Emerging and Indigenous Technology
for Climate Change Adaptation inSouthwest Nigeria
African Technology Policy Studies Network

RESEARCH PAPER | No. 10
K. Adebayo
T. O. Dauda
L. S. Rikko
F. O. A. George
O. S. Fashola
J. J. Atungwu
S. O. Iposu
A. O. Shobowale
O. B. Osuntade

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for
Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest
Nigeria

K. Adebayo
University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta, Nigeria

O. S. Fashola
Ministry of Agriculture,
Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Nigeria

T. O. Dauda
Institute of Agricultural Research
and Training, Ibadan, Nigeria

J. J. Atungwu
University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta, Nigeria

L. S. Rikko
University of Jos,
Jos, Nigeria

S. O. Iposu
University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta, Nigeria

F. O. A. George
University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta, Nigeria

A. O. Shobowale
Livelihoods Support and Development
Centre, Abeokuta, Nigeria

O. B. Osuntade
Livelihoods Support and Development
Centre, Abeokuta, Nigeria

The African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) is a multidisciplinary network of researchers, private sector actors andpolicy makers promoting the generation, dissemination, use andmastery of science, technology and innovation (ST&I) for African
development, environmental sustainability and global inclusion.
ATPS intends to achieve its mandate through research, capacity
building and training, science communication/dissemination andsensitization, participatory multi-stakeholder dialogue,knowledge brokerage, and policy advocacy.
Published by the African Technology Policy Studies Network
P O Box 10081, 00100 GPO Nairobi Kenya
2011

Published by the African Technology Policy Studies Network

ISBN: 978-9966-030-03-0

Table of Contents
Acknowledgement

4

Abstract

5

1.

Introduction

6

2.

Literature Review

10

3.

Methodology

14

4.

Results & Findings

19

5.

Conclusions & Recommendations

48

References

51

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 3

Acknowledgement
This paper was produced as part of the implementation of the African Technology Policy Studies
Network (ATPS) Phase VI Strategic Plan, 2008 – 2012 funded by ATPS Donors including the
Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (DGIS) the Netherlands, Rockefeller Foundation, amongst
others. The authors hereby thank the ATPS for the financial and technical support during theimplementation of the program. The Authors particularly thank the ATPS Climate Sense Program
Director, Dr. Kevin Urama (ATPS); and the Program Coordinators including Prof. Francis Mutua(ATPS Kenya); Dr. George Owusu Essegbey (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
Ghana), Prof. Eric Eboh (ATPS Nigeria), Dr. Nicholas Ozor (ATPS), and Ms. Wairimu Mwangi (ATPS)
for their technical support during the research process.

4 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract
This study is premised on the high incidence of severe weather and the rate of climate change, itsconsequences and challenges among small-scale farmers. Primary data obtained from 362
farmers, 125 extension officers and 14 researchers from the three agro-ecological zones ofsouthwest Nigeria were used to examine the technological and farming systems adaptation toclimate change. The data obtained were organised in Microsoft Excel, cleaned and analysed on theStatistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Most of the farmers are married, formallyeducated, male Christians with an average age of about 49 years and a household size of 9
persons. The extension officers are mainly married, male, Christians holding a Higher National
Diploma (HND) or a B.Sc. and working about 250 farmers each. Half of the researchers are based in
Ibadan where most of the research institutes in southwest Nigeria have their main offices. There is ahigh level of climate awareness among farmers and extension officers. Only location (agroecological zone) provides a significant insight into the variability in farmers' observation among thevariables tested. Most of the farmers (65.75%) opine that farming activities such as bush burning,use of agro-chemicals and deforestation contribute to climate change, and some other farmers(96.6% in the swamp zone, 60.8% in the rainforest and 68.3% in the savanna) opine that the main
climate change effect on their personal lives is reduction in personal productivity. In terms of climatechange effects on farming enterprises, reduction in crop yields was reported by 60% of the farmers.
The main strategies and technologies promoted by extension officers to assist farmers to cope withthe effects of climate change in southwest Nigeria are: tree planting (30%), timely planting of crops(6%) and avoidance of bush burning (6%) in the swamp zone. In the rainforest zone, it is provision ofsmall scale irrigation (25%), mulching (16.7%) especially on yam farms, and avoidance of felling
trees (8.3%). In the savanna zone the main coping strategies and technologies are: avoidance oftree felling (25.6%), avoidance of bush burning (23.1), small scale irrigation (5.15) and studying
weather condition before planting crops (5.1%). The study concluded that there is a generalconviction among farmers, extension officers and researchers that crops and forests management
technologies are the main tools for adapting to climate change. It is noteworthy however that
adapting to climate change is as much a technology issue as an attitudinal one.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 5

1. Introduction
1.1.
Background information
There are contrary opinions on the exact nature of climate change and its precise impact on humanand other components of the ecosystem. However, most experts unanimously agree that climate
variability will have drastic consequences on agricultural production and productivity (Watson,2010). Smit et al. (1988) reported that changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere arelikely to alter the earth's climate, and that these alterations may have severe implications for
agriculture and other economic activities. Several reports exists on the impacts of climate change
on agriculture (Daniel, 1980; Benneh, 1996; IFPRI, 2009; Okoruwa, 2010; Bello, 2010) According to
Smit et al. (1988) several analytical procedures have been employed in studying the impacts ofclimate change.
Recent studies have shown strong indications and evidence that the agricultural and food systems
across the world are already experiencing major changes. According to IPCC predictions, areas
suitable for agriculture particularly along the coastal margins, semi-arid and arid regions are
expected to decrease including the length of growing season and yield potentials (IPCC 2007). In
some African countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture could reduce by close to 50% by 2020.
Studies by Apata et al, (2009) reveal that there are strong indications and already evidence that theagricultural and food systems as well as the rural areas across the world are experiencing majorchange. This change has drastically reduced soil fertility and poor agricultural outputs particularly
in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Farmers in the Sudan-Sahel region have complained of drastic reduction in the soil fertility and thatthey can no longer predict the rainfalls, the soils are becoming drier and harder to cultivate andchanges are causing very serious threats. In the coastal areas, there are evidences of the intrusionof salt water along communities that live along the coast. This has led to increased salinity in soils
making life very hard for the people. Already, it is extremely difficult now for food to grow on theisland (Apata et al, 2009), and the encroaching salt water that sweeps through the land has made it
impossible for food crops to grow. Various studies have predicted the influence of climate change
on crop and livestock production, hydrologic balances, input supplies and other components ofagricultural systems. NIMET has reported that Nigeria's climate warming is resulting in variability
and changes in the rainfall patterns (frequent late onset and early cessation of rain) which isaffecting almost all socio-economic sectors especially agriculture and food security, biodiversity
6 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeriaand water resources. But agriculture is not innocent in the emission problem. Generally, agriculture
is said to contribute 10-12 percent of Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission worldwide (USEPA, 2006).
Developing countries such as Nigeria are already experiencing low crop yields as a result of
extreme weather and climate change. These impacts are affecting ecological zones, causing shifts
in their boundaries, altering animal and plant composition, increasing soil erosion and flooding
activities in many areas due to higher rainfall, accelerating sea level rise and salt water intrusion
along the coastal areas. While excessive flooding during the past decade has hurt farming incoastal communities, desertification is ravaging the Sudan-Sahel region.
In the northern region of Nigeria, there has been loss of arable farmlands from recurrent droughts
which has affected agricultural activities and food security in the region. Tarhule and Woo (1997)
have confirmed that rainfall droughts can be matched approximately 90% with (from) the famine
events chronicled for northern Nigeria. Drought has rendered large swaths of previously arable land
unusable particularly in the savannah region. According to Medugu (2009), desertification in the
Sahel had earlier been blamed on overgrazing practices of the local population, but recent studies
have discovered that the real problem is climate change. Climate change is predicted to worsen theincidence of drought and desertification and millions of people will be turned into refugees. This isalready evident in the steady declining rainfall in the Sahel since 1960's. The result has been the lossof farmlands and conflicts between farmers and herdsmen over the ever decreasing land. Manydifferent communities, including fishermen, farmers and herdsmen, are now confronted withdifficulties arising from climatic changes. Peoples' livelihoods are being harmed, and poor people
are becoming more impoverished. Climate refugees are being created, as the changes make someland unlivable and affect water supplies. Climate change is expected to affect agriculture very
differently in different parts of the world (Parry et al., 2004). The resulting effects depend on current
climatic and soil conditions, the direction of change and the availability of resources andinfrastructure to cope with change.
1.2.
Problem Statement
Throughout human history, societies are fundamentally adaptive and there are many situations in
the past where local communities have used traditional technologies to cope with changes inclimate and to similar risks. Traditionally, African farmers have used indigenous knowledge tounderstand weather and climate patterns and make decisions about crop and irrigation cycles.
These have helped them to develop traditional and indigenous technologies to cope with thechanges. Crop farmers in Africa are acknowledged to have been very highly adaptable to climatechange in both short and long terms while at the same time have the ability to develop effectivemeans of handling variability in weather climate. Farmers' main adaptation strategies include use ofdrought tolerant crop varieties. A classical case of this is switching from drought susceptible maize
varieties to tolerant ones by Nigerian farmers. Other indigenous strategies that have emerged arechanging planting dates, increased irrigation intensity and expansion in fadama farming, changing
land use and management. Ecological farming based on principles and practices of biodiversity
and soil conservation has enhanced adaptation to the changing climate. There is no universally
applicable measure for adapting agriculture to climate change, hence managers in the agriculturalindustry should, therefore, have sufficient flexibility to deploy the adaptation measures mostappropriate for their local situations.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 7

Adapting to climate change will require that individuals change their practices, which, in turn, arelikely to require changes in the rules under which agriculture industry operates, the lack ofenforcement of such rules, and the lack of participatory and accountable decision-making
mechanisms are likely to increase socioeconomic vulnerabilities and limit the adaptive capacity ofcommunities and societies. Fortunately, farmers already have experience of many innovativetechnologies which have been adapted over the years that can be shared both within and outside
countries. However, it is becoming increasingly important and urgent for all the stakeholders todevise national strategies for adaptation for both present and future changes outside theirexperienced coping range.

1.3.
Objectives
This project is supported by a grant as part of the implementation of the ATPS Climate Sense
Program. It seeks to examine the emerging and indigenous Technologies for Climate Change
Adaptation in southwest Nigeria. It is contributing to the strategic objective of the ATPS Climate
Sense Program: “to promote climate change adaptation research, innovation, and technology
adoption, and make climate change science, economics, politics, and investment opportunities
more comprehensible to the quadruple helix, including policymakers, scientists, the private sector
and the civil society.”
The specific objectives of the study are to:
1. Identify and document effective indigenous and emerging technologies and innovations forclimate change adaptation in South West, Nigeria;
2. Enhance behavioural changes towards climate change adaptation measures at individual andinstitutional levels in the study area;
3. Build the capacities of farming communities in the study area to adapt to climate change
impacts;
4. Make policy recommendations for building climate change resilience at the state and national
levels in Nigeria;
5. Facilitate knowledge sharing for climate change adaptation; and6. Stimulate the interest of young researchers in contributing to climate change research andcapacity development, and policy discussion
1.4.
Justification
Nigeria and all the developing countries are already experiencing low crop yields as a result of
extreme weather and climate change. These impacts are affecting ecological zones, causing shifts
in their boundaries, altering animal and plant composition, increasing soil erosion and flooding
activities in many areas due to higher rainfall, accelerating sea level rise and salt water intrusion
along the coastal areas. While excessive flooding during the past decade has hurt farming incoastal communities, desertification is ravaging the Sudan-Sahel region. Changes in fresh waterflows will affect coastal wetlands by altering salinity, sediment inputs and nutrient loadings.
Changed fresh water inflows into the ocean will lead to changes in turbidity, salinity, stratification,and nutrient availability, all of which affect estuarine and coastal ecosystems but consequences
may vary locally.

