Adaptation to Climate Change: Agricultural Ecosystems and Gender Dimensions

By Edet J. Udoh, Gabriel S. Umoh, Glory Edet and Valerie-Aphie Solomon

ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHNAGE: Agricultural Ecosystems and Gender Dimensions is a product of over four years of painstaking and rigorous research by a multidisciplinary team. It brings together empirical knowledge on farmers adaptation to climate change in a developing country. The book is comprehensive as well as broad in its coverage. Detailed analysis of various dimensions of climate change on dryland and wetland agriculture as well as fishing sector is presented from developing countrys perspectives. The book is made of thirteen chapters. The first chapter provide the setting of the climate change research environment wherein the rational, objectives and scope of climate change investigation are discussed. Chapter two provides an update of climate change adaptation research while the third chapter discusses the framework for analyzing climate change. The authors used their rich backgrounds in social science, gender and agricultural economics, and extension research to present their experiences in collecting and analyzing climate change data in real life situation in chapter four.
The empirical evidence of trends in climate change, climate change information sources to farmers and fisherfolks, their knowledge level and vulnerability to climate change impacts are discussed in chapters five, six, seven, eight and nine. Chapter ten of the book looks at the impact of climate variability and long term change while adaptation to climate change is discussed in the eleventh chapter. The final chapter contains actions for climate change adaptation in developing countrys setting. The actions for climate change adaption are not only useful for policy but are as well actionable. The book is, therefore, a must for all genuinely interested in addressing the growing problem of climate change impacts in the most vulnerable section of the world- the developing countries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Dec 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781493105120

Edet J. Udoh

• Gabriel Umoh is a Professor of Agricultural and Development Economics at the University of Uyo, Nigeria. A two times Head of Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension and member of Senate, University of Uyo, Professor Umoh has been a Consultant to many national and international institutions including the World Bank, European Commission, USAID, UNDP, among others. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of an NGO- African Human Development Centre (AHDC) based in Uyo, Uyo- Nigeria. • Edet Udoh is a Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Uyo-Nigeria. Former Head of Department, Agricultural Economics and Extension, and former Acting Director Centre for Skills Acquisition and Rural Development University of Uyo, he is a consultant to many national and international institutions. • Valerie Solomon is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension. Her research interests are in agricultural sociology, gender issues and climate change. • Glory Edet is a Lecturer in Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Uyo-Nigeria. Her research is in resource and environmental economics. She has served Akwa Ibom State Government as Honourable Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Development. • Uwem Clement is a Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria. He is an Agricultural Extensionist with interest in agricultural extension and communication. Uwem is currently a doctoral student in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria. • Godwin Okoro holds a PhD in Agricultural Extension. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria. • Nkoyo Bassey is a Lecturer in Agricultural Economics, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria. She is a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural Economics University of Ibadan, Nigeria. • Obot Dominic holds PhD in Agricultural Economics and works as a Programme Staff in African Human Development Centre (AHDC), Uyo-Nigeria. • Elizabeth Atairet is a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension University of Uyo, Nigeria.

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Copyright © 2013 by Gabriel S. Umoh. 307674-UMOH

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013917370

ISBN: Softcover      978-1-4931-0510-6

ISBN: Hardcover     978-1-4931-0511-3

ISBN: Ebook           978-1-4931-0512-0

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER ONE: THE SETTING

CHAPTER TWO: WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION?

CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUALISING CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

CHAPTER FOUR: FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSING CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

CHAPTER FIVE: SITUATING CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STUDY

CHAPTER SIX: WHAT DATA FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STUDY?

CHAPTER SEVEN: TRENDS IN CLIMATE CHANGE: WHAT THE DATA SAY

CHAPTER EIGHT: CLIMATE INFORMATION SOURCES AND ACCESSIBILITY

CHAPTER NINE: FARMER’S KNOWLEDGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

CHAPTER TEN: CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY

CHAPTER ELEVEN: IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

CHAPTER TWELVE: CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: ACTIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

REFERENCES

PREFACE

In the past couple of decades, climate change and its impacts on developing nations have occupied the attention of Science and Policy Communities. However, while the science community in developed countries is advanced in climate change research, this area of study has only recently started receiving attention in the developing countries. Many such studies tend to focus on only a select and narrow issues in the climate change field.

This book is a product of over four years of empirical investigation of several aspects of climate change in the agricultural sector-the mainstay of the economies of most developing countries. The book draws empirical evidences from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria- a region widely known for its environmental, social and economic complexities. It begins by justifying why climate change investigation in developing countries is necessary, explains the concept of climate change adaptation and provides a framework for analysing climate change adaptation. The book breaks new ground by providing the reader with the tools for developing index of farmers’ Climate Change Knowledge as well as farmers’ vulnerability to climate change. Also discussed are the impacts of climate change and adaptation approaches used by farmers and fishermen. Based on the real life experience of those most affected by climate change in developing countries-farmers and fisherfolks, actions to enhance climate change adaptation are included.

