Determinants of Household Fish Farmers’ Vulnerability to Climatic Hazards in Southwest Nigeria

The study examined the determinants of fish farmers’ household vulnerability to climatic hazards in Southwest Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique were used to select the respondents for this study. In the first stage, Ondo and Ogun States were purposively selected in the tropical rainforest zone of Southwest Nigeria. These States have coastlands; in addition, they are prominent in fishing activities and climatic hazards, as well as waterlogged areas are a common occurrence. In the second stage, stratified random sampling of two (2) Local Government Areas (LGAs), namely Ilaje LGA and Ese-Odo LGA in Ondo State, while Odogbolu LGA and Ijebu Waterside LGA were selected in Ogun State. The Selection of the LGA’s was based on was based on the fact that these LGAs were the prominent ones where intensive fishing activities take place.  In the third stage, four (4) fishing communities were randomly selected from each LGA, while in the final stage, sixteen (16) respondents were randomly selected from each of the communities. The respondents were expected to be 256, but only 220 questionnaires were returned. Therefore, a sample of 220 respondents was selected for this study. Data collected from 220 respondents were analyzed using frequency tables, descriptive statistics, charts, and an ordered logistic regression model. The average age of the respondents was 49 years, 56.36% of the respondents observed floods as the major climatic hazards in the study area, followed by erosion (19.55%) and change in rainfall pattern (12.27%), respectively. The most of the important adaptation strategies adopted is building embankments to prevent flooded water, planting of shaded crop to prevent erosion, improved fish managements, procurement of weather/water monitoring kits, insurance policies and diversification measures were adopted in the study area to cushion the effects of being vulnerable to various climatic hazards in the study area. The Ordered Logistic Regression result showed that flood, erosion, and heavy rainfall were the major production risks perceived by the fish farmers in the study area. It is concluded that fish farmers in the study area were vulnerable to various climatic hazards, notably floods, erosion, and changes in the rainfall pattern. Therefore, policy and local development practitioners should give priority to highly vulnerable households by encouraging them to practice climate-smart agriculture and improved fish farming management, as well as ensure their businesses to mitigate the effects of climate risks on their businesses.

Keywords: Determinants of Vulnerability, Vulnerability drivers, Climatic Hazards and Fish Farmers.