8 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

1.5.
Organisation/Structure of the Paper
This report contributes to the strategic objective of the ATPS Climate Sense Program by presenting
the results of a full scale survey of technological and farming systems Adaptation to climate change
in farming communities in the three agro-ecological zones of southwest Nigeria. This paper isorganized in five main sections. The first section provides the background and direction to thewhole paper. It defines the key problems addressed, the objectives of the paper and the basis for
conducting the study. The second section contextualizes the research in the literature, It provides acomprehensive background documentation on technologies and adaptation to climate change
impacts in Nigeria; profiles the history and changes in technology response to climate variability
overtime through existing data in Nigeria and provides an analysis of links between technologies,
farming systems adaptation to climate change problems in Nigeria and other parts of the world. In
the third section, the research approach is explained. This section contextualizes southwest
Nigeria, data collection, selection of respondents and statistical analyses applied to the dataobtained. The fourth section presents the key findings of the research and discussed them in linewith current thoughts in the field. The final section draws out the main conclusions and provides
some suggestions and recommendations on ways to take the findings of the study forward.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 9

2. Literature Review
Climate change generally refers to changes in the statistical distribution of weather over periods oftime that range from decades to millions of years. It can be a change in the distribution of weather
events around an average (Bello, 2010). Okoruwa (2010) referred to climate change as identifiablevariability in climate that has brought about negative consequences to human survival. Climatechange may be limited to a specific region or may occur across the whole planet earth. Although,climate change is not a new phenomenon, its recent usage, especially in the context ofenvironmental policy, refers to changes in modern or prevailing climate, particularly since the 20th
century. The increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere has led many scientists
to conclude that the earth's temperature will increase by several degrees over the next century(Houghton et al. 1992, NAS 1992, Wigley and Raper 1992).
Some are beginning to conclude that the anthropogenic effect of increased greenhouse gas
concentrations on global climate is already evident (Thomson 1995). According to PCGCC (2008),
climate change may be caused by internal or external processes such as changes in solar radiation,
volcanism, orbital variations, and human influences through industrial revolution, agriculture anddeforestation resulting in green house gas emissions. Physical evidences of climate change can beseen from historical or archaeological changes, vegetation, insects, and sea levels. IPCC (2007)
reported that mean atmospheric temperature increased by 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit over the past
century with a predicted 3.2 to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit increase in the 21st century. Increasing
surface temperature has been linked with lengthening the growing season in temperate region
while shortening the season in tropical environmental with very high chances of drought (Okoruwa,
2010).
Atmospheric circulation patterns arise primarily as a consequence of heating contrasts between thepoles and the equator, modulated by seasonality, and because land and water absorb and releaseheat at different rates, resulting in a patchwork of warmer and cooler regions characterized by anumber of patterns of atmospheric circulation with different persistence. According to Lehodey etal. (2006), the extent to which preferred patterns of variability can be considered true modes of theclimate system is debatable, but certainly these patterns are used to explain physical and biologicalvariability in the ocean, particularly at decadal scale.
Due to the long time scales of some natural climate patterns, it is difficult to discern if observed
10 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeriadecadal oceanic variability is natural or a climate change signal, and have to be treated separatelyfrom the gradual, linear, long-term warming expected as a result of greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore, there may be impacts of gradual climate change on the intensity, duration andfrequency of these climate patterns and on their tele-connections.
The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most obvious driver of inter-annual variability is theclimate. ENSO is an irregular oscillation of three to seven years involving a warm and a cold statethat evolves under the influence of the dynamic interaction between atmosphere and ocean.
Climate scientists have arbitrarily chosen definitions for what is and what is not an “ENSO event”(Trenberth, 1997), and today, warm phases of ENSO are called “El Niño” and cool phases “LaNiña”. Although ENSO effects are felt globally (Glynn 1988; Bakun 1996), the major signal occurs in
the equatorial Pacific with an intensity that can vary considerably from one event to another. El Niño
events are associated with many atmospheric and oceanic patterns, including abnormal patternsof rainfall over the tropics, Australia, Southern Africa and India and parts of the Americas, easterly
winds across the entire tropical Pacific, air pressure patterns throughout the tropics and sea surface
temperatures (Reaser et. al., 2000; Kirov and Georgieva, 2002).
Impacts of variability in climate properties differ from region to region and in magnitude. Whilesome region may benefit locally, the overall effect of global climate change is generally negative,
with the developing and the poorer nations being the hardest hit. In particular, agricultural sector,
especially food production appears to be more affected than other sectors of the economy. Since
food production will be affected globally, food security and the attainment of the United Nations(UN) Millennium Development Goals would be threatened because global agriculture will be underintense pressure to provide food for the world teeming population from the limited and often
degraded soil and water resources that have been predicted to be further stressed (Okoruwa,
2010). Climate patterns play a fundamental role in shaping natural ecosystems, the humaneconomies and cultures that depend on them, a change in climate can affect historicallysynchronized pollination of crops, food for migrating birds, spawning of fish, water supplies fordrinking and irrigation, forest health, and more.
The issues on climate change and adaptation in the Federal Ministry of Environment (FMENV)
begins with the activities leading to the green gas emission consequence of which is the global
warming. This is followed by the impact of the global warming on different facet of life and lastly, thedevelopment of adaptation strategies for mitigating or ameliorating the impact (Figure 1). Thus,
adaptation has become an important issue in international and domestic discussions on climatechange.
Impactof Global
Warming

Green Gas
Emission
Activities

Developmentof Adaptive
Strategies

Figure 1: Climate Change Activities
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 11

Although several models have been formulated and utilized in developed countries to measure
impacts of climate change as well as assessment of strategies taken to ameliorate the negative
consequences of climate change, such models are scarce or nonexistent in many developing
countries including Nigeria. Since climate change will have many detrimental impacts in the
country, there is the need to identify and analyze methods being adopted within the indigenous
agricultural systems with the aim of determining their potentials as effective and efficient adaptation
strategies to cope with extremities of the prevailing climate variability.
Nigeria is characterized by high temperature regimes throughout the year. Highest temperatures
occur during the dry season; rains moderate afternoon highs during the wet season. In the south,
mean maximum temperatures range between 30ᵒC-32ᵒC while in the North, it is between 36ᵒC and38ᵒC. Mean temperatures for the country are between 27ᵒC and 29ᵒC. Although averagetemperature vary little from the coastal areas to inland areas, inland areas especially the northeast
have greater extremes with temperatures reaching as high as 44ᵒC before the onset of the rains ordrop as low is 6ᵒC during an intrusion of cool air from the north from December to February. Alreadyaverage temperature increases of about 0.2ᵒC and 0.3ᵒC have been observed within regions of thecountry while drought persistence has characterized the Savanna region since 1960. Science
shows that climate change will continue, and accelerate, in the years ahead, with significant andcatastrophic impacts on everything from our coastlines and our health to water supplies,
ecosystems, agriculture and other natural resources.
Climate change impacts depend on a range of climate parameters' ranges on a country's social,
cultural, geographic and economic backgrounds. The location and size of, and the characteristic
relief of Nigeria give rise to variety of climate ranging from tropical rain forest climate along thecoasts to Sahel climates to the northern part of the country. From the coastal areas, Nigeria ischaracterized by wet and long rainy seasons with annual rainfall of more than 3500mm, while theSahel region of north-western and north-eastern parts have annual rainfall of less than 600mm.
Rainfall is highly variable, low (Moretimore and Adams 2000), and concentrated in few rainy months
a year (May to October) and some areas may receive annual rainfall less than 75mm while at othertimes of the year, the area is separated by relatively long dry months.
According to IPCC projections, rainfall in the very humid regions of southern Nigeria is expected toincrease. This may be accompanied by increase in cloudiness and rainfall intensity, particularly
during severe storms, which may result in shifts in geographical patterns of precipitation andchanges in the sustainability of the environment and management of resources.
However, recent studies have shown that there has been precipitation decrease in the humid
regions of West Africa, including parts of southern Nigeria since the beginning of the century to
between 10%-25% per decade. In the Sudan-Sahel regions of northern Nigeria, there have also
been records of shortages and decrease in rainfall in the range of about 30%-40% or about 3%-4%
per decade. These areas are already recording seasonal and inter-annual climatic variabilities,
resulting in droughts and desertification processes.
There has been a progressive early retreat of rainfall over Nigeria for more than a century now. This
12 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

has been consistent with the pattern of significant decline of rainfall frequency i.e. the number of raindays in September and October which respectively coincides with the end of the rainy season in thenorthern and southern parts of the country, leading to a decrease in the annual rain days over theentire country. In fact studies have provided evidence that since 1968, the start of rains has beengetting progressively delayed over southern Nigeria as corroborated by the significant decline in
April rainfall (Apata et al; 2009). These have resulted in low and variable rainfall; short growing
periods, scarcities of soil nutrients and deep water tables in the north (Mortimore and Adams, 2000).
Yet, these constraints have not restricted the diversity of technologies available in the region.
Though some places in Nigeria are experiencing a decline in rainfall and droughts, some parts in the
coastal and Guinea savanna belts are reported to be experiencing increase in August rainfall
amount, without a corresponding increase in rainfall frequency. This has resulted in increase in
rainfall intensity causing widespread floods. Floods have become a common feature of Nigerian
climate and shows that the country is concurrently experiencing extreme rainfall conditions, one ofdrought and the other of floods. Recent studies have also shown that there has been precipitation
decrease in the humid regions of West Africa, including parts of southern Nigeria since thebeginning of the century to between 10-25% per decade. In Nigeria, this is evidenced by the latearrival of rains, drying up of streams and small rivers that usually flow year round, the seasonal
shifting of the “Mango rains” and that of the fruiting period in the southern Oyo State and the gradualdisappearance of flood-recession cropping in riverine areas of Ondo State are among the effects ofclimate change in communities in the southwest Nigeria. These inconsistencies in rainfall havemade it generally difficult for farmers (Macchi, 2008) and scientists (IPCC, 2001) to predict
precipitation patterns. This may also suggest that future climate change will bring about further
extension of many trends.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 13

3. Methodology
3.1
Study Area
Nigeria is broadly divided into six agro-ecological regions, namely North-North, North-Central,
North-East, South-South, South-East and South-West. It is located between Latitudes 40N - 140N
and Longitude 20E- 140E. It has a vast land area of 923,768km² of which 98.6% is terrestrial, and1.4% (13,000km²) is taken by water . According to the land use pattern, Nigeria land is covered bythree types of vegetation (Earth Trends, 2003: Figure 2), namely: Forests (areas where there issignificant tree cover); Savannah (areas that have insignificant tree cover, with grasses and flowers
located between trees; and Montane land (This is the least common, and is mainly found in themountains near the Cameroonian border.)Both the forest zone and the savannah zone are divided into three parts. Some of the forest zones
mostly in the southern part, especially around the Niger River and Cross River deltas are mangroveswamp. There is also fresh water swamp, containing different vegetation from the salt water
mangrove swamps, and north of that is rain forest mostly found in the South western Nigeria (Earth
Trends, 2003).
The savannah zones on the other hand are;a. Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, made up of plains of tall grass which are interrupted by trees,b. The most common across the country; Sudan savannah, similar but with shorter grasses andshorter trees; andc. Sahel savannah patches of grass and sand, found in the northeast.

Figure 2:
Vegetation
Map of Nigeria
14 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Southwest Nigeria is made up of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States (Figure 3). It is
located in the coastal region of the country and is characterised by humid to sub humid eco-climate.
The vegetation cover ranges from forest to savanna woodland or forest-savanna transition zones.
Average annual rainfall is 1,200 to 1,500mm. Majority of inhabitants are farmers and practice
farming enterprises ranging from crop production to livestock breeding, forestry practices, fisheries
and aquaculture as well as agricultural processing.
A field survey was carried out in Southwest Nigeria to confirm the perspectives of farmers, extension
officers and researchers on climate change issues and the efficacy of some emerging andindigenous technologies that farmers adopt and adapt to cope with the phenomenon of climatechange. Southwest Nigeria is bounded in the north and east by the Kwara and Kogi States of
Nigeria; in the West by the Republic of Benin and in the south by the Atlantic Ocean.

