7. Conclusion

6.4. Sources of information on climate variability

farmers.

variability in Anambra State is shown in Table 6.

The percentage response of sources of information among small scale farmers on climate

Table 8. Multiple linear regressions of the socio-economic characteristics and production level of small scale maize

Sources of information Frequency\* (n = 128) Percentage (%)

Table 7. Percentage response of sources of information on climate variability by maize farmers in Anambra State.

Socioeconomic variables Coefficient Standard error Sig. R<sup>2</sup> p-Value Age 0.278 0.126 0.028 0.176 0.048

Fellow farmers 99 77.34 Radio set 67 52.34 Extension agents 79 61.72 Television set (NiMET) 62 48.44 Internet/social media 26 20.31

132 Corn - Production and Human Health in Changing Climate

Source: Field Survey, 2017. NiMET = Nigerian Metrological Agency weather forecast.

Sex 0.226 0.242 0.351 Marital status 0.154 0.170 0.363 Household size 0.370 0.152 0.015 Education level 0.199 0.154 0.195 Farming years 0.428 0.183 0.019 Farm size 0.624 0.123 0.046 Labor source 0.021 0.163 0.037 Membership organization 0.330 0.239 0.167 Average income 0.334 0.226 0.164 Average yield 0.233 0.233 0.143

Result from Table 7 reveals that majority (77.34%) of the maize farmers source their information from fellow farmers, (61.72%) from extension agents, few (52.34%) from radio set, very few (48.44%) source from television set while (20.31%) source their information from the internet/ social media. The implication is that farmers that belong to agricultural groups are more likely to have access to farm information on climate variability adaptation strategies than those who do not belong to any. This finding is similar to that of [36, 57] whose studies showed that adequate information flow channel and extension contact with registered farmers have a positive relationship with the adoption of agricultural strategies since extension agents transfer modern agricul-

tural technologies to farmers to help counteract the negative impact of climate change.

Better understanding and perception of climate variability and adaptions to climate change impacts in Anambra State, Nigeria, is crucial for increasing farmers adoption of improved maize seed varieties and practicing of climate-smart maize production. The ultimate objective of this study was to assess the smallholder maize farmers' perception on climate variability and their use of climate change adaptation approaches in Anambra state.

The results of this study show that, approximately 57.2% of climate variability negatively impacts on maize production in the study area. Basically flooding ( = 2.02 1.166), erratic rainfall ( = 2.02 0.816), and decrease in crop yield by strange pests and diseases ( = 1.59 0.896) were identified as climate change effects on maize production. The smallholder maize farmers are significantly aware of the consequences of climate variability on their maize farms, reason for some of them, practicing climate change adaptations. 88.28% of the smallholder maize farmers perceived bush burning as a major contributor to climate variability in the study area. Whereas, other identified climate change drivers include: intensive agricultural land use (82.03%), use of inorganic fertilizers (60.16%), use of fossil fuels (56.25%) and deforestation (50.78%). Finally, from the statistical analysis in this study, we conclude that, the lower the standard deviation values, the more knowledgeable the farmers are about climate variability and on practice of climate change adaptations; and, vice-versa.

Therefore, an integrated efforts to mobilize funding resource for further research on climate change mitigation and adaptions in the forest zone of Nigeria and for practical works at the local level, are hereby recommended.

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