =2.54), water-smart ( =3.48), carbon and nitrogen-smart ( =2.49), and knowledge-smart ( =2.94) approaches to climate-smart agriculture. Level of education (β=0.240; P≤0.05), farm size (β=0.014; P≤0.05), access to credit (β=0.203; P≤0.05), and extension contacts (β=0.410; P≤0.05) had a significant positive influence on the extent of use of climate-smart agriculture. Cooperative associations and extension services should be strengthened by the government through the provision of training and enhanced access to finance to encourage their efforts at promoting climate-smart agriculture. Adult education should be introduced to enlighten farmers on climate-smart agricultural practices.