Climate Change Effects: Insights from Agroforestry Farmers in Gwer East, Benue State, Nigeria
2025
Dachung, Grace | Ushahemba, Aperaga | Ekhuemelo, David
This study explored farmers' awareness of climate change impacts on agroforestry farms in Gwer East, Benue State, Nigeria. Using a multi-stage sampling method, four council wards and fifteen villages were selected. A total of 292 farmers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire via Google Forms. Results showed that most respondents were male (90.4%), aged 36-45 years (29.5%), Christian (99.7%), and married (94.2%). Farming was their primary (88.4%) and secondary occupation (82.2%), with average household sizes of 5-7 members (34.6%). Most earned no income (87.7%) and had undergraduate-level education (42.8%). The farmers practiced alley cropping (95.9%) and a crops-and-trees system (94.9%), with 57.5% having over 15 years’ experience. There was a significant positive correlation between educational status and both awareness of climate change (ρ = .338, p < .01) and knowledge of its causes (ρ = 0.406, p < 0.01). Most (58.9%) farmers were aware of climate change, with awareness higher among females (71.4%) than males (57.6%), while more males (42.4%) than females (28.6%) reported no awareness. Males made up most of the sample (90.4%). Chi-square analysis showed no statistically significant association between gender and climate change awareness (Pearson Chi-square = 2.007, df = 1, p = 0.157). Farmers mainly got climate change information from public gatherings (33.6%) and linked it to natural causes, observing extreme heat (89.7%) and drought (80.8%). Key impacts included reduced crop yields (84.6%) and pasture loss (96.6%), with tree planting (96.9%) as the top mitigation strategy. Modern technologies and better access to credit (90.1%) were widely recommended for adaptation.
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