Effects and Knowledge of Climate Change among Farmers in Southern Taraba, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the effects and knowledge of climate change among farmers in Southern Taraba,
Nigeria. Sampling techniques was done in stages which includes; purposive, accidental and simple
random sampling were used in selecting 300 respondents. Data was collected using structured interviews
from 300 farmers then analysed using descriptive statistics. Research findings reveal that most (89%) of
the farming activities in study area was done by male. Major source of information on climate change in
study area was throught radio (42.40%). The knowledge and perception of farmers on climate change
phenomenon is substantially at rised in temperature (21.4%), increased in rainfall distribution and rising
flooding (21.2%). The findings also reveal that major perceived effect of climate change on the crop
production is low crop yield (22.49%). Farmers attribute frequent and severe of dry-spell, excessive
precipitation, rivers drying up, change in timing and pattern of seasons as evidence of climate change in
study area. Study concluded that despite its advantages in some cases, climate change seem to be exerting
negative effects on crop production by intensifying vagaries of weather and climate change events in
study area which leads to poor agricultural production in study region. It’s recommend that there should
be a public awareness compaign by the government using weather forecast on early warning information
and provision of training on adaptive measures to farmers in study area.