Climate Change and Livelihood Outcomes of Households in Rice Farming Communities of Ebonyi and Niger States, Nigeria

This study examines climate change (CC) and livelihood outcomes of households in rice farming communities of Ebonyi and Niger states, Nigeria. Using three-stage sampling procedure, two Local Government Areas in Niger and one in Ebonyi states were purposively selected due to intensive rice production activities. Thereafter, six rice growing communities in Niger and four in Ebonyi were selected proportionate to size for interview. Then, 440 registered rice farming households were randomly selected. Interview schedule was used to collect data and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Respondents’ age was 44.75 ± 11.22 years, were mostly male (65.0%) and married (76.6%). In Niger, 88.3% of respondents obtained climate information (CI) from extension agents. In Ebonyi, most respondents received CI from extension agents (100.0%). Majority (77.0%) in Niger and 55.7% in Ebonyi perceived CC effects on rice production as unfavourable. Adaptation strategies mostly used in Niger was short duration and high yielding crops (x̅=2.35 ± 0.77), while frequent weeding of rice fields (x̅=2.58 ± 0.70) was used in Ebonyi. Perceived CC effects had significant relationship with food security (r = 0.639), vulnerability to poverty (r=-0.252), in Niger. In Ebonyi, perceived CC effects was significantly related to food security (r = 0.379), vulnerability to poverty (r=-0.220), and sustainable land management (r = 0.381). There were significant differences in food security (t = 6.90), and sustainable land management (t = 9.14) between households in Niger and Ebonyi. The major predictors of livelihood outcomes were male-headed (β = 1.470), tertiary education (β = 3.470), farm size (β = 0.820) and information sources (β = 0.330) in Niger, while secondary education (β = 0.216), information sources (β = 0.359), determined livelihood outcomes in Ebonyi.