EFFECTS OF CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES ON FOOD SECURITY AMONG RURAL COMMUNITIES IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Climate-smart agricultural practices have been identified as a means to mitigate the impacts of climate change on agriculture in order to enhance agricultural productivity, improve resilience and food security. This study examined the effects of using climate-smart agricultural practices on food security among rural communities in Ogun State. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 222 respondents for the study. Interview guide was used to elicit data on socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, knowledge of farmers on climate-smart agricultural practices, extent of using climate-smart agricultural practices, factors influencing adaptation decision of climate-smart agricultural practices and the food security status of the farmers. Data were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation, Chi square, Pearsons Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Linear regression. Results reveal that 51.4% of the respondents were male, 73.9% were married and 92.7% had basic literacy and numeracy skills with an average age, farming experience, farm size and annual farm income of 43.05years, 17years, 1.2 hectares and ₦700,000 respectively. Most (69.4%) of the respondents had moderate knowledge and 73.9% had high utilization of climate-smart agricultural practices. The major factors that influenced adaptation decision were access to extension services (x ̅ =1.79) and weather information (x ̅ =1.62). Furthermore, results show that 90.1% of the respondents were food insecure. The correlation results show a significant (p<0.05) relationship between farm income (r=0.226), farm size (r=0.336) and food security status of the farmers. Linear regression reveals a significant (p<0.05) relationship between the respondents’ knowledge (β= 0.478), level of using climate smart agricultural practices (β= 0.203) factors influencing farmers’ adaptation decisions (β= 0.478) and the food security status. The study concluded that the utilization of climate-smart agricultural practices influences food security status of rural communities in Ogun State. Therefore, there is need to further encourage the use of climate-smart practices in order to improve food security status of the farmers.