IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v8y2019i2p31-d200178.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climate Change Perceptions and Attitudes to Smallholder Adaptation in Northwestern Nigerian Drylands

Author

Listed:
  • Nugun Patrick Jellason

    (School of Agriculture, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 6JS, UK
    Bio-Resource Development Centre, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Abuja 900001, Nigeria)

  • Richard N. Baines

    (School of Agriculture, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 6JS, UK)

  • John S. Conway

    (School of Agriculture, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 6JS, UK)

  • Chukwuma C. Ogbaga

    (Department of Biological Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Airport Road, Abuja 900001, Nigeria)

Abstract

As climate change is projected to increase in vulnerable areas of the world, we examined farmers’ perceptions of this change and their attitudes to adaptation in two communities (Zango and Kofa) in northwestern Nigeria. A total of 220 arable farming households completed a livelihoods survey preplanting. The perceptions survey was followed by a survey of 154 households post-harvest for the attitudes questions based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). In addition to the positive responses from the farmers towards climate change perceptions, TPB findings reveal that such perceptions could lead to intentions to adapt as determinants of attitude were significant. Subjective norm was a significant predictor of adaptation intention in Kofa, but not in Zango. Perceived behavioural control, though useful, was not a determinant of climate change adaptation intention. Most importantly, principal component analysis (PCA) of climate change perception variables allowed us to discriminate smallholder farming households and can be used as a tool for segmentation into climate change-perceiving and nonperceiving farming households. Efforts towards improving the determinants of behavioural intention for the poorly perceiving group could lead to better decisions to adapt to climate change and provide more targeted extension support in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Nugun Patrick Jellason & Richard N. Baines & John S. Conway & Chukwuma C. Ogbaga, 2019. "Climate Change Perceptions and Attitudes to Smallholder Adaptation in Northwestern Nigerian Drylands," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-20, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:8:y:2019:i:2:p:31-:d:200178
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/2/31/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/2/31/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarah Burch & John Robinson, 2007. "A framework for explaining the links between capacity and action in response to global climate change," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(4), pages 304-316, July.
    2. Meredith Niles & Margaret Brown & Robyn Dynes, 2016. "Farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 277-295, March.
    3. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    4. Shis-Ping Lin, 2013. "The gap between global issues and personal behaviors: pro-environmental behaviors of citizens toward climate change in Kaohsiung, Taiwan," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 773-783, August.
    5. Meredith T. Niles & Margaret Brown & Robyn Dynes, 2016. "Farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 277-295, March.
    6. Oecd, 2009. "Climate Change and Africa," OECD Journal: General Papers, OECD Publishing, vol. 2009(1), pages 5-35.
    7. Barry Smit & Mark Skinner, 2002. "Adaptation options in agriculture to climate change: a typology," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 85-114, March.
    8. Li, Baibing & Martin, Elaine B. & Morris, A. Julian, 2002. "On principal component analysis in L1," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 471-474, September.
    9. Christopher Bryant & Barry Smit & Michael Brklacich & Thomas Johnston & John Smithers & Quentin Chjotti & Bhawan Singh, 2000. "Adaptation in Canadian Agriculture to Climatic Variability and Change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 181-201, April.
    10. Wani, S. P. & Sreedevi, T. K. & Rockstrom, J. & Ramakrishna, Y. S., 2009. "Rainfed agriculture: past trends and future prospects," IWMI Books, Reports H041990, International Water Management Institute.
    11. Maddison, David, 2007. "The perception of and adaptation to climate change in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4308, The World Bank.
    12. B. Fosu-Mensah & P. Vlek & D. MacCarthy, 2012. "Farmers’ perception and adaptation to climate change: a case study of Sekyedumase district in Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 495-505, August.
    13. Wani, S. P. & Rockstrom, J. & Oweis, T., 2009. "Rainfed agriculture: unlocking the potential," IWMI Books, Reports H042126, International Water Management Institute.
    14. Wani, S. P. & Rockstrom, J. & Oweis, T., 2009. "Rainfed agriculture: unlocking the potential," IWMI Books, Reports H041989, International Water Management Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jellason, Nugun P. & Robinson, Elizabeth J. Z. & Ogbaga, Chukwuma C., 2021. "Agriculture 4.0: is sub-Saharan Africa ready?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113550, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Setyo Ferry Wibowo & Mukhamad Najib & Ujang Sumarwan & Yudha Heryawan Asnawi, 2022. "Rational and Moral Considerations in Organic Coffee Purchase Intention: Evidence from Indonesia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Batanai Sammie & Elvis Mupfiga & Liboster Mwadzingeni & Tavengwa Chitata & Raymond Mugandani, 2021. "A gendered lens to self-evaluated and actual climate change knowledge," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 11(1), pages 65-75, March.
