Access to and Diffusion of Climate Change Adaptation Information among Rice Farmers in Southeast Nigeria

This study investigated how access to and diffusion of agricultural information contributed to rice farmers’ adaptation to climate change and variability in Southeastern Nigeria. The major research problem this study sought to address was how information on adaptation to climate change and variability is accessed and diffused among rice farmers to enhance their adaptation to climate change. This problem was borne out of the fact that a lot of rice farmers keep lamenting about how their crops were washed away by floods and the effects of other climatic conditions which they do not have the solution to except finding a way to adapt and mitigate this global phenomenon known as climate change. Specifically, the study was designed to find out the extent of access to information which rice farmers in southeast Nigeria have on climate change adaptation and to know the channels of communication that is the major source of information on climate change adaptation. It also aimed at determining the relationship that exists between variables like access, diffusion, adoption of innovation and adaptation to climate change as well as as certain the factors that influence the adoption or non-adoption of innovation of climate change adaptation rice farmers in southeast Nigeria. The study was underpinned by Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory. Survey method was adopted for the study with the questionnaire used to collect data. The study population was made up of rice farmers in Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi states. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 900 respondents for the study involving both probability and nonprobability sampling methods. The key findings showed that rice farmers’ access to information on climate change adaptation was high and they identified periodical seminars and workshops organized by government extension workers and Non-Governmental organizations as their major sources of information on climate change adaptation. Apart from Radio which was found to be one of the major sources of information among the rice farmers, TV and newspaper were found not be effective in disseminating information on climate change adaptation to rice farmers in southeast Nigeria as most of them do not have access to the channels. The study, therefore, recommended that various channels of communication, especially radio, should be employed to disseminate information on climate change adaptation strategies to reach a broader audience.