UNILAG Journal of Humanities

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Browsing UNILAG Journal of Humanities by Subject "Agriculutural Communities"

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    Open Access
    Adaptive Capacity to Climatic Change in the Nigerian Savannah
    (University of Lagos Press, Akoka, 2014) Elias, P; Fasona, M; Adedayo, V; Olorunfemi, F; Adeniji, G
    This study is based on the premise that the adaptive capacity of people and places is closely related to their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics which in turn determine their resilience. The study therefore examined the demographic and socioeconomic dimensions of selected agricultural communities in the Nigerian savanna with a view to assessing their adaptive capacity to climate change. The Nigerian savannah has been largely altered by human related activities which have reduced its capacity to support the teeming rural farming communities and the livelihood systems in the region. Livelihood systems in the region are closely associated with terrestrial ecosystems, and changes in global climate could exacerbate the conditions of the rural farmers. The methodology for the study was based on the multistage random sampling technique and Rural Rapid Appraisal (RPP) of eleven communities across ten Local Government Areas (LGAs) in two states of the southwest and north central Nigeria.Household survey, Key Informant Interview of traditional rulers and Government officials were carried out while an intensive Focused Group Discussion among all the actors was done. Both ex-ante and ex-post factors of gender, local knowledge and experience, education, income from farm and off-farm sources, ability to diversify, willingness to adapt, proportion of savings, and local adaptation mechanisms were identified and used to understand adaptive capacity of the local communities to climate change in the region. These factors provide an understanding of existing local actions which could point to future coping and adaption strategies given emerging challenges of climate change. By upscaling the local adaptive capacity it is possible to evolve regional and national policies for improving the resilience of rural agricultural communities.
University of Lagos, Nigeria