Climate Change and Sweet Potato Production; Empirical Insights from Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Climate change poses significant challenges to agriculture and land productivity particularly in regions heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture like Ebonyi State, Nigeria. This study analyzed the effects of climate change on sweet potato production in Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 301 respondents. The drafted questionnaire was used for data collection following the specific objectives of study. Descriptive statistics, land productivity model, and multiple regression model were used for the data analysis. Results revealed that the majority of respondents (64.1%) were males, married (73.1%), young (42.2%), experienced (55.5%) and relatively educated (49.8%) with household and farm sizes of 7 and 1.8 hectares. The majority of the farmers (41.5%) were aware of changes in climate. Farm sizes of 1.1-2.0 hectares produced the highest land productivity (1769.831 hectares) in the state from about 51.5% of the farmers. Rising temperature, rainfall, and number of rainy days, influenced sweet potato production negatively; while sunshine hours and relative humidity had significant positive influences. Poor access to extension and services, land fragmentation, capital, inadequate information concerning climate change, and high cost of input resources constrained potato cultivation. The study recommends farmers to practice climate smart agricultural techniques and to seek early climate change information to mitigate negative effects of changing climate on sweet potato production.