Climate Change Adaptation Measures Used By Farmers In Southsouth Nigeria.

This study analyzed the adaption measures used by farmers in southsouth Nigeria. One hundred and sixty farmers were chosen for the study through the use of multi stage sampling technique. Interview schedule, structured questionnaire and focused group discussion were used to collect data for the study while descriptive statistics namely; mean, frequency count and percentages were employed to analyze the data. Result shows that 70.6% of the farmers were male, about 50% fall between the ages of 41 and 60 with the mean age as 45years. Majority (80%) of the farmers were married while more than 54% had at least secondary school education. The result also shows that majority (66%) of the farmers earn less than 50,000 per month, 83.1% have at least 10years farming experience. The household size had a mean of 6 with about 54.3% having a household size of between 6 to 10 persons. Crop production (64.42%) was found to be the major type of farming activity done by the farmers while 86.8% have both consumption and sale as their major aim of production. The major adaptation measures used by farmers in the zone were planting of different varieties of crop (M = 3.09), early harvesting of crops (M = 3.29), use of different planting dates for crops (3.05), use of pest and diseases resistant species of crops (M= 3.02), undertaking of non-farming income generating activities (M = 3.57), increase reliance on farming on family labour to reduce cost of production (M = 3.16), more frequent weeding (M = 3.5), increase planting of cover crops to reduce heat stress on crops(3.00) and use of indigenous knowledge to combat climate change (M= 3.29). Based on the results of this study, it was recommended that improved and disease resistance varieties of crops and livestock be made more available since increased usage is one of the major adaptation measures used by farmers in the study area. Also, more planned adaptation measures should be introduced into the area to boost farmer's adaptive capacity.