Attitude of catfish farmers towards climate change in Ondo State, Nigeria

Climate change increasingly affects aquaculture in Ondo State, yet studies on catfish farmers’ attitudes remain limited. This study examines their awareness, perceptions, and adaptation strategies regarding climate change to inform effective policies and promote sustainable aquaculture development in Nigeria. Data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to ninety (90) respondents selected using a three-stage sampling technique. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, and mean scores were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that 80% of respondents were male, 45.6% aged 31–40 (mean age 46), 77.8% married, 85.6% literate, 53.3% Christians, 44.4% had a 6–10 household size, mean farm size 4 ha, and mean farming experience 13 years. Also, 97.8% of the respondents were aware of climate change (x̅ = 4.98). The attitudes of catfish farmers toward the perceived effects of climate change show that 77.8% believed the government is not committed to agriculture in terms of climate change (x̅ = 3.89) and that climate has affected agriculture since they became involved in the sector (x̅ = 3.76). However, most disagreed that climate change programmes or policies have significantly improved agriculture (x̅ < 3.0). The study further revealed that local farmers (50.0%) and extension agents (16.7%) served as major information sources, while key challenges included high technology costs (33.3%), poor perception of climate change (22.3%), scarcity of trained manpower (16.8%) inadequate training (11.1%), and limited financial access (5.5%). The study recommends capacity building, financial support, and climate-resilient practices to improve catfish farmers' adaptive capacity to climate variability.