Climate change: effects on agricultural growth and rural transformation in Nigeria

Agriculture is one of the key sectors of a country’s economy and the linchpin of rural development. Essentially, seventy-five (75%) of world’s rural population which lives in rural areas depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Hence, Agricultural growth is a crucial factor for inclusive growth and helps in raising rural income and purchasing power. However, agriculture in the rural areas is highly at the mercy of climatic parameters principally rainfall, which makes it critically vulnerable to climate change. Anchoring on exploratory research method and considerable reliance on secondary sources of data, the paper probes in-depth the nexus between climate change and agricultural development cum rural transformation. The mainspring of this article is to analyse the effects of climate change on the role of agriculture in rural development in terms of food production, reduction of poverty and hunger, creation of jobs and exports. To sum up, the paper contends that agriculture should be accorded its prime position in the national economy. It calls for concerted and informed efforts by government to create the enabling environment for Climate Change mitigation, agricultural development and rural transformation, especially in terms of policy formulation, articulation and implementation that would eventually enhance the living conditions of the rural dwellers.