ANALYSIS OF GENDER VULNERABILITIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE AMONG FARMERS IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was designed to assess gender vulnerabilities to climate change among farmers in Kano State, Nigeria. The probability and non-probability sampling technique were used to select 250 farmers drawn from 50 co-operatives in the four (4) selected Local Government Areas (LGAs). Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results revealed the farmer’s average age of 46 years; majority (95.2%) were married with an average household size of 14 persons; and 43.6% of the farmers had informal (Qur’anic) education. Vulnerability analysis showed that women and children were more vulnerable to scarcity of water (48.1%) and diseases (58.5%), respectively, and men (59.2%) were vulnerable to market distance. It was further disclosed that age influenced the farmers’ adaptive strategies to climate change at P≤0.01 significant; and household size was significant at P≤0.05. However, farmer’s annual and years of farming experienced had no significant influences on the use of adaptive strategies. In conclusion, women and children were most affected by the changes in climate and had low adaptive capacity compared to men. The study recommended that women and children who are more vulnerable should be given special attention by all the stakeholders in order to reduce the level of their vulnerability.