Farmers’ Perception and Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Wurno Local Government Area, Sokoto State, Nigeria

Climate change has become one of the most pressing environmental challenges confronting agricultural systems globally, with profound implications for food security and rural livelihoods. Since the 1850s global temperatures have risen steadily, primarily due to increased greenhouse gas emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion, agricultural intensification and widespread deforestation undertaken to meet growing energy and food demands (FAO, 2009). This warming trend is expected to continue leading to long-term changes in weather patterns that increasingly threaten climate-sensitive sectors, particularly agriculture. The global agricultural sector is experiencing an unprecedented structural crisis driven by accelerating climate change, with Sub-Saharan Africa emerging as one of the regions most vulnerable to both ecological and socio-economic impacts (Bosekeng, 2020). Agriculture across much of the region remains predominantly rain-fed making farming systems highly susceptible to deviations from historical climatic conditions (Ayanda et al., 2013). Within West Africa, the Sudano-Sahelian zone represents one of the most vulnerable ecological regions having experienced a documented decline in rainfall of approximately 3 – 4% per decade alongside an increasing frequency of extreme weather events (Farauta et al., 2017). In Nigeria, where more than two-thirds of the country's landmass is vulnerable to drought and advancing desertification, climate change has become an active driver of environmental degradation, declining agricultural productivity and rural poverty (Idris et al., 2024).