Title: Prioritising sustainable agricultural practices in a changing climate: empirical evidence from Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Authors: Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke; Christiana Ogonna Igberi; Jonathan Ogbeni Aligbe; Mark Umunna Amadi

Addresses: Department of Agriculture (Agricultural Economics and Extension Programme), Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, PMB 1010, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria ' Department of Agriculture (Agricultural Economics and Extension Programme), Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, PMB 1010, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria ' Department of Planning and Policy Coordination, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Benin City, Nigeria ' Department of Agriculture (Agricultural Economics and Extension Programme), Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, PMB 1010, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract: This study prioritised sustainable agricultural practices in Ebonyi State, Nigeria by using a participatory methodology and selected 240 farmers from the state for interview and group discussion through a multistage sampling technique. Scoring and bidding exercises using pseudo money were employed to check the willingness to pay for various SAPs. Stated preference and chi-square were adopted for data analysis. Strong similarities and differences characterise preferences of different SAPs by farmers in different agricultural zones. Insurance, climate change-based advisory services, improved crop varieties, mounds and adjusting planting dates were the commonly preferred practices. Farmers' scoring and bidding differed significantly for insurance, improved crop varieties and climate change-based advisory services. Adopting a stated preference methodology in prioritising farmers' preferences for sustainable agricultural practices in a changing climate provides relevant information on climate risk management.

Keywords: sustainable agricultural practices; SAPs; climate change; climate risk management; stated preferences; scoring; bidding; Chi square; prioritisation; Ebonyi State; Nigeria.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2018.097483

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2018 Vol.14 No.3, pp.308 - 320

Received: 28 Nov 2017
Accepted: 05 Nov 2018
Published online: 23 Jan 2019 *

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