98 Joseph Omotoso Ajayi
Factors Influencing Gender-Based Cassava Farmers’ Choice
of Adaptation Strategies in the Study Area
Significance and signs of parameters are the commonest terms for
explaining estimated multinomial logit equations of model. The results show
that the significant explanatory variables vary across the groups in terms of the
levels of significance and signs of regression coefficients as reflected in Tables
5 and 6. Land ownership is positively related (r = 13.52 for male farmers and r
= 12.16 for female farmers to no adaptation) for both male and female cassava
farmers. Since land ownership is a measure of asset, it is therefore related to
how wealthy the farmers are. The more hectares of land the cassava farmers
actually own, the less likely his or her livelihood suffered, hence decision to
maintain the status quo. This ownership however is negatively related (r = -
12.82 for male farmers and r = -11.22 for female farmers) to planting of cover
crops and trees, use of acclimated crop varieties and changing planting and
harvesting time for both male and female cassava farmers also. The same land
ownership is however significant in respect to both male and female cassava
farmers using acclimated crop varieties in relation to the reference group.
These results followed a similar pattern to those of (Ajayi 2015) and
(Daulagala et al., 2013). On the contrary, the results reveal that access to credit
for cassava cultivation is positively related to all the adaptation strategies used
by both male and female farmers in the study area but only significant with
respect to planting of cover crops and trees, changing planting and harvesting
time and no adaption method in relation to the reference group. These results
therefore explain the very critical role in promoting the use of adaptation
strategies to reducing the negative effects of climate change on cassava
farming in the Niger Delta by both male and female cassava farmers since
both gender-based cassava farmers had negative effects in their cassava
cultivation and their adaptation strategies. Cassava farm income has a positive
and significant impact on the likelihood of planting cover crops and trees as an
adaptation option. But it is negatively related (r = -2.521 for male farmers and
r = -2.261 for female farmers) to mulching and soil conservation techniques.
The findings are in agreement with the findings of (Sofoluwe et al., 2011). The
years of cassava farming experience and cassava farm size both male and
female cassava farmers had, have positive and negative impacts, respectively
on choice to adapt any method but not significantly related to any of the
adaptation strategies in relation to the reference category for both the male and
female cassava farmers. The positive signs indicated an increase in the
probability of sampled cassava farmers to use any of the adaptation strategies