Figure 3: Map of South West Nigeria
3.2
Data Collection Procedure
The draft survey instruments were drawn up between December, 2009 and February, 2010. The
draft survey instruments were then revised during an inception meeting of the project held on 13th
February 2010 at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State Nigeria. The comments andamendments made on the draft during this meeting were then used to prepare final versions whichwere then sent for comments to the ATPS Secretariat on Thursday, March 18, 2010. Comments andapproval to proceed for pilot survey were received from the ATPS secretariat on April 08, 2010.
The main objectives of the pilot survey are to:
1. To pre-test the survey instrument for technical accuracy, coherence, relevance to overall
objective of research and easiness of eliciting the desired information from the respondents
2. To simulate the field survey situation, have a firsthand experience, obtain preliminary
information on the research topic from the respondent
3. To identify the likely hindrance to the success of the final survey exercise

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 15

4. To sensitize and prepare the target audience (Farmers, Researchers and Extension Officers
alike) for the final field survey
The details of the conduct of the pilot survey are contained in a separate report. However, somepreliminary findings are that farmers in the area are predominantly crop and livestock farmers,
mostly middle aged, few educated male and female of varying faith and well organised into farmers
and social groups. They have never participated in any climate sense programme before, butobserved that industrial activity such as quarrying; transportation and deforestation resulting fromurbanization are important known sources of climate change. They claimed that there is noevidence that their farming practices except bush burning which they fail to agree was having any
significant contribution to climate change. In the same vein, the extension officers and researchers
claimed some knowledge of climate change events, but have not undertaken and careful study ofsuch events. It appears therefore that there will be a need for thorough training of the enumerators
to elicit desired information especially from farmers to capture a broad range of outputs.
3.3
Sampling Method
The three main agro-ecological zones in the area are the swamp on the Atlantic coast, tropicalrainforest in the middle and guinea savanna in the north. A random sample of three ruralcommunities were selected from each of these agro-ecological zones from the village listingavailable with the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs responsible for field levelagricultural extension services) covering the Ogun State for the swamp locations; Ondo State forthe rainforest locations and Oyo State for the savanna locations. Southwest Nigeria is also home to
the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, (IITA) Ibadan; the University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta, eight (8) conventional Universities with faculties of agriculture and four (4) National
Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs).
In each of the nine (9) locations selected for this study, a systematic sample of 41 farmers (taking
into cognisance the variety of agricultural activities in each community) was selected from a list
purposively compiled for this project. This way, 369 farmers were selected for interview by trained
enumerators. These farmers cover the broad range of farming systems practices in southwest
Nigeria and their perspectives on indigenous and emerging technologies and how these have or
can help to cope with climate change. However, only 362 questionnaires were used for further
analysis as shown in Table 1. Of these, 119 questionnaires from the swamp agro-ecological zone,
120 from the rainforest and 123 from the savanna zone giving a response rate of 98.1%. One
questionnaire was rejected because many of the required information were missing.

16 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Table 1: Response rate of the farmers' interview guides
Agro-ecologicalzone

Numberadministered

Numberreturned

Number used forfurther analysis

Response
rate (%)

Swamp
Rainforest
Savanna
Overall

123
123
123
369

120
120
123
363

119
120
123
362

96.7
97.6
100.0
98.1

Furthermore, a sample 150 extension officers were systematically selected from the staff list of theAgricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in three agro-ecological zones of Southwest
Nigeria. Another sample of 30 researchers working on areas bordering climate change andagriculture were also purposively selected for this study. It was anticipated that these researchersand extension officers will provide further insights and perspectives into the farming systems insouthwest Nigeria and their influence on climate change. The response rate for the extension
officers' questionnaires varied between 72% in the rainforest to 100% in the swamp zone (Table 2).
The low response rate to the researchers' questionnaire in the swamp zone (due mainly to thescarcity of researchers in the area brought the response rate of the researchers' questionnaire to46.6% (Table 3).
Table 2: Response rate of the extension officers questionnaires
Agroecologicalzone

Number ofquestionnaires
administered

Number ofquestionnaires
returned

Number used
for further
analysis

Response
rate (%)

Swamp
Rainforest
Savanna
Overall

50
50
50
150

50
36
39
125

50
36
39
125

100.0
72
78.0
83.3

Table 3. Response rate of the researchers questionnaires
Agroecological zone

Number ofquestionnaires
administered

Number ofquestionnaires
returned

Number used
for further
analysis

Response
rate (%)

Swamp
Rainforest
Savanna
Overall

10
10
10
30

2
5
7
14

2
5
7
14

20
50
70
46.7

3.4
Data Analysis
The data obtained were organised in Microsoft Excel by trained data entry operators, cleaned by amember of the research team and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS). In addition to descriptive statistical tools to understand trends and patterns in the data, Chi
square analyses was done to test a set of twenty hypotheses using data obtained at ordinal level.
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 17

Product Moment correlation analyses was used to test another set of twenty hypotheses using
variables measured at interval level. The decision to reject or not to reject each hypothesis is basedon the probability (p) less than 0.05. Finally, each of the 14 climate change related researchersinterviewed were profiled in short case studies that attempt to showcase their climate change
related credentials.
3.5
Stakeholders' workshop and policy dialogue
A one-day stakeholders' workshop and policy dialogue was held on 6th September, 2010 at the
University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria to share the preliminary findings of the study withstakeholders including policymakers, researchers, students and farmers. The aims of the
stakeholders' workshop and policy dialogue are to:
1. Enhance behavioural changes towards climate change adaptation measures at individual andinstitutional levels in southwest Nigeria
2. Facilitate knowledge sharing for climate change adaptation; and3. Stimulate the interest of young researchers in contributing to climate change research andcapacity development, and policy discussions
The stakeholders' workshop and policy dialogue was attended by 24 participants. The key
resolutions at the stakeholders' workshop and policy dialogue are:
1. The need to emphasize the negative impact of climate change
2. The cost benefit analyses of the indigenous and emerging technologies need to be determinedor at least a recommendation towards this as a next step should be made.
3. Some participants wanted to know if survey instrument were done individually. Researchers
explained that the instrument was jointly prepared
4. Expected specialists to document and draw salient indigenous technologies from the study e.g.
the rain maker issue. The importance of not allowing personal biases to colour findings wasemphasised especially as regards the religious implications of certain indigenous measures. It
is important to state the facts as they were.
5. The response of researchers to the survey questionnaires focused only on their disciplines andtheir research foci. Only 14 questionnaires from researchers were included in the analysis. Thisis mainly because only researchers who claimed to have done some climate change related
studies were included.
6. The full papers presented at the workshop should be refined and published in reputable
academic journals to enable a wider audience have access to them.

18 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

4.

Results & Findings

4.1
Description of farmers
Most of the farmers interviewed are male, married with an average 48.57 years (Table 4). A highproportion of the farmers in the savanna zone (46.34%) have had no formal education as opposedto the swamp and rainforest zones where 92.44% and 84.17% respectively have at least primaryeducation. Christianity and Islam are the predominantly and openly declared religion in southwest
Nigeria (Adebayo et al 2009b). More than 87% of the farmers declared these two religions.
Table 4: Modal classes for some socio-economic characteristics of farmers in
the three agro-ecological zones of southwest Nigeria
Agro-ecological zones
Variables

Swamp (n=119)

Rainforest (n=120)

Savanna (n=123)

Overall (n=362)

Gender

82.35% male

68.33% male

73.98% male

74.9% male

Marital Status

90.76% married

83.33% married

63.41% married

79.0% married

Age (Mean =48.57 years)

84.03% 41 - 60
years old

66.67% 41 - 60
years old

53.66% 41 -60
years old

68.0% 41 - 60
years old

Highest level offormal education*

7.56% NFE

15.83% NFE

46.34% NFE

23.5% NFE

Religion

52.10%
Christianity

66.67%
Christianity

46.34%
Christianity

55.0%
Christianity

Household size
(Mean = 6 persons)45.38%
6 -10 persons

53.33%
3-6 persons

59.35%
3 - 6 persons

47.2%
3-6 persons* NFE - No formal education

As shown in Table 5, crop production is the dominant agricultural enterprise that farmers insouthwest Nigeria engage in. It is practiced by over 90% in the savanna and rainforest zone, but
only 37.82% in the swamp regions where the primary agricultural enterprise is fishing/fish farming.
As with most small farmers, food processing, whether crop or fishes, takes a secondary position tofarming, suggesting that value addition to primary farm products is not a primary concern of mostsmall farmers. While tree cropping/forestry enterprise gets some mention (5.83% and 6.5%) in therainforest and savanna zones respectively, livestock production gets mentioned in the swamp andrainforest zones only. It should be noted that the fact that no farmer in the savanna zone mentioned
livestock production does not mean no livestock production takes place in the savanna zone. It
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 19

may only have reflected the general non-inclusion of migrant Fulani herdsmen who traverse thiszone most part of the year as small farmers in the zone (Adebayo et al, 2008).
Table 5: Farmers' ranking of the enterprises they practice in the three agroecological zones of southwest Nigeria

Agro-ecological zones
Enterprise

Swamp(n=119)Rainforest(n=120)

Savanna(n=123)Overall(n=362)

Crop production

37.82

92.50

92.68

74.59

Fishing/fish farming

53.78

0.00

0.00

17.68

Tree cropping/forestry

0.00

5.83

6.50

4.14

Crop processing

2.52

0.00

0.81

1.10

Fish processing

5.04

0.00

0.00

1.66

Livestock production

0.84

0.83

0.00

0.55

Other enterprises

0.00

0.83

0.00

0.28

4.2.
Description of extension officers
Majority (89.6%) of the extension officers are male with a mean age of 40.15 years (Table 6). Most ofthem (85.6%) are married. Christian officers dominate in the rainforest zone (88.9%), while the
distribution between Christians and Muslims is almost even in the swamp and savanna zones. The
mean household size is five (5) persons. The most common highest academic qualification held by
76% of the extension officers in the swamp zone, 91.7% in the rainforest and 92.3% in the savanna
are the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree and Higher National Diploma (HND). In the swamp zone,
an additional 14% of the extension officers hold a Master of Science (M.Sc.) and equivalentdegrees. This confirms the findings of several previous studies that extension officers in southwest
Nigeria hold much higher academic qualifications than their counterparts in other States of Nigeria(Akinbode, 1982; Idowu, 1988; Zaria and Omotayo, 1997; Agbamu, 2004). Extension
recommendations are then expected to diffuse through these contact farmers to a minimum 800
farmers to enabling the country to achieve and extension ratio of 1:800 (Akinbode, 1982; APCU,
1999).
As shown in Table 6, the average number of contact farmers directly reached by extension officers is
246. The majority of extension officers in the savanna and swamp agro-ecological zones 97.4% and
72% respectively) reach less than 80 farmers, but only 27.8% of the extension officers in therainforest reach less than 80 farmers. The implication of this finding is that the extension ratio in therainforest is lower than those of the swamp and savanna zones suggesting the need to recruit more
20 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

extension officers to bridge this gap in the zone. The mean number of years spent on the job byextension officers interviewed is 10.12 years.
Table 6. Some socio-economic characteristics of extension officers in the threeagro-ecological zones of southwest Nigeria

Agro-ecological Zones

VariableSwamp(n=50)

Rainforest
n=36)

Savanna
n=39)

Overall(n=125)

Gender

94% male

86.11% male 87.18% male 89.6% maleAge (Mean = 40.15years)

54%
40-60
years old

63.89%
21-60
years old

89.74%
21 - 40years old

62.4%
21-40
years old

Marital Status82%
married86.11%
married89.74%
married85.6%
marriedReligion

56%
Christianity

88.89%
Christianity

46.15%
Christianity

62.4%
Christianity

Household size
(Mean = 5.28 persons)46%
3-6 persons

36.11%
3-6 persons

82.05%
3-6 persons

54.4%
3-6 persons

Highest academic qualification

42% HND

55.56% HND

66.67% BSc.

