Transcript PPT, 3.4 MB - START - SysTem for Analysis Research and Training

EXISTENT COPING STRATEGIES AS ANALOGUE
FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH
WESTERN NIGERIA
BY
ADESINA F.A; AINA, I.O., ODEBIYI I.A.
& ADEJUWON J.O. (AF23) Nigeria
Rain-fed agriculture is predominant in Nigeria. The
constraining factors include:
•Delayed onset of the growing season
•Premature termination of the rainy season
•Unusually long dry spells within the growing
season
These constraints could be amplified in the probable
event that the climates of the country change and more
adverse climatic conditions replace the ones to which
people are already familiar with.
The exact nature and direction of the change are still
largely speculative. Scenarios are suggesting medium
to large scale departures from the norm.
However, it is certain that they are likely to lead to
significant disruptions of human activities especially
those that are largely weather-dependent such as
agriculture.
The climate change projection for southern
Nigeria is that


it is likely to get wetter;
temperatures may rise by between 1 & 2.5oC
These will precipitate serious environmental
changes that could further impact agricultural
activities negatively.
Some of the impacts may include
 widespread floods resulting from persistent
heavy showers;
 significant increase in soil water loss
through heightened evapo-transpiration induced
by accentuated air temperatures;
 more devastating storm events powered
by increased temperatures in the
environment;
Greater incidences of pests & diseases
that luxuriate under hot humid
conditions.
In these probable circumstances, the local people must
be ready to live with new realities. If climate change is
inevitable, then so is adaptation to the change.
It is important however to have effective strategies that
are in tune with local conditions.
One way of looking at this from research point of view
is to explore ways by which people presently cope
with adverse environmental conditions.
Significance of the study

Facilitates a bottom-up approach to
identifying effective adaptation strategies
i.e. including the views of some of the
“exposure” units
TThe objectives of this study are thus to:
i. Identify and describe from the point of view of the local
people, environmental problems currently being experienced
or that were experienced in recent past and their causes;
i ii Describe the strategies that were adopted or being adopted
to cope with the effects of such problems;
iii Evaluate the effectiveness of the coping strategies.
Location: Three rural areas adjoining Ibadan,
Akure and Offa respectively in southwestern
Nigeria
Population: Between 2000 & 3500
Vegetation: Tropical Rainforest.
Climate: Humid with more than 200 growing days.
e
Study area cont.

Local Economy: Cash & food crop farming
Cocoa, oil palm, cassava, maize important.
Processing of garri and oil palm is important
and dominated by women.
Infrastructures: In bad shape

Inhabitants: Mainly Yoruba


Map of the Study Area
MAP OF THE STUDY AREA
Data were collected using qualitative tools in a Rapid
Rural Appraisal procedure. The key instruments used
were
•
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) guided by a
set of questions around the concept of well being,
environmental problems and coping strategies. Eight
of such FGDs were organized in each of the
settlements.
Methodology cont.
•
In-depth Interviews conducted for
randomly selected household heads and
opinion leaders. Thirty such interviews were
conducted in each settlement.
DATA ANALYSIS
i. Tallying of responses to obtain frequency of
specific responses and ranking of options;
ii. Content analysis of FGDs and interviews using
the TEXT BASE ALPHA software.
RESULTS
i. Conceptualisation of living well (being rich)-
This is important as adverse conditions are
expected to impact on it. Living well implies
having luxury goods e.g. TV, radio & being able
to fulfil social responsibilities. Being poor is the
opposite. There are the neither rich nor poor in
between.
2. Environmental Problems
Problems
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
Delayed rains
Bush fires
Storms
Deforestation
Poor soil fertility
Conflicts
Waste
Scarcity of land
Theft of products
Insufficient water
Causes
Act of God
Arson
Act of God
Pop. pressure
Lack of fertilizer
Invading herdsmen
Cassava processing
Population growth
Population growth
Long dry season
River Valley – completely dry in the dry season
Scorching effect of bush fire
Water quality declines with the progress of the dry season
3. Key Adaptation Strategies
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Use of wetlands for dry season farming;
Planting early maturing crops to take advantage of short rainy season;
Digging wells deeper to enable them produce water in the dry seasons
Planting sturdier varieties of crops that can resist rainstorms.
Taking loans to buy farm inputs and foods during the “hunger season”
Mounting joint control & prevention of bush fires by the community;
Using fertilizers to enhance productivity of crops.
Wetland (akuro) farming in one of the sites in the dry
season
4. Level of local adaptive capacities
The adaptation strategies identified are capable
of taking the people through privation but are
limited in two respects:
(i) Not everyone can use all the strategies all the
time e.g not everyone has access to loans
in time of need;
(ii)Not all the strategies are accessible to the
people e.g. not every farmer can have access
to wetlands.
Level of local adaptive capabilities
cont.
These suggest that the contemporary adaptive
capacities are low. They need to be enhanced
by making the strategies effective through
research & proactive intervention of govt.
e.g. in digging wells, providing good varieties
of crop like the IITA’s cassava
.
Palm oil processing site in one the villages
Palm fruit pressing machine reduces labour in the
traditional method of oil processing
5. Making adaptation choices
Procedure followed include an
i. assessment of the acceptability of each options v
evaluating the ranking of the options by the loca
people;
ii. determination of the cost of strengthening each
the options to make them effective.
.
iii. Assessment
of the limitations of each of the
options
A weighting of these assessments is done to
adequately track the contribution of each of
the elements to decision making
 Provision of hybrid variety & Loan facility
are the most important. Though the 2nd is
cheaper, hybrid is more efficient.