Climate Change Adaptation among Poultry Farmers: Evidence from Nigeria

However, heat stress associated with climate change is a significant challenge to poultry farmers due to its negative effect on chicken growth and productivity. Small poultry farmers tend to invest in traditional strategies such as stocking local breeds, while medium and large poultry farmers adopt modern technologies such as air and water ventilation and energy-efficient bulbs. Adoption of various adaptation strategies in Nigeria varies significantly across farms of different sizes. While about 12% of medium and large farms have both poultry and fish farms on the same premise, only 0.1% of small farms reported the same. For water ventilation, adoption rates by the smallest farmers are less than 1%, while 15% of large farms adopt water ventilation practices. The adoption rate for energy-efficient bulbs is relatively higher than air and water ventilation but varies across farm type, with more than 30% of large farms adopting this practice. Investments in medicines and vitamins increase with farm size, but many more farmers buy vitamins. Close to 30% of farmers buy vitamins for their birds, driven by medium and large farms. The same holds true for medicines, with 13% of farms buying some, but not uniformly across farm types. Overall, about 70% of all farms implement traditional strategies practices, such as early stocking, frequency of litter change, and keeping local breeds. However, the number of farms that adopt these practices decreases as the size of the farm increases. Farmers who have experienced climate-related losses are more likely to adopt water ventilation, pay for litter spreading, buy medicines and vitamins, or use energy-efficient bulbs. On the other hand, exposure to extreme heat discourages investment in a fish farm. The correlation matrix from the multivariate probit shows positive and statistically significant correlations between the use of air ventilation, water ventilation, litter spreading, and energy-efficient bulbs, suggesting that these modern adaptation practices complement each other. These four adaptation practices are, however, negatively correlated with the use of traditional practices, indicating possible trade-offs between modern and traditional adaptation practices. The analysis on the determinants of the adoption of multiple adaptation strategies using poisson and fractional probit response models shows that, on average, farmers who have personal experience of loss due to extreme heat are more likely to adopt multiple adaptation strategies. This suggests that farmers who have experienced climate-related losses are more likely to adopt a range of adaptation strategies to mitigate the effects of heat stress.