Climate Change Adaptation Information Usability Among Maize Farmers in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The availability of climate change information has not always led to more successful adaptation; even when climate change adaptation information is available, there are still obstacles to its efficient use. Furthermore, the tactics required to communicate climate information to end-users for successful adaptation have received less attention. This study focuses on utilization of available climate change adaptation information among maize farmers in the study area. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 203 respondents for data collection. The data were collected using a questionnaire and analysed through the use of the standard statistical package for social sciences. The communication strategies used include inter-personal, audio, visual and social media. The results revealed that the strategies used in communicating climate change adaptation information to maize farmers in the study area yielded great influence in terms of benefits to the farmers such as the increase in income, prevention of yield loss, reduced soil degradation, maintaining good human health status, and improved weed management. The information that is popularly utilised is mixed cropping (61.6%), water management (58.1%), and early warning (58.1%). A significant relationship existed between communication channels (r=0.8, p<.05) and respondents’ climate change adaptation information utilization. Poor understanding of the message and lack of funds to put the information into practice hinders some respondents from utilising adaptation information. Hence, extension agents need to locate these category farmers and link them with service providers that could provide incentives or credit facilities for sustainable utilisation of available information to combat climate change.