Observed climate change factors and food crop production in a typical rural farming community in Nigeria: implications on food security

Climate change has increasingly challenged efforts to achieve food security, especially among rural farming households that depend heavily on crop production, highlighting the need for targeted evaluation and coping strategies for the understudied farming communities. While national-level studies provide broad insights, they often obscure local variations experienced by rural communities. Therefore, this study examined the impacts of observed climate change factors on food crop production in a rural farming community and the coping strategies adopted amid poor yields. A cross-sectional survey of 359 respondents was conducted using both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression, principal component analysis, frequencies and percentages, and thematic analysis for the qualitative data. Cassava (79.0%), cocoyam (73.5%), yam (65.6%), maize (62.1%), and beans (42.6%) were the most cultivated crops. At p < 0.05, excessive rainfall, intense sunshine due to delayed onset of rainfall, irregular, turbulent and acid rainfall had significant negative impacts on the yields of staple food crops such as cocoyam (B = -0.216, p = 0.001), yam (B = -0.399, p = 0.006), cassava (B = -0.115, p = 0.019), maize (B = -0.329, p = 0.019), and beans (B = -0.281, p = 0.00). The use of fertilizers, the use of manure, and early farming were identified as coping strategies. The study concludes that climate change negatively impacts crop yields, thereby worsening the food security situation of the community. There is an urgent need for targeted climate change adaptation interventions and sustainable agricultural practices, such as adopting fast-maturing and drought-resistant crop varieties, implementing rainwater harvesting and small-scale irrigation systems, and utilizing weather and climate information systems to guide decision-making, in order to boost food security and enhance the resilience of vulnerable rural populations.