Abstract
The degradation of ecosystem services often causes significant destruction to livelihoods. As a result climate variation have lead to poor harvest due to extreme weather events such as heavy wind, floods, extreme heat and draught devastating farmland and consequently led to crop failure or poor yield. Peasant farming dominates agriculture in Nigeria with a small proportion of irrigated farming, making agricultural output sensitive to climate change. The pattern of rainfall has changed and effected the commencement of the planting season, resulting in poor harvest yields. This uncertainty in agricultural practices exposes the nation to food crisis as an emerging point for hunger and food insecurity (scarcity of food, poor access and unaffordable). The study found out that ecosystems have changed in terms of services and uses, which have serious effect on wellbeing causing poverty. The following objectives were determined: Socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, their awareness of climate variation, perception about the effect of climate variation on seasonality of cropping systems, livelihoods and identified climate adaptation strategies adopted by rural dwellers. In conclusion, capacity building of the rural dwellers for adaptation to climate and socioeconomic changes is paramount. Also, there is the need to promote the formulation/enhancement of pro-poor policies through analytical work and knowledge sharing.
