Abstract

This study was carried out to identify coping measures required by farmers in managing climate change stress for effective agricultural production in Abia State, Nigeria. Design of the study was descriptive survey. The study was carried out in Abia State. Two research questions guided the study while two null hypotheses were formulated and tested. Population for the study was 1,009 made up of 768 farmers and 241 extension agents in Abia State. Sample for the study was 302 made up of 230 farmers and 72 extension agents obtained through proportionate (30%) stratified random sampling technique. A 30 item questionnaire was developed and used to collect data for the study. Data obtained were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses at probability level of 0.05. It was found by the study that crop farmers require the 30 coping measures identified in managing climate change stress among which include; use of high yielding and tolerant crop varieties, harvesting of water for irrigation and advertising agricultural produce. It was therefore recommended that the identified coping measures be packaged into a training programme by relevant stakeholders for training or retraining of farmers through seminars or workshops to enable them manage climate change stress for effective agricultural crop production in Abia State, Nigeria.

Key words: Agriculture, climate change, extension service, marketing, production.