Assessment of the role of government institutions in supporting smallholder farmers’ adaptation to climate change in Gombe state, Nigeria:
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Date
2017-10
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Kampala International University, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Abstract
This thesis is presented as a result of a study entitled “Assessment of the role of government
institutions in supporting smaliholder farmer’s adaptation to climate change”, that was conducted in
Gombe Local Government Area in Gombe state, Nigeria. The study objectives intended to examine
the smallholder farmer’s perceptions on climate change and impacts on crop and livestock
production; examine the adaptation strategies adopted by local farmers to cope with the effects of
climate change; assess the determinants that the government uses to determine the adaptation
support to the farmers; examine the support of government institutions in facilitating farmer’s
adaptation to climate change; as well as assess the challenges to the implementation of climate
change adaptation strategies in Gombe state, Nigeria. A total of 240 randomly sampled respondents
were selected to participate in the study. The findings show that there is widespread knowledge on
the severity of climate change, and its impact is largely negative on both crop and livestock
production. The study also found out that various adaptation mechanisms have been adopted in both
crop productions such as local irrigation techniques and crop rotation. And on livestock production,
techniques such as paddocking to minimize spread of animal pests and diseases to deal with the
effects of climate change, and that the adopted mechanisms are largely believed to be effective. The
study also found out that a number of factors are responsible for determining the government
support towards adaptation in both crop and animal production like the number of affected people
and availability of resources to support farmers. The government support towards adaptation was
provided through different ways, for both crop and animal production by provision of crop
pesticides and funding for irrigation. The study also found out that there were a number of different
challenges encountered by crop producers, livestock producers and government institutions in
trying to implement mechanisms in the adaptation to climate change in Gombe state, Nigeria like
massive poverty and corruption and political influence in most government institutions. The study
concluded that people understand the existence of climate change and its long term impact on their
livelihood, and also understand the need for adaptation. It also concluded that local crop and
livestock producers have adopted a number of effective mechanisms to deal with the impact of
climate change. It also concluded that government support is determined by various factors in both
crop and livestock production, and that government support towards adaptation is provided through
different ways, albeit with a number of challenges for crop and livestock producers as well as the
government institutions themselves. The study recommended that government should engage rural
smallholder farmers, non-governmental organizations and civil society in this effort, and that it
should encourage local mechanisms in order to ensure sustainability of the adaptation efforts.
Description
a thesis submitted to the college of higher degrees and research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a master’s of science in environmental management of Kampala international university.
Keywords
government institutions, climate change