CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa. Erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells and floods reduce crop yields and the incomes of smallholder farmers who depend on rain-fed farming. Drought is especially serious for maize because the crop needs sufficient moisture to survive (Oyetunde-Usman & Shee, 2023). In the North-West agro-ecological zone of Nigeria, maize farmers surveyed by Dodo (2015) reported severe drought (89.4%), too much rain or flooding (71.8%) and increased weed incidence (66.6%) as the most severe effects of climate change on their production.

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has been proposed as a response. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2010) presents it as an approach that aims to increase agricultural productivity and incomes in a sustainable way, to build resilience to climate change, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions where possible. Lipper et al. (2014) describe CSA as an approach for transforming and reorienting agricultural systems to support food security under climate change, and they stress flexible, context-specific solutions and stronger local institutions. At the farm level, CSA practices for maize include drought-tolerant and early-maturing varieties, intercropping, row planting, manure and residue incorporation, crop rotation, mulching, minimum tillage and water harvesting (Dodo, 2015; Oyetunde-Usman & Shee, 2023).

Adoption of these practices has generally been low. In a nationally representative survey of 1,370 rural households, Oyetunde-Usman and Shee (2023) found that adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties and related CSA practices was low and that access to training in improved production practices and membership of cooperatives were among the factors that increased it. Dodo (2015) found that farmers in the North-West zone were aware of and had adopted some practices, such as mixed cropping and mixed farming, but that minimum tillage (13.2%) and afforestation (11.3%) were among the least adopted.

Agricultural extension is the main channel through which CSA knowledge can reach farmers. Extension uses a range of methods: individual methods such as farm and home visits; group methods such as result and method demonstrations, field days and meetings; and mass media such as radio and television. In the NAERLS adopted villages of Kaduna State, which are located in Giwa, Sabon Gari and Zaria Local Government Areas, farm and home visits were the most preferred method (81.4%), followed by result and method demonstrations (79.5%) and group meetings (77.5%) (Abubakar et al., 2022). Giwa alone has 43 adopted villages with 3,225 registered farmers (Abubakar et al., 2022). Nwaobiala (2017) reported that demonstrations, the adopted village approach, on-farm adaptive research and group methods were widely used by extension agencies in Kaduna State.

Whether these methods are effective for CSA is a separate question. In Niger State, Ebenehi et al. (2018) found that extension meetings, method and result demonstrations and mass media were used to pass on climate change adaptation information, but concluded that these services might be inadequate for transferring adaptation strategies to farmers. In Kaduna State, Suleiman and Awotodunbo (2023) examined the role of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Zaria, in disseminating CSA practices and reported that insecurity and the limited ability of the institute to reach large numbers of farmers were constraints. Giwa Local Government Area, with its NAERLS adopted villages and its maize-growing farmers, is a suitable setting in which to examine which extension methods work best for CSA.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Maize farmers in Kaduna State face rising climate risks, and CSA practices offer a way to protect yields and incomes. However, adoption of these practices remains low in Nigeria (Dodo, 2015; Oyetunde-Usman & Shee, 2023). If farmers do not adopt CSA, extension messages may be failing, either because they do not reach farmers or because the methods used do not help farmers to understand and apply them.

Extension organisations use many methods, but there is little evidence on which of them farmers find most effective for CSA. The evidence that exists is often about preferences or general extension delivery rather than CSA specifically (for example Abubakar et al., 2022; Nwaobiala, 2017). Where CSA has been studied, the findings suggest that current extension services may be inadequate (Ebenehi et al., 2018) and that reach is limited by insecurity and by the size of the institutions' outreach (Suleiman & Awotodunbo, 2023). Davis (2008) reviews evidence on the success and failure of different extension models in sub-Saharan Africa, which suggests that the effectiveness of extension approaches has to be assessed in each setting.

For maize farmers in Giwa Local Government Area, it is not known which extension methods are used to promote CSA, how farmers rate the effectiveness of these methods, and how the methods relate to the adoption of CSA practices. This study was carried out to provide this information.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to assess the effectiveness of agricultural extension methods in promoting climate-smart agriculture among maize farmers in Giwa Local Government Area, Kaduna State. The specific objectives are to:

1. describe the socio-economic characteristics of maize farmers in Giwa Local Government Area;

2. identify the climate-smart agricultural practices promoted to the farmers;

3. identify the extension methods used to promote climate-smart agriculture in the area;

4. determine the farmers' perceived effectiveness of the extension methods used;

5. determine the level of adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among the farmers;

1.4 Research Questions

The study seeks answers to the following questions:

1. What are the socio-economic characteristics of maize farmers in Giwa Local Government Area?

2. Which climate-smart agricultural practices are promoted to the farmers?

3. Which extension methods are used to promote climate-smart agriculture in the area?

4. How do the farmers rate the effectiveness of the extension methods used?

5. What is the level of adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among the farmers?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses will be tested at the 5% level of significance:

H0₁: The socio-economic characteristics of the farmers (age, sex, level of education, farm size, farming experience and membership of cooperatives) have no significant relationship with the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices.