44.8% BSc.

Number of contact farmers(Mean = 246.12 farmers)

72% lessthan 80
farmers

33% morethan 160
farmers

97.44% lessthan 80
farmers

67.2% Less
than 80
farmers

Number of years on the job as
an extension (Mean =10.12 years)

74% Above
10 years

38.89% Less
than 3 years

43.59%
3-6 years

42.4% Above
10 years

Many of the agricultural extension officers in the swamp (34%) and the rainforest (50%) specialize in
Agricultural Economics and Extension (Table 7). In the savanna, the commonest specialization
among extension officers (30.8%) is Plant Science and Crop Production. Conversely, only 2% of theofficers in the swamp zone and 2.8% in the rainforest compared to 12.8% in the savanna zone. It isnoteworthy however that 24% of the extension officers in the swamp zone are general agriculturists
and therefore could provide extension services to the fishery enterprise.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 21

Table 7: Area of specialization of extension officers in the three agro-ecologicalzones of southwest Nigeria

Agro- ecological Zones
Specialization

Swamp(n=50)

Rainforest(n=36)

Savanna(n=39)Overall(n=125)General Agriculture

24.00

5.56

0.00

11.20

Agricultural Economics and Extension

34.00

50.00

12.82

32.00

Agricultural Mechanization

0.00

0.00

2.56

0.80

Animal Science and Livestock Production

8.00

8.33

33.44

16.00

Natural Sciences

2.00

5.56

0.00

2.40

Plant Science and Crop Production

20.00

25.00

30.77

24.80

Fishery

2.00

2.78

12.82

5.60

Forest management

2.00

0.00

2.56

1.60

Soil science

0.00

0.00

5.13

1.60

No Response

8.00

2.78

0.00

4.00

4.3.
Description of climate related researchers
Only 14 researchers working on climate change related issues responded to the questionnaire
survey (Figure 4). Of these, half are based in Ibadan (savanna zone) where most of the research
institutes in southwest Nigeria have their main offices, five (5) are based in Akure (rainforest) andtwo (2) are based in Abeokuta (swamp). These locations (Ibadan, Akure and Abeokuta) are capitalcities respectively in Oyo, Ondo and Ogun States and not necessarily located in the agroecological zones where the researchers carry out their work. For instance, Abeokuta is located in
the transition ecology between the rainforest and the savanna, even though the study locations in
Ogun State where the researchers interviewed conduct their fieldworks (Ogun Waterside LGA) is in
the swamp agro-ecological zones.

22 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Figure 4: Distribution of climate related researchers by agro-ecological zones insouthwest Nigeria
Due to this low response rate, a small part of the data obtained have been subjected only tofrequency counts and presented in pictorially in pie and bar charts. The detailed response of eachresearcher was however used to present 14 short cases that show the range of researchers and thenature of research works that they are carrying out on climate change. As shown in Figure 5, six ofthe researchers hold a M.Sc. one had an M.Phil and five hold PhDs in their respective fields. The
minimum number of years on the job as a researcher spent by any of them is 1.5years while themaximum is 30 years. As shown in Figure 6, half of them have spent less than five (5) years on thejob. In terms of the agricultural enterprises on which their research is focused, 9 of them work on
crop production related enterprises, six (6) work on tree cropping and forestry related issues, (four)
4 carry out their research on fishing and fish farming, and carry out their research on livestock
enterprises (Table 8). All of them have noticed climate change phenomena in their vicinity. Unlike
farmers and extension officers, researchers rely on external sources (not friends and family) for
information on climate change. As shown in Figure 7, their major sources of information are
personal observation, the internet, television, research institutes and radio.

Figure 5: Highest academic qualification of climate related researchers insouthwest Nigeria
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 23

Figure 6: Number of years on the job by climate related researchers insouthwest Nigeria as a researcher
Table 8. Ranking of agricultural enterprises on which climate related
researchers focus in southwest Nigeria

Frequency of Ranks

Enterprise

1

2

3

4

5

RankedScore*

Crop Production

7

1

0

1

0

41

1st

Crop Processing

0

1

1

0

1

8

6th

Livestock production

3

0

0

1

0

17

4th

Fishing and fish farming

2

2

0

0

0

18

3rd

Fish processing

0

1

1

0

0

7

7th

Tree cropping/Forestry

1

3

1

0

1

21

2nd

Other Enterprises

1

1

0

0

0

9

5th

st

nd

rd

th

th

Overallrank* The ranked score is obtained by the sum of the products of frequency of rank and a matching score of 5 points for
1st, 4 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd, 2 points for 4th and 1 point for 5th.

24 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Figure 7: Climate related researchers' sources of information about climatechange4.4.

Climate sense among Farmers and Extension Officers in South West
Nigeria
Overall, there is a high level of climate awareness among farmers and extension officers insouthwest Nigeria. In the three ecological zones, about 94% of the farmers claimed to be aware ofclimatic variability. More than 93% of them are in the swamp and rainforest zones perceived thattemperatures have become higher while only 56% agree in the savannah zone. About 40% werecertain that temperatures are yet stable (Figure 8). In the same vein, majority of the extension
officers (about 90%, except in the rainforest where it is 61%) have observed higher environmental
temperatures in southwest Nigeria. It is possible that the presence of many trees proving shades in
the rainforest may have influenced the observation of extension officers in this zone.

Farmers

Extension Officers

Figure 8: Changes observed in environmental temperature in the three agroecological zones of southwest Nigeria

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 25

Information on rainfall shows that 94% and 81% of farmers in swamp and rainforest zones
respectively observed decline in rainfall while less than 20% of the farmers disagree and argued
that rainfall was stable in the savanna zone. Similarly, more than 80% of the extension officers inthe swamp and savanna agro-ecological zones concur that rainfall volumes have been lower(Figure 9). Only 55% of the officers in the rainforest appear convinced that rainfall volumes havebeen lower. Again, this may be the influence of particular micro-environments.

Farmers

Extension officers

300

90

250

80
70

200

No response

60

150

Lower

50

Stable40

StableHigher30

Higher100
50

No repsonse
Lower

20
10

0
Swamp

Rainforest

Savanna

Overall0
Swamp

Rainforest

Savanna

Overall-Figure 9. Changes observed in rainfall volume in the three agro-ecological zones
of southwest Nigeria

While about 87% of the farmers generally agreed that there has been variability in wind patterns,
further analysis present interesting scenarios in the zones. In the swamp zone for example, only halfof the farmers acknowledged that there is higher winds while almost the same proportion argued
otherwise. On the other hand, a very large proportion of 85% of farmers in the rain forest observed
lower winds while almost the same proportion of farmers in savanna zone observed higher winds.
Expect in the savanna agro-ecology, there is no clear-cut opinion among extension officers as totheir observation of wind variability in southwest Nigeria. While more than 80% of the extension
officers in the savanna zone concur that they have observed higher wind variability, only about 7%of the officers in the rainforest and 47% in the swamp claim to have observed higher wind variability(Figure 10). In fact, about 30% of the extension officers in the swamp zone claim to observe lower
wind variability. The officers in the rainforest (55%) opine that wind variability have been stable. It is
to be expected that the openness of the savanna agro-ecology will make variations in windvariability as opposed to a rainforest environment. In the swamp the differences of opinion would
arise between farmers operating in the mangrove and those operating more in the open water
bodies.

26 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Farmers

Extension officers

90

180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

80
70

No response
Lower
StableHigher60
No response

50

Lower

40

Stable30

Higher

20
10

Swamp

Rainforest

Savanna0Overall

Swamp

Rainforest

Savanna

OverallFigure 10: Changes observed in wind variability in the three agro-ecologicalzones of southwest Nigeria
4.5.

Socio-Economic Factors influencing farmers' observation of generalclimate change phenomena
Of the 10 hypotheses tested using farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena as
the dependent variables, only location, that is the agro-ecological zone where the farmer is locatedprovides a significant insight into the variability in farmers' observation (Tables 9 and 10). Therefore,
the hypothesis that framers' observation of general climate change phenomena is independent of
their agro-ecological zone is rejected while all others were not. The import of this finding is thatirrespective of farmers' socio-economic standing such as gender, marital status, level of formal
education, religion, age, household size and income from various occupations; their opinion ofwhat changes they observe in the general climatic phenomena is similar. This should be so; after all
there are no specific climatic conditions for different socio-economic stations among humanbeings. This generalization may not however hold when farmers' observation of specific climatechange variables are examined more closely.
Table 9: Results of Chi square analysis (Dependent variable = farmers
observation of general climate change phenomena)
Independent variable

Chi square value

df1

Asymp. Sig.
(2- sided)

Decision 2

Agro -ecological zone
GenderMarital status
Highest level of formal education attained
Religion

20.22
2.24
8.81
18.80
5.09

6
4
6
14
6

0.00
0.69
0.19
0.17
0.53

Reject H 01
Do not reject H02
Do not reject H03
Do not reject H04
Do not reject H05

1.df – Degrees of freedom
2.H01 – Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is independent of their agro-ecologicalzone
H02 - Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is independent of their gender
H03 - Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is independent of their marital status
H04 - Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is independent of their highest level of formal
education attained
H05 - Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is independent of their religion
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 27

Table 10. Results of Correlation analysis (Dependent variable = farmers
observation of general climate change phenomena)
Independent variable

Correlation

Sig. (2-

Decision*

Coefficient (r)tailed)Age (years)

0.03

0.59

Do not reject H 01

Household size (persons)

-0.01

0.92

Do not reject H 02

Annual Income from Primary Occupation (Naira)Annual Income from Secondary Occupation (Naira)Annual Income from Tertiary Occupation (Naira)

0.06
-0.02
-0.09

0.24
0.74
0.09

Do not reject H 03
Do not reject H 04
Do not reject H 05

* H01 – Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is not significantly related to their age
H02 - Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is not significantly related to their household size
H03 - Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is not significantly related to their estimated annual
income realized from primary occupation
H04 - Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is not significantly related to their estimated annual
income realized from secondary occupation
H05 - Farmers' observation of general climate change phenomena is not significantly related to their estimated annual
income realized from tertiary occupation

4.6.
Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature
The results of Chi square and correlation analysis respectively for the 10 null hypotheses are shownin Tables 11 and 12. As expected, location (agro-ecological zone) remains a significant variable inindicating the variability in the farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature.
However, in addition to this, farmers' marital status, highest level of formal education attained,
income from primary and tertiary occupations also contribute to the explanation of farmers'
observation of changes in environmental temperature.
It is conceivable that farmers with higher levels of education would hold a stronger view of theirunderstanding of changes in temperature than the less formally educated. More formally educatedfarmers would relate with and follow trends in temperature changes reported in written media andthus shape their observations in ways different from less formally educated farmers.

28 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Table 11: Results of Chi square analysis (Dependent variable = farmers''
observation of changes in environmental temperature)
Independent variable

Chi square

df

value

Asymp. Sig.

Decision(2-sided)Agro-ecological zone

105.67

6

0.00

Reject H 01

Gender

1.90

6

0.93

Do not reject H02

Marital status

19.75

9

0.02

Reject H03

Highest level of formal

64.07

21

0.00

Reject H 04

12.66

9

0.18

Do not reject H05

education attained
Religiondf – Degrees of freedom
H01 – Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is independent of their agro-ecological zone
H02 - Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is independent of their gender
H03 - Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is independent of their marital status
H04 - Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is independent of their highest level of formal
education attained
H05 - Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is independent of their religion

Table 12. Results of Correlation analysis (Dependent variable = farmers
observation of changes in environmental temperature)
Independent variable

Correlation

Sig.

