DETERMINANTS OF ADAPTATION STRATEGIES TO THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AMONG SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN ITESIWAJU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE.

The determinants of adaptation strategies to effects of climate change by farmers in Itesiwaju Local Government have generated considerable development interest. From a policy perspective, it is important to document the experiences of farming communities in adapting to climate change, in order to determine suitable adaptation options for the future. The objective of this study was to analyze adaptation and coping strategies to climate change, and ascertain the factors influencing adaptation by farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 households; while descriptive statistics and Multivariate Probit (MVP) were used to analyze the household data collected. The results show that the most widely used adaptation and coping strategies included diversifying household income sources, sharing planting materials and land in case of crisis, adjusting tasks within the households, listening to weather forecasts on radio, television and reading newspapers; and use of agro-chemical inputs and irrigation schemes. Factors influencing farmers’ choice of adaptation methods included household size, experience and farm size, monthly farm income and access to climate change information. Consequently, to strengthen adaptive capacity of farmers to climate change, relevant agencies should liberalize access to credit, deepen scope of extension services and improve access to climate change information.