H0₂: There is no significant relationship between the extension methods used (individual, group and mass media) and the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among the farmers.

H0₃: There is no significant difference in the farmers' perceived effectiveness of individual, group and mass media extension methods in promoting climate-smart agriculture.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study will benefit maize farmers in Giwa by drawing attention to the extension methods that help them most to understand and adopt practices that protect their crops from climate risks. Extension agents and organisations, including NAERLS, the Institute for Agricultural Research and the state extension agency, will find evidence for choosing and combining methods for CSA messages, and for deciding where more effort or funding is needed.

Policy makers will be able to use the findings in designing climate adaptation and extension programmes for northern Nigeria, where drought and flooding are common. The study will also add to the small body of local evidence on CSA and extension in Kaduna State and will serve as a reference for students and researchers in agricultural extension and climate change adaptation.

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study covers maize farmers in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. It considers three groups of extension methods, namely individual methods (such as farm and home visits), group methods (such as demonstrations, field days and farmers' meetings) and mass media methods (such as radio and television), and their relationship with the adoption of CSA practices for maize, for example drought-tolerant or early-maturing varieties, crop rotation and intercropping, manure and residue use, and soil and water conservation. It does not cover farmers of other crops, other local government areas or livestock-related CSA practices. The data relate to the most recent farming season.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The study was limited by time and finance, which restricted the sample size and the number of villages that could be reached. Insecurity in parts of Kaduna State may also limit access to some communities, and Suleiman and Awotodunbo (2023) identified insecurity as a constraint to the practice of CSA in the state. Effectiveness is measured mainly through farmers' own ratings, which reflect perceptions and may differ from measured yield outcomes. Farmers may also find it difficult to remember which method exposed them to which practice. Findings from Giwa may not apply to other areas without care. The researcher tried to limit these problems by using a structured questionnaire, by working with local guides, and by visiting only communities that could be reached safely.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA): An approach to farming that seeks to increase productivity and incomes in a sustainable way, to help farmers adapt to climate change, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions where possible (FAO, 2010).

Extension methods: The ways in which extension agents pass information to farmers, grouped in this study as individual methods, group methods and mass media methods.

Effectiveness of an extension method: The extent to which a method, as rated by farmers, helps them to become aware of, understand and adopt a practice.

Climate change adaptation: Adjustments in farming practices that reduce the harm of changing rainfall and temperature on crop production.

Adoption: The regular use of a recommended practice by a farmer after learning about it and trying it.

Smallholder maize farmer: A farmer who grows maize on a small area of land, mainly with family labour and limited capital.

REFERENCES

Abubakar, M. I., Idrisa, Y. L., & Pur, J. T. (2022). Preference of extension delivery methods used in the adopted villages of the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Rural Sociology, 22(1), 16–21.

Davis, K. E. (2008). Extension in sub-Saharan Africa: Overview and assessment of past and current models, and future prospects. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 15(3), 15–28.

Dodo, E. Y. (2015). Adoption of technologies for adaptation to climate change by maize farmers in North-West agro-ecological zone of Nigeria [Thesis, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria]. Kubanni Repository. https://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/handle/123456789/7963

Ebenehi, O., Ahmed, T. A., & Barnabas, T. M. (2018). Evaluation of extension services delivery for climate change adaptation by crop farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 27(1), 1–13.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2010). "Climate-smart" agriculture: Policies, practices and financing for food security, adaptation and mitigation. FAO.

Lipper, L., Thornton, P., Campbell, B. M., Baedeker, T., Braimoh, A., Bwalya, M., Caron, P., Cattaneo, A., Garrity, D., Henry, K., Hottle, R., Jackson, L., Jarvis, A., Kossam, F., Mann, W., McCarthy, N., Meybeck, A., Neufeldt, H., Remington, T., Sen, P. T., Sessa, R., Shula, R., Tibu, A., & Torquebiau, E. F. (2014). Climate-smart agriculture for food security. Nature Climate Change, 4(12), 1068–1072. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2437

Nwaobiala, C. U. (2017). Effect of agricultural extension delivery methods on arable crop farmers' cropping systems in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Scientific Papers Series: Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development, 17(3).

Oyetunde-Usman, Z., & Shee, A. (2023). Adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties and interrelated climate smart agricultural practices in Nigeria. Agriculture & Food Security, 12, Article 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-023-00429-1

Suleiman, R., & Awotodunbo, A. A. (2023). Role of Institute for Agricultural Research Zaria in dissemination of climate smart agriculture practices to crops farmer in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural Extension, 27(1), 109–119.