Abstract
The severe effect of climate change in Sub-Sahara Africa, and Nigeria is highly evident in drought, increased temperature, heavy rainfall, and incessant flooding which has led to loss of farm commodities and loss of lives. However, the study was predetermined by the persistent impact of climate variation from loss of plants, deaths of animals, and diversification of crop farmers into other means of livelihood. This study was carried out in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo state to investigate the perceived effect of climate variation on crop farmers’ livelihood. A well-structured questionnaire was used for collection of data through purposive and simple random sampling procedure to select a sample of 86 crop farmers for the study. The data for the study were analyzed with descriptive statistics such as frequency tables, percentages, and inferential statistics like chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation to draw inferences between the variables of the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents (73.3%) were male, with age range of 31-60, and 82.6% were married. The result revealed that 72.1% of crop farmers have one form of formal education or the other. Majority of the crop farmers (87.2%) got climate related information from their farmers association, and 79.1% got information from their radio sets. However, 58.1% of the respondents perceived severe effect of climate variation on farmers’ livelihood which invariably influences diversification into other businesses. Furthermore, the result revealed that significant influence between crop farmers’ education and perceived effect of climate variation on their livelihood (p < 0.05), and farmers’ sources of information on perceived effect of climate variation. In conclusion, the study revealed that most crop farmers perceived severe effect of climate variation on their production which invariably influences livelihood diversification. It is therefore recommended that crop farmers should access climate related adaptation strategies from extension offices/agents to enhance their production practices.
Key Words: Climate Variation, Perception, Crop farmers, Production, Livelihood
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