Informed by the personal experiences of the authors, as researchers and practitioners of agriculture, that agricultural practice takes place in different types of agro-ecosystems, the treatment of the subjects in the text is as they apply to upland and wetland farming systems and fishing environment. In addition, the gender dimensions of climate change is given due prominence.

The reader will find in this book comprehensive information on climate change, climate vulnerability, and climate change adaptation in the important agro-ecosystems. The book is therefore, recommended for students, teachers, researchers, environmentalists, policy makers, the civil society organizations and International Development Institutions interested in addressing the serious problem of climate change in developing countries in particular and the global level in general.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We benefited from the support of several persons and institutions in conducting the study which make up this book. On this count, we wish to thank Building Nigeria’s Response to Climate Change (BNRCC) Project and Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST) which extended the funding from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to us for the study. We also appreciate our enumerators, particularly Afolabi Aribigbola, George Emah, Solomon Larinde and numerous respondents, discussants and key informants, across the communities who volunteered their time and information.

CHAPTER ONE

THE SETTING

The setting of the book is the Niger Delta region where the study was conducted. Whenever you fly over Nigeria, from the North to the South, as you move southward towards the Atlantic ocean, you will notice where the river Niger which joins the river Benue at Lokoja begins to shoot out several tributaries. You will also notice the tributaries further separating into numerous rivers, rivulets, and streams most of which empty into the Atlantic Ocean. You are in the Niger Delta Region. The Niger Delta is a complex yet fragile environment. Almost all oil production activities in Nigeria takes place in the region. This spans through the upland to the deep sea. Oil explorations in the region bring with them environmental degradation of monumental dimensions. Of particular concern has been enormous and consistent gas flaring which has taken place in the Niger Delta since inception of oil production in the region. According to Okoh (2001) gas flaring has become a dominant feature of the upstream activity in the petroleum industry in Nigeria’s economy. The report has it that of the 285306.95 million tonnes of natural gas produced between 1961 and 1998, 82.69 percent was flared. In the same vein, estimate by Ibeanu (2000) indicates that between 1982 and 1983, 13,361,783,851 cubic metres of gas was flared and by 1991 Nigeria has exceeded the world average for natural gas flaring by 72%. International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank put the percentage of gas flared in Nigeria at 76% (IFC/World Bank, 1993). Constitutional Rights Project (1999) also reports that at the time of writing its report in 1999, Nigeria flared about 75 percent of all the gas occurring in the course of crude oil production. It concluded that "this is a major source of air pollution, emitting huge amounts of smoke, carbon dioxide, methane from over 100 flow stations. … Environmentalists and communities allege that they have been experiencing acid rain, with dire consequences for the ecology, particularly agricultural land and water resources". Ibeanu (op cit) concluded that apart from the huge green house gas that gas flaring pumps into the atmosphere, constant flares affect both wildlife and human beings negatively.

Traditionally, agriculture (crop farming and livestock rearing) and fishing are important livelihoods in the Niger Delta. Both the upland (dry land) as well as wetlands is cultivated. Studies (Umoh, 2000; Umoh 2008) have shown that the farmers, particularly the wetland farmers operate between two extreme conditions- flooding and drought. All these are associated with changes in climatic conditions of the region. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS - Nigerian data gathering agency) indicate obvious variation in such climatic elements as rainfall and temperature. For instance, mean annual rainfall in Akwa Ibom, Ondo and Rivers States was as high as 2,618.6mm, 1,699.5mm and 1,644.8mm respectively in 1994. This went as low as 180.2mm, 121.2 and 203.1mm respectively in 2004 (NBS, 2005, 2007). It is obvious from the foregoing that both local and global actions exert negative consequences on the climatic conditions of the Niger Delta region, particularly, agricultural sector.

Many proponents (IPCC, 2001; Nhemachena and Hassan, 2007) of climate change argue that it is necessary to focus on current problems and adaptation to climate change in order to develop strategies that will adequately respond to anticipated changes in climatic conditions. The IPCC (2001) for instance, maintains that adaptation to current climate variability and extremes often produces benefits as well as forming a basis for coping with future climate change. The study is focused on filling the gap in empirical data and information on how vulnerable households, particularly farming and fishing households are to climate variability and how they adapt to these variations in climate. It is hoped that the outputs from this efforts can assist in informed policy decisions on climate change, vulnerability and adaptation.

