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Advancing the Resilience of Rural People to Climate Change through Indigenous Best Practices: Experience from Northern Nigeria

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Climate Change Adaptation in Africa

Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

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Abstract

Despite global concerns and negotiations on climate change, for poor rural people living in the tropics and sub-tropics, the phenomenon of climate change is not new. Experience shows that in northern Nigeria, rural people and their communities have over long periods of time built indigenous strategies, coping mechanisms and best practices which have enabled them adapt to climate change threats. However, the scientific, economic and social potentials associated with their mitigation and adaptive strategies have not been adequately unraveled or recognized in Nigeria’s climate change policy formulation and implementation. The crisis of climate change calls for an urgent response from all stakeholders within the national and international domains towards the possibility of creating conditions that permits equitable and environmentally sustainable development. Thus, this paper shares experiences derived from the analysis of indigenous best practices employed by irrigation farmers in coping with the adverse effects of climate change in two agro-ecological zones of Katsina State in northern Nigeria. The focal aim is to highlight the valuable lessons, provoke critical thinking and give insights into the contributions rural people have to offer in addressing the context-specific issues of climate change.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to extend their sincere appreciation to the irrigation farmers studied in northern Nigeria and to the officials of the Katsina State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KTARDA) for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Faculty of Agriculture, Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, PMB 1044, Samaru-Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

    Michael W. Musa & Sulaiman Umar

Authors
  1. Michael W. Musa
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  2. Sulaiman Umar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael W. Musa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. FTZ-NK, HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Environmental and Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Simane Belay

  3. School of Water Resources, South Eastern Kenya University, Nairobi, Kenya

    Jokasha Kalangu

  4. Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Wuta Menas

  5. Department Ecosystems and Conservation, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Tourism, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Pantaleo Munishi

  6. Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe

    Kumbirai Musiyiwa

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Musa, M.W., Umar, S. (2017). Advancing the Resilience of Rural People to Climate Change through Indigenous Best Practices: Experience from Northern Nigeria. In: Leal Filho, W., Belay, S., Kalangu, J., Menas, W., Munishi, P., Musiyiwa, K. (eds) Climate Change Adaptation in Africa. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49520-0_7

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