Associating farmers' perception of climate change and variability with historical climate data
The farmers' perceptions of climate change (CC) and variability in Okpuje were assessed and compared with historical climate data. They perceive an occurrence of change that affects their farm activities, but lack the scientific understanding of this change. While some do not know what causes t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Belgrade - Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Agricultural Sciences (Belgrade) |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1450-8109/2022/1450-81092203299E.pdf |
| _version_ | 1811194238929469440 |
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| author | Ezeh Jane O. Madukwe Edith U. Ezeh Christopher U. |
| author_facet | Ezeh Jane O. Madukwe Edith U. Ezeh Christopher U. |
| author_sort | Ezeh Jane O. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The farmers' perceptions of climate change (CC) and variability in Okpuje were assessed and compared with historical climate data. They perceive an occurrence of change that affects their farm activities, but lack the scientific understanding of this change. While some do not know what causes the change, others attribute it to God's vengeance. The perceptions of rising temperature and delay in the onset of the rainy season are corroborated by the analysis of the climate data. The temperature is significantly rising and it increased at the rate of 0.14° C per decade between 1960 and 2019. The rainfall decreased at the rate of 8.5 mm per decade. The rainy season tends toward late-onset and early cessation dates. However, the perception of increasing rainfall in the area was not upheld by the trend analysis of the rainfall data. The difference might be due to high variability in rainfall in space and time. The high rainfall recorded lately might have posed difficulty for the human memory as closer events are remembered easier than distant events and hence can be unravelled via a scientific approach. Nevertheless, since perception shapes adaptation, the people's indigenous perceptions and experiences should form part of intervention measures and policies for CC adaptation to command greater participation and wider acceptance. Thus, farmers' perceptions provide vital information but would be more reliable if integrated with scientific data analysis for policy and decision-makers in CC science, implying that none of them should be relegated but integrated. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:22:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bc042b8b42074bf5a71131daaf895984 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1450-8109 2406-0968 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:22:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Belgrade - Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Agricultural Sciences (Belgrade) |
| spelling | doaj.art-bc042b8b42074bf5a71131daaf8959842022-12-22T03:55:40ZengUniversity of Belgrade - Faculty of Agriculture, BelgradeJournal of Agricultural Sciences (Belgrade)1450-81092406-09682022-01-0167329932010.2298/JAS2203299E1450-81092203299EAssociating farmers' perception of climate change and variability with historical climate dataEzeh Jane O.0Madukwe Edith U.1Ezeh Christopher U.2Univerzitet u Nigeriji, Poljoprivredni fakultet, Odsek za ishranu i dijetetiku, Nsukka, NigerijaUniverzitet u Nigeriji, Poljoprivredni fakultet, Odsek za ishranu i dijetetiku, Nsukka, NigerijaUniverzitet u Nigeriji, Fakultet društvenih nauka, Odsek za geografiju, Nsukka, NigerijaThe farmers' perceptions of climate change (CC) and variability in Okpuje were assessed and compared with historical climate data. They perceive an occurrence of change that affects their farm activities, but lack the scientific understanding of this change. While some do not know what causes the change, others attribute it to God's vengeance. The perceptions of rising temperature and delay in the onset of the rainy season are corroborated by the analysis of the climate data. The temperature is significantly rising and it increased at the rate of 0.14° C per decade between 1960 and 2019. The rainfall decreased at the rate of 8.5 mm per decade. The rainy season tends toward late-onset and early cessation dates. However, the perception of increasing rainfall in the area was not upheld by the trend analysis of the rainfall data. The difference might be due to high variability in rainfall in space and time. The high rainfall recorded lately might have posed difficulty for the human memory as closer events are remembered easier than distant events and hence can be unravelled via a scientific approach. Nevertheless, since perception shapes adaptation, the people's indigenous perceptions and experiences should form part of intervention measures and policies for CC adaptation to command greater participation and wider acceptance. Thus, farmers' perceptions provide vital information but would be more reliable if integrated with scientific data analysis for policy and decision-makers in CC science, implying that none of them should be relegated but integrated.https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1450-8109/2022/1450-81092203299E.pdfclimate change and variabilityrainfalltemperatureperceptionnigeria |
| spellingShingle | Ezeh Jane O. Madukwe Edith U. Ezeh Christopher U. Associating farmers' perception of climate change and variability with historical climate data Journal of Agricultural Sciences (Belgrade) climate change and variability rainfall temperature perception nigeria |
| title | Associating farmers' perception of climate change and variability with historical climate data |
| title_full | Associating farmers' perception of climate change and variability with historical climate data |
| title_fullStr | Associating farmers' perception of climate change and variability with historical climate data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associating farmers' perception of climate change and variability with historical climate data |
| title_short | Associating farmers' perception of climate change and variability with historical climate data |
| title_sort | associating farmers perception of climate change and variability with historical climate data |
| topic | climate change and variability rainfall temperature perception nigeria |
| url | https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/1450-8109/2022/1450-81092203299E.pdf |
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