Coping Strategy of Rainfall Variability due to Changing Climate in Dry Sub-Humid Region of Borno State of Nigeria

Abstract

It is evident that  human population is growing with proportional increase in demand for food and water and global warming is already taking its toll on Nigeria particularly, dry sub-humid zone of Borno State like any other parts of the world. The significant long term increased trend of drought and dry spells has exacerbated water shortages thereby undermining agriculture and threatening livelihood. It was testified that there is likelihood of higher temperatures than the hottest growing seasons of recent times with subsequent variable rainfalls plus possible yield losses of 6–10% per 1^oC of warming in the average temperature of the growing season. More serious impacts of global climate change will be felt by smallholder farmers in the developing countries who are depending on small farm sizes, low technology and capitalization, poor infrastructure and institutional support. It was confirmed that shortage of soil moisture in the dry rainfed areas often occurs during the most sensitive growth stages of flowering and grain filling of the crops resulting in poor growth and consequent low yield. Supplemental irrigation, using a limited amount of water, if applied during the critical crop growth stages, can possibly result in substantial improvement in yield and water productivity which will curtail the impacts of climate change in the agro-ecological zone.

Keywords: Borno, Climate, Coping-Strategy, Dry Sub-Humid, Rainfall Variability