Abstract

Agricultural activities mostly food crop production are climate dependent, as change in the ideal plant requirement may affect the overall yield and productive capacity of the crop. The study examined farmers’ perception on the effect of climate change and variations on urban agriculture in Ibadan Metropolis. Data were obtained through the administration of 145 copies of structured questionnaire to farmers in two prominent urban agricultural communities of Odogbo Barracks and Eleyele. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The result showed that 89.6% of the respondents held the opinion that climate is changing and that variability in climatic conditions had become more pronounced in the past five years. The perceived effects of climate variations were increase in temperature, reduction in number of rain days, increase in rain storms and occurrence of floods. The multiple regression result revealed that farmers’ socio-economic characteristics (education, sex, age, income and length of farming experience) had no significant influence on their perception of the effect of climate variations on urban agriculture. The study further showed that farmers’ perception of climate change significantly influenced the way they responded to variations in climate. The study therefore suggested the immediate adoption of irrigation and mulching as mitigating measures to cope with the phenomenon instead of the complete reliance on rain-fed agriculture.

Key words: Farmers’ perception, coping strategies, perceived effects, climate variations, mitigating measures, ibadan, multiple regression analysis.