Abstract:
Climate change has direct impact on agricultural production, because of the climate-dependent nature of agricultural systems. This impact is particularly significant in developing countries where agriculture constitute employment and income sources for the majority of the population. This project was aimed at promoting understanding of the most cost-effective and sustainable indigenous climate change adaptation practices in southeast Nigeria. The study was conducted in two randomly selected states of the region namely Imo and Enugu, and in four randomly selected agricultural zones, two from each state. The data was analyzed using descriptive and relational statistics and tools. The result of the analysis shows that In the face of extreme weather events occasioned by climate change, and apparently because of its tolerance to these conditions, cassava, has become the dominant food crop in the area. Virtually all the respondents reported that extreme weather events and uncertainties in the onset of farming season have been on the increase. In addition, they were also aware of the effect of climate change on agriculture, but were not aware that some agricultural practices could exacerbate climate change. In general, it was reported that uncertainties in onset of farming season and extreme weather events were significantly higher for Imo than for Enugu state. However, the overall impact (farm yield and income) was significantly higher for Enugu than for Imo state. This is perhaps attributable to the fact that Enugu State has a drier weather; being closer to the North, and hence inherent insufficient rain water for maximum crop yield. The biggest effect of climate change in the region was reduced farm yield and income, drying up of streams/rivers, reduction in storage quality of crops, loss of pastureland/vegetation and destruction of wildlife ecosystem. Some of the coping strategies adopted by the farmers with a relatively high profitability index include multiple/intercropping, agro-forestry/aforestation, mulching, purchase/harvest of water for irrigation and use of resistant varieties. The major factors identified to be driving farmers' investment in adaptation practices were age, level of formal education and level of awareness of climate change issues. The major factors constraining them from adapting to climate change were poverty; farmland scarcity and inadequate access to more efficient inputs, lack of information and poor skills, land tenure and labour constraints. The findings underscore the need for farmers' education, awareness creation, poverty alleviation and increased access to more efficient inputs as potent tools for climate change adaptation in the area.