Factors affecting farmers' environmentally sustainable practices in Nigeria

Abstract

Farmers in Nigeria mostly cultivate staple foods due to their easy access to hybrid seeds, suitable cropping conditions, socio-economic conditions, and favourable climate. However, the direct and indirect impact of farming practices on the environment remains largely unknown due to the unavailability of quality data for assessment. The environmental footprint of farming activities is important for monitoring production factors and developing farm-level specific mitigation measures since most farmers in Nigeria practice subsistence farming. This study investigated the impact of variables such as farmer demographics, agroecological zones, cropping system, seed type, fertilizer type, farm residue and waste management techniques, irrigation water sources and the economic situation of farmers on the degree of adoption of environmentally sustainable practices. The methodological approach emphasised the most agriculturally active agroecological zones in Nigeria using the Chi-Square Test to test the association between the variables and the Degree of adoption of Environmentally Sustainable Farming Practices, and if valid, further testing the strength of the association using Cramer’s V test. Findings show that Age, Farm Size, Farm revenue, Cropping system, Seed type, Agroecological zones increase the likelihood of the farmers adopting environmentally sustainable practices with Irrigation water sources, Crop residue, and Farm waste management having the most significant effect on the likelihood of farmers adopting sustainable practices while fertilizer type has no significant effect on the likelihood of farmers adopting sustainable practices.