Coefficient (r)(2-tailed)Decision

Age (years)

0.02

0.68

Do not reject H0Household size (persons)

0.077

0.14

Do not reject H0

Annual Income from Primary Occupation (Naira)Annual Income from Secondary Occupation (Naira)Annual Income from Tertiary Occupation (Naira)

0.36
0.00
0.24

0.00
1.00
0.00

Reject H0
Do not reject H0
Reject H0* H01 – Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is not significantly related to their age
H02 - Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is not significantly related to their household size
H03 - Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is not significantly related to their estimated annual
income realized from primary occupation
H04 - Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is not significantly related to their estimated annual
income realized from secondary occupation
H05 - Farmers' observation of changes in environmental temperature is not significantly related to their estimated annual
income realized from tertiary occupation

Furthermore, farmers earning higher income from their primary occupation may be expected tospend part of that income on environmental temperature management devices such as fans, airconditioners or warmers where changes are perceived or anticipated in environmental
temperature. Farmers earning less income would however be constrained by availability of funds to
respond as positively or promptly as their higher income colleagues. As such, over time or within alarge group, these two groups may express their observation of changes in environmental
temperatures in significantly different ways.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 29

On the contrary, it is within reason that people who require a tertiary income source to augment theirprimary income sources would respond in a different way to changes in environmental temperaturefrom those who do not require a tertiary income source. The result in Table 18 shows that the higher
the income from a tertiary income source, the higher the tendency that a farmer would observe thatenvironmental temperature is lower. This could be explained by a feeling of the need to justify theneed for income from a tertiary source to cope with lower environmental temperature.

4.7.
Farmers' observation of changes rainfall volume
Location (agro-ecological zone) is again significantly explains the variability observed in theobservation of changes in rainfall volume by farmers in southwest Nigeria (Table 13). As withtemperature, marital status, level of formal education attained, income from primary and tertiaryoccupations also come into play (Tables 13 and 14). The new variable significantly providing theinsight into the variability in farmers' observation of changes in rainfall volume is age (Table 14).
The result shows that the older farmers tend to observe that rainfall volume is lower and younger
ones tend to think otherwise. It is possible to explain this difference of opinion between old andyoung farmers to relative inexperience for the young farmers.
Table 13: Results of Chi square analysis (Dependent variable = farmers'
observation of changes rainfall volume)
Independent variable

Chi square

df

value

Asymp. Sig.

Decision(2-sided)Agro-ecological zone

90.70

6

0.00

Reject H0

Gender

7.54

6

0.27

Do not reject H0Marital status

26.15

9

0.00

Reject H0

Highest level of formal education attained

84.13

21

0.00

Reject H0

Religion

11.22

9

0.26

Do not reject H0

df – Degrees of freedom
H01 – Farmers' observation of changes rainfall volume is independent of their agro-ecological zone
H02 - Farmers' observation of changes rainfall volume is independent of their gender
H03 - Farmers' observation of changes rainfall volume is independent of their marital status
H04 - Farmers' observation of changes rainfall volume is independent of their highest level of formal education
attained
H05 - Farmers' observation of changes rainfall volume is independent of their religion

30 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Table 14: Results of Correlation analysis (Dependent variable = farmers
observation of changes in rainfall volume)
Independent variable

Correlation

Sig.

Coefficient (r)2-tailed)

Decision

Age (years)

-0.11

0.03

Reject H 0

Household size (persons)

-0.09

0.08

Do not reject H0

Annual Income from Primary Occupation (Naira)Annual Income from Secondary Occupation (Naira)Annual Income from Tertiary Occupation (Naira)

-0.26
0.06
0.26

0.00
0.22
0.00

Reject H0
Do not reject H0
Reject H0* H01 – Farmers' observation of changes in rainfall volume is not significantly related to their age
H02 - Farmers' observation of changes in rainfall volume is not significantly related to their household size
H03 - Farmers' observation of changes in rainfall volume is not significantly related to their estimated annual income
realized from primary occupation
H04 - Farmers' observation of changes in rainfall volume is not significantly related to their estimated annual income
realized from secondary occupation
H05 - Farmers' observation of changes in rainfall volume is not significantly related to their estimated annual income
realized from tertiary occupation

4.8
Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability
As with other climate variables, location (agro-ecological zone), marital status, level of formal
education and income from primary occupation (Tables 15 and 16) provide a significant insight into
the differences in farmers' observation of changes in wind variability (Table 15). As with observationof changes in rainfall volume, age also contributed to the insights into farmers' observation of thechanges observed in wind variability in southwest Nigeria. In addition to these variables, thehypothesis that farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is independent of their religion
was also rejected.
Table 15: Results of Chi square analysis (Dependent variable = farmers'
observation of changes in wind variability
Independent variable

Chi square

df

value

Asymp. Sig.

Decision

2-sided)Agro-ecological zone

223.786

0.00

Reject H0

Gender

2.46

6

0.87

Do not reject H0Marital status

21.21

9

0.01

Reject H0

Highest level of formal

99.31

21

0.00

Reject H0

38.91

9

0.00

Reject H0

education attained
Religiondf – Degrees of freedom
H01 – Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is independent of their agro-ecological zone
H02 - Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is independent of their gender
H03 - Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is independent of their marital status
H04 - Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is independent of their highest level of formal education
attained
H05 - Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is independent of their religion
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 31

Table 16: Results of Correlation analysis (Dependent variable = farmers
observation of changes in wind variability)
Independent variable

Correlation
Coefficient (r)Sig. (2-tailed)Decision

Age (years)

-0.14

0.01

Reject H 01

Household size (persons)Annual Income from Primary Occupation (Naira)

0.008-0.3850.88
0.00

Do not reject H02
Reject H 03

Annual Income from Secondary Occupation (Naira)-0.175

0.00

Reject H04

Annual Income from Tertiary Occupation (Naira)

0.079

0.14

Do not reject H05* H01 – Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is not significantly related to their age
H02 - Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is not significantly related to their household size
H03 - Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is not significantly related to their annual income from primaryoccupation
H04 - Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is not significantly related to their annual income fromsecondary occupation
H05 - Farmers' observation of changes in wind variability is not significantly related to their estimated annual income
realized from tertiary occupation

4.9

Farmers' Perspectives on the Causes and Effects of Climate Change inSouthwest Nigeria
Table 17 presents famers' perspectives on the causes of climate change in southwest Nigeria. Mostof the farmers (65.75%) opine that farming activities such as bush burning, use of agro-chemicals
and deforestation are the key causes of climate change. This is more so in the swamp agroecological zone where 84.03% of the farmers claim that farming activities are the main cause ofclimate change.
In addition to farming activities, about a quarter of the farmers interviewed (more than half in therainforest zone) perceive urbanization as another key cause of climate change (Table 17). The
examples given are: civilization (increasing numbers of vehicles, and other CFC emitting utilities,
deforestation to make way for rapidly expanding urban areas, emission of gases and improper
disposal of urban wastes especially in slums that tend to be an appendage of all major urban areas.

32 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Table 17: Farmers' perspectives on the causes of climate change in the threeagro-ecological zones of southwest Nigeria and their examples
Agro-ecological zones*
CausesSwamp(n=119)Rainforest Savanna Overall Examples(n=120) (n=123) (n=362)

Industrial activities

9.24

30.83

3.25

14.36

Construction, Emissions of gases,
Flaring of gases, Petroleum, Quarry,
Smoke from diesel or petrol engines,
Smoking, Use of Chemicals, Water
Pollution

Farming activities

84.03

55.83

57.72

65.75

Bush burnin g, Chemicals (herbicides),Deforestation

Transportation

8.40

17.50

9.76

11.88

Emission of dangerous gases, Smokefrom diesel or petrol engine

Agro processing

3.36

19.17

6.50

9.67

Agro Allied waste, Deforestation,
Pesticides, Release of smokes,
Smoking

Urbanization

4.20

55.00

17.07

25.41

Civilization, Deforestation, Emission ofgases, Improper disposal of waste
discharge* Note multiple responses

Even though only 14.36% of the farmers interviewed (30.8% in the rainforest zone) mentioned
industrial activities as the main cause of climate change, the variety of examples of industrial
activities given by the farmers were more varied (Table 17). These are: use of industrial chemicals,
construction activities, emission of gases, flaring of gases, use of petroleum products, quarrying
activities, smoke from diesels and petrol engines, smoking by industrial workers and waterpollution. Transportation and agro-processing activities were identified as causes of climatechange by 11.88% and 9.67% of the farmers respectively (Table 17). As in other identified causes ofclimate change, the proportion of farmers who pointed this out in the rainforest are more than thoseof the swamp and savanna agro-ecological zones.
Table 18 shows farmers' perspectives of the how climate change had affected them personally. The
most common description of how climate change had affected farmers personally is reduction in
their personal productivity. This opinion is expressed by 96.6% of the farmers in the swamp zone,
60.8% in the rainforest and 68.3% in the savanna. In addition, one-quarter of the farmers in therainforest opine that climate change had created much personal discomfort for them.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 33

Table 18: Farmers' perspectives on the main way has climate change affected
them personally in the three agro-ecological zones of southwest Nigeria
Agro-ecological zones

Climate change effectSwamp(n=119)Rainforest(n=120)

Savanna(n=123)Overall(n=362)

Reduce productivity

96.64

60.83

68.29

75.14

Create discomfort

0.00

25.00

1.63

8.84

Health hazards

0.00

6.67

5.69

4.14

Increased flooding*

1.68

0.83

0.00

0.83

Longer period of heat stress

0.00

0.00

2.44

0.83

Emergence of new diseases

0.00

0.00

0.81

0.28

More windstorms leading to property
destruction
No response

0.00

0.00

0.81

0.28

1.68

6.67

20.33

9.67

* There is high occurrence of malaria fever when the villages are flooded

In both rainforests and savanna zones, 6.7% and 5.7% respectively of the farmers reported healthhazards due to climate change. Even though increased flooding affecting them personally was only
reported by 1.7% of the farmers in the swamp zone and 0.83% in the rainforest, higher incidence ofmalaria was reported in villages that were flooded than those that were not suggesting longer term
impact of labour availability and expenses on medical expenses. The difficulty with this analysis isthat, we have not established a relationship between climate change and incidence of diseases.
Malaria for example can be reported but we cannot in any way imply that it has any link with climatechange.
In terms of climate change effects on their farming enterprises, reduction in crop yield werereported by 60% of the farmers interviewed (Table 19). Over 90% of the farmers in the savanna zone
reported this. In the rainforest, in addition to about 40% noting reduction in crop yield as the major
effect of climate change on their farming enterprises, 46.7% of the farmers also noted a general low
level of farm productivity as a consequence of climate change. In the swamp zone, there wasconcern about increased incidence of storms damaging boats, nets and increased incidence ofboats capsizing during storms.

