Briefing Paper

Awareness of Climate Change by Rural Women in the Niger Delta Region: Implication for Empowering Women on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives

Climate change is one of the most urgent concerns of our time with widespread implications for the earth’s ecosystems and human development across sectors. Nigeria, like many other African countries, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly as it relates to agriculture and rural livelihoods. For many decades now, the coastal and wetland zones of Niger Delta, which harbour some of the most strategic industries on which the economic development of Nigeria is built has been experiencing the problem of coastal erosion caused by sea-level rise, leading to problems of floods, intrusion of sea-water into
fresh water sources affecting agriculture, fisheries, settlements and general livelihoods.
Agriculture in the Niger Delta region is highly dependent on rainfall because the people in the
region rarely practice irrigation. The changes in the rainfall pattern have greatly affected
vegetation and agriculture.