DETERMINANTS OF ADAPTATION STRATEGIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE AMONG RICE FARMERS IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA: A MULTIVARIATE PROBIT APPROACH

The study analyzed the determinants of rice farmers climate change adaptation strategies in Southwestern Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect cross sectional data from 360 rice farmers selected from three States in the region. Out of 11 adaptation strategies identified by the farmers, the five main identified adaptation strategy options were subsequently used as the dependent variables in the multivariate probit model. The result of the Multivariate Probit Model indicated that some household characteristics, access to services and location significant and statistically influenced the choice of adaptation strategies employed by the farmers in the study area. It is obvious the farmers are aware of long-term changes in climatic factors (temperature and rainfall, for example), they are unable to identify these changes as climate change. However, the positive pair wise correlation matrix from the MVP model indicate complementarities among all the adaptation strategies used by the farmers. The government could build the capacity of agricultural extension systems and make available climate change education scheme with ICT innovations. Government policies and investment strategies must be geared towards the support of education, credit and information about adaptation to climate change, including technological and institutional methods, particularly for smallholder farmers in the country.