34 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Table 19: Farmers' perspectives on the main ways climate change has
affected their farming enterprises
Agro-ecological zones
Climate effectSwamp(n=119)Rainforest Savanna(n=120)(n=123)Overall(n = 362)

None

0.00

0.00

4.07

1.38

Reduction in crop yield

47.06

39.17

93.50

60.22

Low productivity

0.00

46.67

0.00

15.47

Storms damage boats, nets, capsized boats

42.86

0.00

0.00

14.09

Windstorm damages buildings

5.04

0.00

0.00

1.66

Outbreak of diseases

0.00

3.33

0.00

1.10

Windstorms destroying processing sheds

2.52

0.00

0.00

0.83

Others (Evapotranspiration , Excessive rainfall damages
roads , High livestock mortality , High temper ature led tomigration of fishes
Longer heat stress on crop plants
No response

2.52

1.66

2.43

2.24

0.00

9.17

0.00

3.04

4.10

Emerging and Indigenous Technologies for Climate Change
Adaptation
Coping with climate change had become essential part of farmer's life in southwest Nigeria. The
main strategies and technologies promoted by extension officers for farmers to cope with theeffects of climate change in southwest Nigeria are presented in Table 20. The focus is on tree
planting (30%), timely planting of crops (6%) and avoidance of bush burning (6%) in the swamp
zone. In the rainforest zone, it is provision of small scale irrigation (25%), mulching (16.7%)
especially on yam farms, and avoidance of felling tress (8.3%). In the savanna zone the main coping
strategies and technologies are: avoidance of tree felling (25.6%), avoidance of bush burning(23.1), small scale irrigation (5.15) and studying weather condition before planting crops (5.1%).
It appears that farmers in the savanna agro-ecological zone may not be as advanced along this line
as their counterparts in the swamp and rainforest zones. As shown in Table 21, 52.9% of the farmers
in this zone have not yet adopted any strategy or technology to cope with climate change. Given
that farmers in this zone earn less from their primary occupation (farming) than in the other two agroecological zones, one is tempted to attribute financial limitations as a key constraint in this regard.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 35

Table 20: Strategies/technologies promoted by extension officers in copingwith the effects of climate change
Agro-ecological zone

Strategies/technologies

Swamp(n=50)

Rainforest(n=36)

Savanna(n=39)Overall(n=125)

None
Tree planting
Irrigation
Avoid fell ing trees
Avoid bush burning
Mulching
Studying the weather condition before planting
Belonging to a co -op society to get informed
Plant when rain i s steady
Prayer for God's intervention
Delaying in planting
Use of net in fish pond
Promote improve farming practices both in crop and livestock
FadamaBy using high resistant varieties
OthersNo response

0.00
30.00
8.00
2.00
6.00
0.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
8.00
4.00
4.00
4.00
0.00
0.00
12.00
4.00

0.00
0.00
25.00
8.33
0.00
16.67
5.56
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
5.56
0.00
0.00
38.89

2.56
0.00
5.13
25.64
23.08
0.00
5.13
0.00
0.00
0.00
2.56
0.00
0.00
0.00
5.13
2.56
28.21

0.80
12.00
12.00
11.20
9.60
4.80
4.80
2.40
3.20
3.20
2.40
1.60
1.60
1.60
1.60
7.2
21.60

36 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Table 21: Major strategies/technologies adopted by farmers in coping witheffects of climate change
Agro-ecological zones

Strategies/technologies

Swamp(n=119)Rainforest(n=120)

Savanna(n=123)Overall(n=362)

No adopted strategy

0.00

0.00

52.85

17.96

Construction of drainages

86.55

0.00

0.00

28.45

Irrigation

0.00

48.33

16.26

21.55

Afforrestation

0.00

8.33

0.00

2.76

Channelization of beds

5.88

0.00

0.00

1.93

FADAMA

0.00

4.17

0.00

1.38

Planting date adjustment

3.36

0.00

4.88

2.76

Planting of drought tolerant crops

1.68

0.00

0.00

0.55

Fertilizer application

0.00

2.50

0.00

0.83

Use of pesticides

0.00

1.67

0.00

0.55

Mulching

0.00

2.50

0.00

0.83

Consult the rain maker

0.00

0.00

1.63

0.55

Prayers to God

1.68

0.00

0.00

0.55

Provision of shelter

0.00

1.67

0.00

0.55

OthersNo response

0.84
0.00

7.47
23.33

0.81
23.58

3.08
15.75

4.10.1
Construction of simple drainages
The main coping strategy adopted by farmers in the swamp zone is the construction of drainages.
This is done by 87% of the farmers in this zone (Table 21). Draining of swamps is usually done torestore previously unusable land into useful much-needed space for farming or even building.
Lowering the level of the land to such an extent that it drains by gravity is not without its fair share of
problems. For instance, draining can upset the natural habitat and threaten wildlife and plantsystems.
In the swamp communities drainages are constructed as a communal activity. It involves the use of
simple tools such as diggers and shovels to create a large open ditch near to the swamp. The ditch
would be at least one metre below the surface of the land often with a gradient in the normal
direction of water flow to allow for drainage. Sometimes, several smaller ditches of about 60-90cm
deep are made to run between the swamp and the new open ditch. These will be the foundation forthe drainage channels and should slope downwards towards the new ditch, allowing water to run
off. These simple open drainages are used by farmers in the swamp zone to cope with incessant
flooding sometimes attributed to changing climatic regimes.
4.10.2
Small-scale irrigation
In the rainforest and savanna agro-ecological zones, 48.3% and 16.3% of the farmers respectively
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 37

are coping with water shortage for farming activities by adopting small-scale irrigation systems(Table 21). These systems are usually on small plots, in which small farmers have the controllinginfluence, using a level of technology which they can operate and maintain effectively. Althoughsome small-scale irrigation systems serve an individual farm household, most serve a group of
farmers, typically comprising between 5 and 50 households. The range of technologies referred toas small-scale irrigation include a range of technologies to control water from floods, stream-flow, or
pumping. In flood cropping, flood plains are managed by framers to raise crops during part of thegrowing season. In stream diversion (gravity supply) irrigation, small water reservoirs are madealong streams and guided by open channels to farmlands. In lift irrigation (pump supply), water ispumped through channels leading to the farm from a water body which may be a reservoir, a well orother water sources.
4.10.3
Fadama Farming
Fadama is the Hausa (northern Nigeria where the agro-ecology is drier guinea and sahel savanna)name for irrigable land including flood plains and low lying areas underlined by shallow aquifers
and found along Nigeria's river system. In the traditional farming systems of southwest Nigeria,
fadama farming is new and is mainly adopted as response to changing climatic conditions. It is
adopted by 4.2% of the farmers in this agro-ecological zone (Table 21). Fadama farming became
more popular in southwest Nigeria in the 1990s when the National Fadama Development Project(NFDP) popularly called FADMA Project was introduced as a major instrument for achieving thegovernment's poverty reduction objective in the rural areas of Nigeria (Adebayo, 2004).
4.10.4
Afforestation
Afforestation is planting seeds or trees to make a forest on land which has not been a forest recently,
or which has never been a forest. It is adopted by 8.3% of the farmers in the rainforest zone to
replace forest lands that are that are either no longer use for crop cultivation or as part of an
improved fallow system (Table 21). In an improved fallow, fast growing plant species (usually
legumes) are deliberately primarily for rapid replenishment of soil fertility. Other services provided
by fallows include fuel wood production, recycling of nutrients other than nitrogen, provision ofcarbon supply to soil microorganisms, weed suppression, Striga control and improved soil water
storage. Large-scale adoption of short-term improved fallows by farmers has been taken place inmany tropical nations (Buckles and Tromphe, 1999; Bunch, 2000; Franzel, 1999; Kwesiga et al,1999).
4.10.5Integrated Pest management (IPM)
Integrated Pest management (IPM) is a knowledge intensive, food safety concern and agriculturalenvironmental degradation reduction technique. It is a system of practices for minimizing theimpact of pests on the environment by using a variety of control procedures and attempting todecrease the overall chemical inputs. IPM combines chemical, cultural and biological practices into
one programme to manage pest populations. Pesticide applications are carefully timed andcombined with other pest management practices to reduce the needs for frequent applications(Ooi, 2000). Various components of this practice is found in the three agro-ecological zones ofsouthwest Nigeria. As shown in Table 21, 3.4% of the farmers in the swamp zone and 4.9% in thesavanna zone have adopted adjustment of planting dates, 1.7% of the farmers in the swamp zone
have adopted drought tolerant crops traditional grown only in the savanna zone. Fertilizer
38 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

application and use of pesticides have now been adopted by 2.5% and 1.7% of the farmers in therainforest zones respectively. All these are reflection of changing farm practices as climate and its
follow-on dynamics hit various agro-ecological zones of southwest Nigeria.
4.10.6
Mulching
Mulching is adopted by 2.5% of the farmers in the rainforest zone mainly as an important cultural
practice in the cultivation of early yams (Table 21). Land preparation for early yam normallycommences with the onset of dry season (November-December) in this humid tropicalenvironment. Mulch is required to keep the micro-environment for yam setts optimum for
germination and shoot formation. Since yams are planted on large heaps which require total
clearing of land before construction. Mulching with cut grass or other vegetative matter improves
nutrient and water retention in the soil and encourages favourable soil microbial activity andsuppresses weed growth. When mulching is not done or available naturally, the living soil is easily
robbed of its natural nutrient stores, becomes leached and often desiccates.
4.10.7
Rain making and praying to God
People's religious beliefs often influence their perception. As such 1.7% of the farmers in the swamp
and 1.6% of those in the savanna are adopting prayer to God and consulting the rain maker ascoping strategies for flooding and shortage of rain respectively (Table 7). Rain making is within thepurview of traditional religious worship in many rural communities in southwest Nigeria. It had
waned in popularity as Christianity and Islam took hold as the major religions in the area. Rain
making involves the use of some concoctions along with incantations to induce rain. The believersof rain making claim that when used, rain would fall in the farm(s) of adherents alone, but if it is ademand by the community or its king, rain would fall in the supplicant community only. The efficacyof this coping strategy or its best practice formula has not been documented.
As shown in Table 22, only 5.6% of the extension officer sees farmers' refusal to adopt extension
message as a key constraint to implementing climate change adaptation strategies in southwest
Nigeria. Financial constraints is seen by 74% of the officers in the swamp zone, 38.9% in therainforest and 10.3% in the savanna as the key constraints to implementation climate change
adaption strategies in southwest Nigeria. The only other major constraint mentioned by theextension officers in the swamp (2%) and rainforest (11.1%) zones is illiteracy.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 39

Table 22: Extension officers' perspectives of the constraints for implementing
climate change adaptation strategies

Agro-ecological zone

Constraints

Swamp(n=50)

Rainforest(n=36)

Savanna(n=39)Overall(n=125)None
No response
Financial incapability
Refusal to adopt extension messages
Illiteracy
Others

0.00
10.00
74.00
8.00
2.00
6.00

0.00
38.89
38.89
5.56
11.11
5.56

53.85
33.33
10.26
2.56
0.00
0.00

16.80
25.60
44.00
5.60
4.00
4.00

4.11
Case Studies of 14 Climate Related Researchers in Southwest Nigeria
The distribution of the 14 climate related researchers interviewed according to their areas of
specialisation are presented in Table 23. Three of them are agricultural economists; two each are
fisheries and soil scientist while other areas of specialisation such as agro-metrology, animal
science, crop management, entomology, forest ecology and conservation, forestry and wildlife aswell as plant pathology are represented by one respondent each. This may be an indication of theoverall dearth of climate related researchers in Africa. It may also reflect the fact that the relevance of
the influence of climate change issues to various areas of specialisation in agriculture is only
beginning to gain ground in southwest Nigeria despite the predominance of agricultural research
institutes and higher institutions of learning offering courses in agriculture and related fields.
The remaining of this section is dedicate to stating the response of the 14 researchers as casestudies of climate related researchers in southwest Nigeria
Table 23: Area of specialization of climate related researchers in southwest
Nigeria

Area of Specialization

Frequency

Percent

Agricultural Economics
Agro-meteorology
Animal Science
Crop Management
Entomology
Fisheries Management
Forest Ecology and Conservation
Forestry and Wildlife
Plant Pathology
Soil Science

