Abstract

This study examined the adaptation strategies of tree crop farmers to climate variation in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to sample 160 respondents for the study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, means, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Result of analysis showed that majority of the tree crops farmers were in their active ages of between 15 and 55 years old (78.1%), males (73.8%), had tertiary education (41.2%), had between 11 and 20 years of experience in tree crop farming (35.0%) and had less than 15 acres of tree crops farmland (80.8%). Constraints being faced were low yield, stunted growth, high sunlight intensity, pest and diseases, prolong dry season among others. Most respondents were aware of climate variation and adaptation strategies employed includes mulching, increased irrigation, and crop diversification. Significant relationship existed between awareness (r = 0.013; p = 0.003) and adaptation of respondents to climate variation in the study area. It is recommended that farmers’ adaptation to climate variation should be improved upon by research and extension, while the government should provide incentives to encourage continuous tree crop planting.

Key words: Climate variation, tree crop, adaptation, ecosystem.