Smallholder rice farmers' resilience to water insecurity in Ogun State Nigeria

Summary

Agriculture in Nigeria is essentially rainfed. This makes smallholder rice farming households vulnerable to water insecurity caused by weather-related shocks. This research assesses the resilience of smallholder rice farmers to water insecurity in Ogun State, Nigeria using cross-sectional data collected through an open data kit-powered questionnaire. The aim of the research is to examine the connection between specific resilience capacities of smallholder rice farming households and water insecurity caused by weather-related shocks. To this end, a measure of resilience to water insecurity is developed that incorporates household investments in water management techniques using a categorical principal component analysis. The potential correlation between the dimensions of resilience capacities and different types of weather-related shocks is tested. The research shows that smallholder rice farming households in the study area have a low overall level of resilience. Moreover, farmers are able to absorb shocks but their ability to adapt to shocks is low. It is therefore important to improve the capacities of farming households to become more structurally resilient to water insecurity in the long run by enhancing their ability to adapt, mitigate the impact of shocks, and implement coping strategies.