Climate action and the craft industries: Do palm frond broom industries play a role in climate change resilience in Nigeria?

In Nigeria, the production and use of palm frond brooms which are usually associated with the local and indigenous craft industries have the potentials of achieving climate resilience but the industry remains unexplored in climate change debate. This study seeks to assess the role of palm frond brooms in climate change resilience in Aniocha South Local Government Area (LGA) of Delta State, Nigeria. The study adopted a mixed-method approach. It collected data from questionnaires, participant observation, and in-depth semi-formal interviews. A questionnaire survey of 250 respondents from 5 communities was used while 12 respondents were interviewed in the study. Simple statistics and regression techniques were used to analyze the data. The result while showing a strong model fit with F-statistics value of 261.12 and R-squared value of 0.81, revealed that broom production intensity with a value of 0.67 has a positive and statistically significant association with household climate change resilience. This was found in the areas of women financial empowerment (β = 0.72), income stability (β = 0.54), and livelihood diversification (β = 0.50). These findings indicate that the palm frond broom industry is associated with the adaptive capacity of local communities and supporting the industry would provide both real life, scalable and people-oriented solutions to climate change. The findings directly contribute to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 (Climate Action) by strengthening local climate adaptation and resilience, while also supporting SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) through the productive use of renewable natural resources and waste reduction. Consequently, it is important for policymakers to initiate actionable policies that would stimulate the industry’s performance while incorporating the local industries into the Nation’s climate action agenda.