Relationship Between Socio-economic Characteristics of Cassava-Based Farmers and their Climate Adaptation Strategies in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State

Adaptation to climate change requires farmers to realise that climate has changed and they must identify useful adaptation strategies and implement them. The study analysed the effects of socio-economic economic characteristics of farmers on the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State. Data for the study were collected with Structured Questionnaire from sixty (60) farmers using a combination of multistage and purposive sampling technique. Data were analysed using Simple descriptive statistics and Multiple Regression Model. Results revealed that majority (38.3%) were between the age bracket of 31-40 years, while 51.7% of them were male, 48.3% were married, 60% of the respondents had one form of formal education or the other, 60% had household size of 6 -10 people. Majority (58.3%) of the farmers indicated that they have fully adopted planting of crops with early rainfall as a climate change adaptation strategy, while 56.7% use early maturing crops and 46.7% indicated change in planting dates. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that level of education, household size and extension contacts had significant influence on adoption, while gender, age of farmers and marital status had no significant influence on adoption. The study also revealed that the major constraints to adoption include; low awareness level, lack of access to improve crop varieties, low institutional capacity at local government level and limited knowledge on adaptation. The study therefore, recommends that extension programmes should be mounted in communities to increase awareness of climate change.