Rural Peoples’ Perception to Climate Variability/Change in Cross River State-Nigeria

The rural people have been recognized as knowledge holders on climate variability/change and key actors for developing policies to mitigate and cope with its effects. The study attempts to assess perception level of rural people to Climate change in selected communities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from 120 rural dwellers in 4 communities. This data centered on knowledge (awareness) level of climate variability/change causes, effects, mitigation and adaptive strategies. The data generated were analyzed using the descriptive statistics. Results showed 71.7% of the people are aware of climate change. They also indicated that the onset of rains is now delayed while cessation is earlier against the trend in the past. This corroborates the meteorological parameters obtained from Nigeria Meteorological Agency. The Study further indicates that, though there are natural causes, 66.7% of rural people accepted human activities as major causes of climate change/variability. The results also showed that the effects of climate in rural areas include poor crop yields (56.7% response); reduced soil fertility (66.7% response); increase flood (56.7%), poverty and food shortage (50% response). The sources of peoples’ awareness show widespread information from environmental education/sensitization by NGOs and extension workers as well as media which at the moment is lacking and limited to radio talks and jingles. It is recommended that the more awareness should be created on the effect of human activities on climate; also, indigenous knowledge system should complement global modern knowledge systems to enhance climate change mitigation.