Assessing Climate Change Vulnerability and Risk Coping Strategies among Arable Crop Farming Households in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Nigerian farming households have continued to face threats from climate change, especially those undertaking farming under uncontrollable climate conditions. Our study examines climate change vulnerability and risk- coping strategies among arable crop farming households using primary data on socioeconomic characteristics, climate knowledge, and experience. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis and ordered logistic regression were employed to achieve the study objective. This study indicates that over two-thirds of farming, households are susceptible to climate change. Furthermore, household income, farm size, marriage status, and age of the household head are among the socioeconomic factors that influence household vulnerability to climate change. We also found that farming households adopt strategies such as crop diversification, use of agrochemicals, shifting cultivation and changed planting date as risk-coping strategies. To reduce the vulnerability of arable crop farming households to the adverse effects of climate change, agriculture stakeholders should enhance their non-agriculture enterprises by building capacity and empowering them to enhance their non-agriculture enterprises.