Climate change impacts on agriculture and barriers to adaptation technologies among rural farmers in Southwestern Nigeria

This chapter examines climate change impacts and local adaptation options among rural farmers in southwestern Nigeria. Satellite climate datasets for rainfall and temperature from the 1980s to 2020 and a dataset including responses to a survey and focus group discussions were used. A case study of the impacts of climate change on cassava yields using correlation and multiple regressions is presented. The results show a relative increase in temperature, while rainfall showed large seasonal variations. Rainfall trends appear to be relatively upwards from the 1980s - early 1990s but below the normal trend from the period from 1997 to 2020. The results from the survey show that nearly 80% of the rural farmers perceived general changes in temperature and rainfall in recent years, while nearly 97% of them adopted changes in the planting date of some crops, as an adaptation option. The results further show a very strong relationship between cassava yields and rainfall in the growing seasons. The study concludes that there is a need for governments at all levels to encourage rain-fed agriculture and more agricultural research to improve crop yields as climate changes.