ABSTRACTThis study assessed the indigenous strategies employed by irrigation farmers to cope with adverse effects of climate change in Katsina State. It also related the use of those strategies on one hand and food security situation of households in the study area on the other hand. It was carried out in two out of the three zones of Katsina State Agricultural and Rural Development. A sample of 200 farmers was randomly selected from a sample frame of 1332 irrigation farmers. Structured interview and focus group discussion were employed for data collection. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics, coping strategy index and regression analyses. The study found out that farmers are aware of climate change in the study area. Important sources of information on climate change were found to be: other farmers (96%), radio (88.5%), cooperative group activities (71%), open market (63.5%), government extension agents (59.5%), soothsayers (24.5%), mobile phone (22.5%) and the internet (11.5%). Important indicators of climate change in the area include longer dry season, erratic rain pattern, severe harmattan, drought, increased pest incidence, warmer temperature, flooding and increased disease incidence in that order.Mixed cropping, changed sowing date, seed selection, animal husbandry, traditional irrigation system, afforestation, seasonal migration, change in date of harvest and use of organic manure were the most important indigenous strategies used by the respondents to cope with climate change. Coping strategy index (CSI), which is a summation of product of the score of communal usage of each coping strategy and its duration by the respondent, was computed for each household. The minimum and maximum values were 2083 and 4664 respectively, while the arithmetic mean was 3170.99 with standard deviation of 454.964.Age of respondents, total land size, total annual income and years of membership of farmers‟ cooperatives were found to be positively related to the use of indigenous coping strategies against climate change and significant at 1% probability. It was also established that 91.5% of the respondents complement the indigenous coping strategies with the use of modern coping strategies to cope with climate change.The study also found that the use of indigenous coping strategies against climate change positively influences the food security statuses of households at 5% level of statistical significance (p<0.05). Likewise, extension visit was found to be significant in influencing the food security of households in the study area. Also, the relationship was direct and at 5% level of significance. The constraints to effective use of indigenous coping strategies against climate change were identified to be: poverty (identified by 87.5% of the respondents), poor record keeping and documentation (84%), poor access to information on climate change (72%), low level of education (59.5%), uncertainty in the agricultural enterprises due to reliance on natural conditions (46.5%), land tenure system (39%) and inadequate physical and social infrastructure in the rural areas (29.5%). Capacity building and advisory services that enhance documentation and complementing the use of indigenous and modern strategies against climate change particularly in areas of information accessibility and weather prediction are recommended.
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