3
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
2

21.4
7.1
7.1
7.1
7.1
14.3
7.1
7.1
7.1
14.3

40 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Case One
Case One is based in Ibadan North West Local Government of Oyo State. He is a Christian married
man of about 30 years of age with a household size of four. He is a research officer with the Forestry
Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Oyo State. He has a master's degree with specialization in
Forest Ecology and Conservation with three years job experience as a civil servant. He has nosecondary occupation and is a member of Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN); and Forests andForest Products Society (FFPS) of Nigeria but not a member of any cooperative/ farmers' group nor
any Social Organization. This researcher claimed that he is aware of change in climate in his vicinity
through Research Institutes and Personal Researches; he has noticed increase in temperature,long dry season and dust in the atmosphere. He has participated in Climate Change and Forest
Resources Management workshop and Enrichment Planting of Degraded Part of Onigambari
Forest Reserve. In his opinion, he believes that industrial activities, farming activities, transportation,
agro processing activities and urbanization are the major causes of climate change via the releaseof effluents into the atmosphere, pollution through waste products, water pollution, bush burning,
deforestation and smoke from processing machines. This will in turn affect crop enterprise bychanging the crop season for harvest. He suggested shifting cultivation; use of biological means toprevent insects and kill weeds; and practice of organic agriculture as coping strategies in possible
effects of climate change. He saw land competition as a major constraint in the coping strategy. The
following programs: “OUR CLIMATE and EROYA (Sunday program) are the predominant climate
intervention programs available in his locality. Other practical measures he suggested areenvironmental education; and awareness conservation clubs in primary and secondary schools.
Case Two
Case Two is also based in Ibadan North West Local Government, an Islamic single male of about 30
years with a household size of three who is also a research officer with the Forestry ResearchInstitute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Oyo State. He has bachelor's degree with specialization in Soil Science
with three years job experience as a civil servant with no secondary occupation. He is a member of
the Soil Science Society of Nigeria and also a member of the Forestry Association of Nigeria (FAN);a member of ASURI Social Organization but not a member of any cooperative/farmers' group. He isa soil scientist whose research focuses on crop production, crop processing and tree cropping. He
is aware of climate change through personal observation, family and friends, radio, internet,
research institutes, personal researches and government agencies. He has noticed hot weather
condition, low humidity and low rainfall intensity as climate changes in his environs. He attended
the 32nd Conference of Forestry Association of Nigeria, Umuahia 2008 and the 5th National
Conference of Organic Agriculture Project in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria (OAPTIN), Owerri 2009and he has published three papers on climate change effects, which are Climatic Change: A Threat
To Food Security And Environmental Protection; Organic Agriculture: A Panacea To Climate
Change And Food Security. This researcher believes that industrial activities, farming activities andtransportation are just the main causes of climate change unlike the first researcher who believes
that there are other causes of climate change. Climate change to this researcher, affects forestry,soil fertility and growth performance of the crops. The coping strategies suggested by thisresearcher are planting of trees; use of agro forestry practices like agro silviculture and hedge rollplanting. Longer gestation of trees is the major coping strategy constraint he saw and there are noclimate intervention programs in his vicinity.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 41

Case Three
Case Three is also Ibadan-based. She is a Senior Research Officer with the National Horticultural
Research Institute (NIHORT); Federal Ministry of Agric And Water Resources. She is an Islamic
married woman whose age was not provided and has a household size of five persons. She is amaster's degree holder whose area of specialization is Agricultural Economics and her major
occupation is civil service. She is a member of Horticultural Society of Nigeria (HORTSON) anddoes not belong to any cooperative society or social organization. Her research is based mainly on
livestock production. She is aware of change in climate through the internet and no personalobservation and the only climate change she is aware of is instability in rainfall. She has neither
attended any climate change workshops nor conferences. She believes that farming activities,
transportation and urbanization are the main causes of climate change through deforestation,
fumes from poisonous gases and cutting of trees. She believes that these activities will reduce crop
production and increase windstorm. Unlike the first two researchers, she was not able to suggest
any climate change intervention or any coping strategy possibly because she has no personalobservation on climate change.
Case Four
Case Four, like the third researcher is also based in Ibadan North of Oyo State. He is a research
officer with Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Oyo State. He is a Christian married man
whose age was also not provided and has a household size of four. He holds a bachelor's degree in
Forestry and Wildlife Management. His major occupation is civil service and he is a member ofInternational Society for Tropical Forests (ISTF) and also a member of Forestry Association of
Nigeria (FAN), and Forests and Forest Products Society (FFPS) of Nigeria but not a member of any
cooperative/ farmers' group nor any Social Organization. His research is based on livestock
production and tree cropping. He got his awareness in climate change through research instituteand personal research and the climate changes he is aware of are changed rainfall pattern,
unstable dry season making the issue of harmattan becoming a forgotten issue in November andDecember. He has attended conferences of FAN and Ecological Society of Nigeria and a special
climate change workshop titled Climate Change and Forest Resources Management: The Way
Forward. He has published a paper on Agro forestry. He believes industrial activities, farming
activities; transportation, agro processing activities and urbanization are the causes of climatechange, and all these affect the climate through industrialization, cutting of trees, bush burning,
combustion and using of concrete blocks which does not allow percolation of water drops. The
effects of all these could be felt in the forestry enterprise and has an effect on biodiversity. The
coping strategy suggested by this researcher is afforestation and the constraint that could be
encountered is problem of getting viable tree seedlings.
Case Five
Case Five is an Ibadan North based Animal Scientist working with Institute of Agricultural Research
and Training (IAR&T) Ibadan, Oyo State. He is a married Christian research fellow whose age was
not provided as at the time of survey. He has a household size of six with PhD as his highest
qualification. He has ten (10) years working experience as a researcher with no secondary
occupation. His estimated annual income was given as 1,500,000 naira. He is a member of Animal
Science Association of Nigeria and Nigerian Society for Animal Production. He does not belong to
any cooperative/farmer's group or any social organization. His research in recent times is based on
42 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

all areas of agriculture ranging from crop production, crop processing, livestock production, fish
farming, fish processing and tree cropping/forestry. He is aware of change in climate in his vicinity
through personal observation, radio, television, research institutes, government agencies,
extension agents and contact farmers. He noticed unstable climatic variables in his vicinity. He has
participated in a climate change conference held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
In his opinion, he believes that, industrial activities, farming activities, transportation, agro
processing and urbanization are the major causes of climate change. This affected researchexperience by creating discomfort, creates health hazards, reduce productivity, causing outbreakof diseases and loss of biodiversity. He was not able to produce any coping strategy in climatechange. He is aware of the following climate change intervention programs: prohibition of
deforestation and radio enlightenment programs on climate change. He suggested
encouragement of planting of trees in homestead farms and public houses; enforcement of lawsthat will protect environmental degradation. He noted that climatic change is a global problem thatneeds attitudinal changes from all and sundry to address.
Case Six
Case Six is also based in Oyo state. She is above 30 years of age, a single Islamic woman whose
household size is eight. She works with the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) as asenior research officer whose area of specialization is Agricultural Economics with Ph.D. as herhighest qualification. Her years of experience is a little above one year as a researcher. She is amember of Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economist and African Association of Agric
Economist. She is also a member of two social groups- Centre for Mass Action against Destitution
and Crime (CEMADEC) and Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN). Her
research work is only based on crop production. She is aware of change in climate in her vicinity
through personal observation; family and friends; radio, television, internet and research institutes.
She has also noticed that planting periods are changing and cannot be predicted again like before.
She has neither attended any conference/meetings nor any workshop in climate change but she
has a research work- effect of climate change in women, which is under review. She observed thatindustrial activities, farming activities, transportation, agro processing, and urbanization are thecauses of climate change through emission from machines, soil tillage, emission from cars andtractors, waste disposals etc. She also observed that change in climate could cause reduction incrop yield; create discomfort; health hazards; increase flooding; longer period of heat stress;
outbreak of diseases and even emergence of new diseases. She noted that diversification infarming activities can be a coping strategy against climate change and the only constraint that could
be faced in this is, land problem and farm size. She has participated in climate change intervention
program that focused on diversified cropping and she suggested that there should be better
education on climate change issue through advocacy from different quarters.
Case Seven
Case Seven is based in Ibadan North East local government of Oyo State. He is a single man who is
above 30 years of age. He practices Islam as a religion and has three member household. He is a
research officer with the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT). He holds a master's
degree in Agrometeorology, has two years job experience as a researcher with no secondary
occupation. He is a member of the Nigerian Meteorological Society of Nigeria. He is not a memberof any social organization and his income was not provided. His research is solely on crop
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 43

production. He has been informed of climate change in his vicinity through his personalobservation, internet and research institutes. He noticed general increase in temperature, unstable
rainfall, increase dryness and draught. He participated in Nigerian Meteorological Society,
International Conference on Climate Change, Osogbo 2010 and an on-going project titled Effect of
Climate Change on the Incidence of Malaria. Like his other counterparts he believes that industrial
activities, farming activities, transportation, agro processing, urbanization are the causes of climatechange through emission from machines, soil tillage, emission from cars and tractors, waste
disposals etc. He noted that change in climate could cause reduction in crop yield; create
discomfort; health hazards; increase flooding; longer period of heat stress; outbreak of diseases
and even emergence of new diseases. He is not aware of any climate change intervention
programme in his vicinity and has no possible suggestions on any strategy/ technology that could
be useful to farmers per adventure there are adverse effects of climate change to farmers'
enterprises.
Case Eight
Case Eight is from Akure North of Ondo State. She is a Christian married woman whose household
size is three. She works with the Federal University of Technology, Akure as a technologist, her age
was not provided. She holds a master's degree in soil science and she has been working atechnologist with the university for 10 years. She is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Science
Technologists (NIST) and the secretary of the Catholic Development Association. Her research work
is based on crop production. She has noticed a range of change in climate like low rainfall and hightemperature within her vicinity, a proper knowledge of which she gets through personalobservation, radio and internet. She never attended any conference on climate change but has
researched on Effect of Climate on Soil Fertility, though there are no publications on this. She notedthat industrial activities, farming activities and transportation are the causes of climate change
through emission from machines, soil tillage, emission from cars and tractors etc. She noted that
reduction in crop yield and increased pests and diseases could be a result of climate change in his
vicinity. She suggested reforestation as a coping strategy to the identified and possible effects ofclimate change. Environmental protection agency campaign on use of organic chemicals was the
only climate change intervention program she has participated in.
Case Nine
Case Nine is a professor at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, in Akure North of Ondo
State. He is a Christian married man whose household size was not given. He has thirty (30) years
working experience. He is a professor of plant pathology who doesn't have any other occupation
apart from lecturing. He is the Vice President/ Editor in Chief of Nigerian Society of Plant Protection;
Nigerian Representative to the International Congress of Plant Pathologists; Editor-in- Chief of the
Mycological Society of Nigeria; and member, Progressive Group Christ Apostolic Church. He is fully
aware of changes in climate in his vicinity, and the awareness is through personal observation,
radio, television, internet and personal researches. He noticed irregularity in rainfall and hightemperature. He never attended any conferences or workshops on climate change but he has
researched on Plant pathology as it relates to climate. The professor noted that climate change wascaused by industrial activities, farming activities, transportation, agro processing activities andurbanization through emission of gases, deforestation, ozone layer depletion, population increase,careless attitude, ignorance, refuse dumping and toxic discharge. He also noted that climate
44 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