Rationale for the Study

Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy before the discovery and subsequent production of crude oil in commercial quantities. Despite the dominance of oil as a foreign exchange earner, agriculture has continued to play pivotal role in the growth and sustenance of the Nigerian economy. Records (National Bureau of Statistics, 1997; Central Bank of Nigeria, 2006) reveal that about 70% of the Nigerian population depend on agriculture for its livelihood. Besides, the sector provides food and fibre for human consumption and industrial use respectively. Agriculture in Nigeria is largely rain-fed. Crop cultivation as well as livestock production depends on the availability of water from rainfall. Thus, Nigeria’s agriculture is strongly influenced by annual and inter-annual variations in rainfall and other climatic factors. Nigeria’s agriculture is highly sensitive to the vagaries of weather, particularly variability in rainfall. According to report by Zabbey (2007)) about eighty percent of the total rainfall over Nigeria occurs during the five months of the year (May to September). While drought is a recurring problem in the northern region of the country, floods cause serious damages to livelihoods and agriculture in the South (NEST, 2004). Climate variability and long-term climate change may pose serious threats to agricultural production and to the livelihoods of 98 million people (Zabbey, 2007). However, vulnerability to both climate variation and long-term climate change is not evenly distributed across region, social groups and livelihoods in Nigeria. Therefore, climate variability has considerable social and economic consequences in Nigeria, where about 70% of the population is engaged in agriculture. In spite of this, information on adaptation to climate variability at the local level and particularly those who form about 90% of the agricultural workforce in Nigeria – the women, is rather scanty.

According to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2001a), rainfall in southern Nigeria where the Niger Delta is situated, is expected to increase. This is expected to be accompanied by increase in cloudiness and rainfall intensity, particularly during severe storms. This is also expected to result in shifts in geographical patterns of precipitation and changes in the sustainability of the environment and management of resources. Inter-annual variability index for Nigeria, the Niger Delta inclusive, depicts variation in the amount of precipitation recorded over a 40-year period (NEST, 2004). The study also reported a distinct increase in precipitation over the years in Akwa Ibom and Ondo States but a decrease in Rivers State indicating variability in climate over the region.

Changes in climate will interact with other forms of stress associated with agricultural production and affect crop yields and productivity in different ways, depending on the types of agricultural practices and system in place (Watson et. al, 1997). In the Niger Delta, the main direct effects will be through changes in temperature, precipitation, length of growing season, and timing of extreme or critical threshold events relative to crop development (Oyekale, 2008).

In addition, farming is practised in two slightly different agricultural ecosystems in the Niger Delta- upland and wetland. Each could be impacted upon differently by climate variability. For instance several studies (e.g. Gwarry, 1995; Kolawole, 1997; Umoh, 2000) have revealed that wetland farmers operate between two extreme weather conditions – flood and drought. According to Kolawole, fadama (wetland) farming is management of risks. There are two main risks involved in fadama farming. The first is the fluctuation in the water table, and the attendant dangers of flooding, especially during the rainy season. The second form of risk is the danger of inadequate water supply at the end of the dry season. Caught within the two extremes, farmers have had to strike a delicate balance between water stress on the one hand, and flooding on the other. The vulnerability of wetland farmers to climate variability, therefore, may not be the same as that of upland or dryland farmers.

There is a limited comprehensive studies aimed at improving adaptation strategies to climate change in Nigeria. Adejuwon (2004) posited that how much we can hold climate change responsible for declining agricultural productivity in Nigeria will, for a long time, remain a subject of research. This gives credence to the fact that, there exist a wide knowledge gap in the subject matter of impact of climate change and variability on agriculture in Nigeria. Research on the dynamics of adaptation in households, the processes of adaptation decision and the conditions that influence adaptation is of necessity. It is a strongly held opinion that any assessment at the national level must take account of regional patterns of vulnerability within the country and the distribution of vulnerability within the national community (Adger, et al., 2004). Our study addressed this concern from three perspectives.

Firstly, our investigation focused on the Niger Delta region. The Niger Delta region is of global importance as far as environmental and indeed climate change and variability is concerned. The Niger Delta is a complex yet fragile environment. It is home to virtually all the oil production activities in Nigeria. This spans through the upland to the deep sea. Oil explorations in the region bring with them environmental degradation of monumental dimensions. Of particular concern has been enormous and consistent gas flaring which has taken place in the Niger Delta since inception of oil production in the region. In addition, the region is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of its geographical location. Calculations show that a 0.2m rise in sea-level will inundate 3,400km² of Nigeria’s coast-land; a 1.0m rise will cover 18,400km². The whole of the Niger Delta is under 6,000km² (Onofeghara, 1990). It is predicted that at least 80 percent of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta will be displaced due to the low level of the region (NEST (2004).Thus, this region presents itself as a good enough region for studies on climate variability and change.

Secondly, it has been asserted that it is less meaningful to aggregate vulnerability across scales since the processes that cause vulnerability are different at each scale (Adger, 2004). We share in this opinion and extend the argument to include sectors of the economy. For instance, it is obvious that the activities and operations taking place in the industrial sector are not exactly the same as those in agriculture or mining. Therefore, it is important to develop our understanding of vulnerability and adaptation to climate variability by examining each sector separately. And, several authorities (IPCC, 2001b; Nwosu, 2008; Speranza, 2010) have reported that agriculture is