    4. Tarik Tanure & Rafael Faria de Abreu Campos & Júlio César Reis & Rayna Benzeev & Peter Newton & Renato Aragão Ribeiro Rodrigues & Ana Maria Hermeto Camilo de Oliveira, 2024. "Farmers’ perceptions of climate change affect their adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies in the Brazilian Amazon and Atlantic Forest biomes," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(1), pages 1-24, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Asfaw, Solomon & Scognamillo, Antonio & Caprera, Gloria Di & Sitko, Nicholas & Ignaciuk, Adriana, 2019. "Heterogeneous impact of livelihood diversification on household welfare: Cross-country evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 278-295.
    2. Tiberio Daddi & Niccolò Maria Todaro & Maria Rosa De Giacomo & Marco Frey, 2018. "A Systematic Review of the Use of Organization and Management Theories in Climate Change Studies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 456-474, May.
    3. Damian Felladam Tangonyire, 2019. "Impact Of Climate Change On Farmers In The Talensi District Of The Upper East Region Of Ghana," Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 3(2), pages 35-45, June.
    4. Sushenjit Bandyopadhyay & Limin Wang & Marcus Wijnen, 2011. "Improving Household Survey Instruments for Understanding Agricultural Household Adaptation to Climate Change : Water Stress and Variability," World Bank Publications - Reports 12764, The World Bank Group.
    5. Ghanian, Mansour & M. Ghoochani, Omid & Dehghanpour, Mojtaba & Taqipour, Milad & Taheri, Fatemeh & Cotton, Matthew, 2020. "Understanding farmers’ climate adaptation intention in Iran: A protection-motivation extended model," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    6. David Lane & Evan Murdock & Ken Genskow & Carolyn Rumery Betz & Allison Chatrchyan, 2019. "Climate Change and Dairy in New York and Wisconsin: Risk Perceptions, Vulnerability, and Adaptation among Farmers and Advisors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-24, June.
    7. Seydou Zakari & Germaine Ibro & Bokar Moussa & Tahirou Abdoulaye, 2022. "Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Impacts on Household Income and Food Security: Evidence from Sahelian Region of Niger," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Sassi, Maria & Cardaci, Alberto, 2013. "Impact of rainfall pattern on cereal market and food security in Sudan: Stochastic approach and CGE model," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 321-331.
    9. Cook, Aaron M. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E. & Sesmero, Juan P., 2013. "How do African households adapt to climate change? Evidence from Malawi," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150507, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Getnet, Kindie & MacAlister, Charlotte, 2012. "Integrated innovations and recommendation domains: Paradigm for developing, scaling-out, and targeting rainwater management innovations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 34-41.
    11. Theodoros Skevas & Ray Massey & Jasper Grashuis, 2022. "Farmer adoption and intensity of use of extreme weather adaptation and mitigation strategies: evidence from a sample of Missouri farmers," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 1-23, September.
    12. Alistair Munro, 2020. "Using experimental manipulation of questionnaire design and a Kenyan panel to test for the reliability of reported perceptions of climate change and adaptation," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 1081-1105, October.
    13. Johnston, Robyn & Hoanh, Chu Thai & Lacombe, Guillaume & Lefroy, R. & Pavelic, Paul & Fry, Carolyn., 2012. "Managing water in rainfed agriculture in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Final report prepared by IWMI for Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)," IWMI Research Reports H044646, International Water Management Institute.
    14. Abebe, Fentahun & Zuo, Alec & Wheeler, Sarah Ann & Bjornlund, Henning & Chilundo, Mario & Kissoly, Luitfred & Dube, Thabani, 2022. "The influences on farmers' planned and actual farm adaptation decisions: Evidence from small-scale irrigation schemes in South-Eastern Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    15. Shiva Salehi & Ali Ardalan & Gholamreza Garmaroudi & Abbas Ostadtaghizadeh & Abbas Rahimiforoushani & Armin Zareiyan, 2019. "Climate change adaptation: a systematic review on domains and indicators," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 96(1), pages 521-550, March.
    16. Frédéric Kosmowski & Antoine Leblois & Benjamin Sultan, 2016. "Perceptions of recent rainfall changes in Niger: a comparison between climate-sensitive and non-climate sensitive households," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 227-241, March.
    17. Alam, Khorshed, 2015. "Farmers’ adaptation to water scarcity in drought-prone environments: A case study of Rajshahi District, Bangladesh," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 196-206.
    18. Zhang, Guangxin & Meng, Wenhui & Pan, Wenhui & Han, Juan & Liao, Yuncheng, 2022. "Effect of soil water content changes caused by ridge-furrow plastic film mulching on the root distribution and water use pattern of spring maize in the Loess Plateau," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    19. Albert Moerkerken & Julia Blasch & Pieter Beukering & Erik Well, 2020. "A new approach to explain farmers’ adoption of climate change mitigation measures," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 141-161, March.
    20. Wang, Weijun & Zhao, Xueyan & Cao, Jianjun & Li, Hua & Zhang, Qin, 2020. "Barriers and requirements to climate change adaptation of mountainous rural communities in developing countries: The case of the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:8:y:2019:i:2:p:31-:d:200178. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.