Climate change and financing adaptation by farmers in northern Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines farmers' perceptions of their exposure to climate change in rural northern Nigeria. It also examines whether there is a significant relationship between the exposure of farmers to climate change and their need for financial access as an adaptation strategy. Questionnaires were administered to 320 respondents in rural communities in northern Nigeria. Descriptive analysis shows that rural farmers are affected by climate change through increased temperature, prolonged dry seasons, floods, and drought, which lead to low harvest and, in turn, low income. An estimate from a non-parametric test also shows a significant relationship between farmers' perceived exposure to climate change and their need for credit. Although the Spearman correlation results show a 63% association between exposure to climate change and the need for finance, 96% of those seeking credit to mitigate these impacts would be unable to do so due to financial exclusiveness. The paper recommends that the Central Bank of Nigeria should ensure that microfinance institutions refocus their products/services to those who need them the most in order to enhance access to financial resources and enable farmers to build resilience that will maximize post-harvest gains. Lastly, considering that climate change is a global phenomenon with local effects, perhaps the international community could support lending to smallholder farmers through central banks by insuring the loans that banks give to farmers towards financing climate change adaptation strategies.

Estimating the effects of financial access on poor farmers in rural northern Nigeria

“…Another reason informing the focus of this paper is due to recent evidence on how drought and desertification have contributed to flaming the conflict between farmers and herders in rural northern communities in northern Nigeria. Many farming communities have been affected by climate change in rural northern Nigeria (see Abraham and Fonta 2018), hence, has made many of the youths, women and children so displaced to be available as recruits for the radical sects such as the Boko Haram and other armed group in the sub region (see Avery 2018). By examining whether the poorest income quintile benefit from programs aimed at increasing their access to financial services in rural northern Nigeria therefore, this paper contributed towards providing field facts that would help redirect the focus of government policy in order to achieve inclusive growth and development.…”

“…6 Purpose for which Credit was sought by Household by Proportion (%). Source: Abraham and Fonta (2018)…”

“Are They Aware, and Why?” Bayesian Analysis of Predictors of Smallholder Farmers’ Awareness of Climate Change and Its Risks to Agriculture

“…We recommend more rigorous efforts of promoting awareness in synergy with climate-smart adaptation strategies. This is important because farmers' perceptions and/or awareness of climate change guide their adaptation strategies [47,88,89].…”

Climate change adaptation and the role of fuel subsidies: An empirical bio-economic modeling study for an artisanal open-access fishery

“…Hence, we assume increasing and convex iso-elastic inverse supply functions: in equilibrium, wages and the cost of capital increase with the amount of capital and labor used by the fishery. In previous climate change adaptation studies on agriculture, access to financing has been found to be a major determinant [79]. Fuel supply is perfectly elastic, and prices are determined on the world market.…”