change could cause reduction in crop yield, drying well, and lower water table. Afforestation, reforestation, reduction of use of inorganic fertilizers and biological control of pests and diseases are
the coping strategies suggested by this researcher, though he saw ignorance and funding as theconstraint that could be faced in these strategies. Environmental protection agency campaign on
use of organic chemicals was the only climate change intervention program she has participated in.
Case Ten
Case Ten is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Fisheries and Management, University ofAgriculture, Abeokuta, located in Odeda Local Government of Ogun State. She is a Christianmarried woman with household size of six and 25 years working experience. Her highest
educational qualification is PhD and earns about 1,500,000 naira annually. Apart from lecturing
which is her primary occupation, she is into consultancy and fish marketing. Her reason for being
engaged in secondary occupation is to increase income and remain relevant in her field. She is amember of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria; Farm Management Association of Nigeria and Nigerian
Institute of Food Science and Technology. She doesn't belong to any social group or a cooperative
society. Her research work is based on fishing/fish farming; fish processing; crop production andlivestock production in that order. She has noticed change in climate in her vicinity and she has
been properly informed through personal observation, internet and contact farmers. She noticed
higher temperatures; more frequent disasters (Earthquakes, Landslides, Tornadoes; rising sea
levels and flooding. She claimed to have attended various conferences on climate change, forexample: Lagos State Climate Change Conference (2010); ATPS Climate Sense Project (2010);
and ATPS Climate Sense Project. She published a paper on Mitigating and Adapting to Climate
Change Effects in Aquaculture and Fisheries. This researcher observed that climate change could
be caused by industrial activities, farming activities, transportation, agro processing activities andurbanization through Gas flaring, Use of fossil fuels, use of chemicals that emit green house gases
and use of fossil fuels to drive equipment. She believes that change in climate affects fisheries
production and processing through rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity and crop production
through flooding and destroy crops thereby reducing productivity. She is aware of the provision ofsolar panels for rural electrification and measurement and control of emission from motor vehicles
as climate change intervention programs in her vicinity. She therefore submitted that reduced
dependence on hydropower is a practical measure for policy intervention to improve adaptation toclimatic change.
Case Eleven
Case eleven is also a lecturer in the department of Fisheries and Management, University ofAgriculture, Abeokuta, located in Odeda Local Government of Ogun State. He is a Christianmarried 48 year old man whose household size is also six. His highest educational qualification is
PhD, he has 10 years job experience and earns about 1,000,000 naira annually, his primaryoccupation is lecturing and also into consultancy and fish marketing. He is a member of Fisheries
Society of Nigeria; chairman, Agbekunle Fish Cooperative; and secretary, Ikofa Community
Development. His research is on fishing/fish farming and crop processing in that order. He has
noticed change in climate in her vicinity and she has been properly informed through personalobservation, television and internet. The only climatic change he noticed is reduced rainfall. He
participated in the OGADEP Group Discussion on Climate change and Mitigation and Climatechange in Nigeria: A review. He believes that farming activities are the main causes of change in
Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 45

climate through indiscriminate tree felling and uncontrolled bush burning. He observed that there
could be reduction in yield in crop production, Flooding leading to loss of stock with attendant
psychological effects in fishing as a result of climate change. He suggested Drilling borehole for
irrigation and proper citing of ponds off potential flood path as coping strategies in possible effects
of climate change. He is not aware of any climate change intervention program in his vicinity andhas no possible suggestions on any strategy/ technology that could be useful to farmers peradventure there are adverse effects of climate change to farmers' enterprises.
Case Twelve
Case Twelve is an assistant lecturer in the department of Crop Management, at the Federal
University of Technology, Akure, in Akure North of Ondo State. He is a Christian married man whose
household size is four and his age was not given. He has two years working experience, withhighest qualification of M.Sc. His income is about 8 million naira annually. He is a member of theAgronomical Society of Nigeria, Weed Science Society of Nigeria, Agro Bio Forum, Ese
Development Association and a group leader Ajinde Group Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) - a
religious group. His research is based on crop production and tree cropping. In climate in his
vicinity and the awareness is through personal observation, radio, television, internet and personalresearches. He noticed Change in rainfall regime, high rate of insulation and declining water
bodies. He participated in a Workshop on Climate Change by START and researched on Trade out
poverty through Jathropha Production through which he published papers on Shade and Water
Management: an Important Tool in Solving Climate Change Problem in Southwest Nigeria; Effect ofIntercropping Jathropha curcas and Arable Crops on Soil Physical and Chemical Properties; andShade and Water Management: a Viable Means of Improving Cacao Production in Nigeria. He
noted that climate change was caused by industrial activities, farming activities, transportation,
agro processing activities and urbanization through emission of gases, deforestation, conversionof forests to industrial park, Settlement and urban encroachment, ozone layer depletion,
population increase, careless attitude, ignorance, refuse dumping and toxic discharge. He
believes that climatic change could lead to reduction in crop yield, emergence of new diseases andoutbreak of diseases. The coping strategy he suggested is reduction in the rate of deforestation;
follow meteorological information and early planting. The constraints he pointed out were
unavailability of tree seedling and unavailability of planting materials. He has no has no possible
suggestions on any strategy/ technology that could be useful to farmers per adventure there areadverse effects of climate change to farmers' enterprises.
Case Thirteen
Case Thirteen is also an assistant lecturer department of Entomology at the Federal University ofTechnology, Akure, in Akure North of Ondo State. He is a 34 year old single with a household size of
7 people. His highest educational qualification is M. Phil and almost two years working experienceand an income of about 8 million naira annually. He is a member of the Entomology Society of
Nigeria and does not belong to any social group or cooperative society. His research is solely on
crop production. In climate in his vicinity and the awareness is through personal observation, radio,
television, internet and personal researches. He noticed uncommonly excessive heat, erratic
weather conditions and declining water bodies. He participated in a workshop on Jathropha
Production and published a paper on using Jathropha plant for Soil remediation. Like his previous
researcher from the same university, he noted that climate change was caused by industrial
46 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

activities, farming activities, transportation, agro processing activities and urbanization throughemission of gases, deforestation, conversion of forests to industrial park, Settlement and urban
encroachment, ozone layer depletion, population increase, careless attitude, ignorance, refuse
dumping and toxic discharge. He opined that climate change automatically cause reduction in crop
production. Increase campaign on climate change and its impact on farmers' livelihoods is his
suggestion in measures for policy intervention to improve adaptation to climatic change.
Case Fourteen
Case Fourteen is a married man of 45 years who is a Christian and a lecturer in the department ofAgric Economics, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, (FECA) in Akure North of Ondo State. He
has 13 years working experience and his qualification is M.Sc. Apart from lecturing where he earns
1.2 million naira annually, he is also into fish farming, an occupation he does to increase income. He
is a member of the Agricultural Extension Society, Horticultural Society of Nigeria and Efik
Indigenous Association. His research is on crop production, fish farming and tree cropping. He isaware of various climatic change in his vicinity through personal observation, family and friends,
internet, TV, radio, NGO, Research Institutes, Extension Agents and Contact Farmers. He noticed
delayed rainfall, excessive heat and dryness. He has neither attended any conference norworkshop on climate change. He agreed with other researchers that, climate change was caused
by industrial activities, farming activities, transportation, agro processing activities and urbanization
through emission of gases, deforestation, conversion of forests to industrial park, Settlement andurban encroachment, ozone layer depletion, population increase, careless attitude, ignorance,
refuse dumping and toxic discharge. He proposed that rain harvesting is a coping strategy inclimate change and the constraint could be lack of enough storage tanks and reservoirs. The
climate change intervention program he is aware of are Radio announcements against bushburning, wind breaks and shelterbelt program, more education on climate change and reduce gas
emission.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 47

5.

Conclusions & Recommendations

5.1.
Conclusions
There is a general conviction among farmers, extension officers and researchers that crops andforests management technologies are the main tools for adapting to climate change. It isnoteworthy however that adapting to climate change is as much a technology issue as an attitudinal
one. This study has shown that unless peoples' general attitudes to climate change issues arealtered, the decision to adopt relevant adaptation techniques (emerging or indigenous will follow avery slow path.
It can also be concluded that the number of researchers working on climate change related issue
are few in southwest Nigeria. There is a need to consciously raise awareness of climate change
issues in the shot-run among early career researchers and in the long run a deliberate campaign inschools and universities to focus young minds into investigative enquiries on the climate and how
best society should adapt as change occur that are most often irreversible.
The influence of location (agro-ecological zones) on the he observation of climate change
phenomena by farmers and extension officers is staggering. While farmers in the swamp andrainforest appear to have a basket of emerging and indigenous technologies to cope with climatechange, farmers in the savanna zone seem to have lesser opportunities to cope. Unfortunately, themost vivid climate change impact for visitor to southwest Nigeria, especially in the transition zones
between agro-ecological zones is that as rainforests become savanna-like (derived savanna),savannas becomes desert-like (desert encroachment). It is important therefore that location
specific strategies need to be developed to raise the profile of climate change awareness and theurge to adopt emerging and indigenous technologies to cope with climate change in the various
agro-ecological zones.
Furthermore, given that farmers in this zone earn less from their primary occupation (farming) thanin the other two agro-ecological zones, it can be concluded that financial limitations is a key
constraint to adopting emerging and indigenous technologies for climate change adaptation atleast in the savanna zone of southwest Nigeria. But it is not enough to throw money at problems. A
deliberate attempt at raising farm productivities and improving return to farming as a businesswould help in the long-run to facilitate uptake of relevant climate change adaption strategies.

48 | Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria

Even though farmers, extension officers and researchers appear to have very high levels ofawareness of changes in climate change phenomena, their sources information differ markedly
from personal contacts among farmers to a bit of personal contact and mediated sources such asradio and television among extension officers and to internets and other non-personal and externalsources among researchers. It is also noteworthy that many farmers and extension officers did notconsider research institutes and government agencies as their main sources of information on
climate change adaption. This finding suggests that media campaigns designed to reach farmers,
extension officers and researchers need to be audience-specific.
The major technologies adopted by farmers to adapt to climate change are agro-ecology specific.
Construction of drainages is popular in the swamp zone. Small scale irrigation, mulching and IPM
are common in the rainforest and afforestation is the leader in the savanna. While fitting
technologies to location could address climate change in the short run, the fact that the observablechange is continuous suggests that farmers need to be empowered with a range of technologies
that may not be applicable to their agro-ecology toady in anticipation of future changes andtherefore ability to cope when such changes eventually manifests. The farmers who will be better
able to cope are those who already know what to do when the change actually manifests, not those
who wait to be informed after the change is manifest. Therefore efforts to improve the general levelsof formal educational attainments among farmers and improve their ability to obtain informationfrom more external and wide-ranging sources than personal circles will contribute in this direction.
5.2
Recommendations
It is evident from this study that future relevant work would be in three broad categories. These are:
1. Study of attitudinal change required among farmers and extension officers for addressing climatechange in various agro-ecologies
Attitudes have strong influences on peoples' decision-making. It is important therefore to further
explore how farmer's attitude to climate change influences their response to the uptake of climatechange adaptation technologies. It should also reveal how their attitude could be positively
influenced to attain higher levels of adoption of climate change technologies and improve that
overall ability to make conscious and responsive decisions to climate change.
2. Develop and apply models for linking farmers, extension officers and researchers to exchange
climate change information using appropriate combination of media
Farmer-Extensioner-Researcher linkage models as encapsulated in the Research-ExtensionFarmer-Inputs Linkage System (REFILS) has been used in southwest Nigeria to promote the uptakeof technologies targeted at improving the productivity of arable crops. Similar models can be used
to develop farmer's response system to adopting appropriate and responsive climate change
adaptation systems. Investigations to make this happen are required to properly focus research
investments and direct the attention of the research community currently engrossed in yieldincreasing models to more sustainable climate sense approaches to agricultural production.

Emerging and Indigenous Technology for Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Nigeria | 49

5.3 Development of appropriate curricular for schools and universities toinculcate climate awarenessThe power of the school system to unleash societal change have been demonstrated in the 1960s
when the government of Western Nigeria used the school systems under its Free education System
as the fulcrum of social change. This potential of the school system is recognised and used in ahaphazard manner in very small pilot level projects such as Plant a Tree Today in Nigeria (PATTIN).
A bolder approach similar to the social change approach of the 1960s is required to fully utilize theschool system to promote a more lasting climate sense in southwest Nigeria. This should be donewith conscious investments in research to fully understand the changes that the school systemhave undergone over the years and how it can be best used as a long term climate change
response system at all levels (farming extension services, research, inputs delivery and otherancillary requirements).

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