Factors explaining farm households access to climate change information in Ilorin west local government area of Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Climate change is a problem which many farmers had observed over the past few years. In this study, the authors analyzed perception on climate change and the factors influencing access to climate change information. The data were collected from randomly selected farmers and analyses were carried out with descriptive and probit regression. The results showed that 97.92 percent of the farmers already noticed climate change with 79.17 percent experienced floo-ding, 61.46 percent experienced some losses on their farms as a result of flooding. Also, 87.5 percent indicated that seasonal temperature had increased over time, while 83.3 percent claimed that seasonal precipitation had decreased and 91.7 percent hinted that seasonal timing of rain was early. The factors that influenced access to climate information were livestock/crop farming, use of hired labor, awareness of climate change, water scarcity, change in level of inputs, lack of climate and adaptation not cost effective (p < 0.10). It was recommended that efforts to enhance farm households’ adaptation to climate should be strengthened with commitments to integrate adaptation mechanisms into the extension service delivery systems.