Impacts of microcredit access on climate change adaptation strategies adoption and rice yield in Kwara State, Nigeria

Access to microcredit has received a lot of attention, but, its role in the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies and improvement of rice yield is not often debated. This study investigated the impacts of access to microcredit on the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies and the yield of rice farmers. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 320 rice farmers for the study. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Multivariate Probit regression model, the Poisson regression model with endogenous treatment, and the Endogenous Switching Regression Model. The descriptive results for the entire sample show mean values of 45 years for age, 9 people for household size, 20 years for farming experience, and 19 hectares for farm size. The result also showed that many of the rice farmers are male (94%), married (92%), educated (97%), and belong to rice farmer's associations (85%). Most of the rice farmers have access to microcredit (80%) and the farmers depend largely on their funds from other enterprises (100%). Many of the farmers mostly adopted high-quality-improved seeds (92%). Further findings reveal that age, educational status, household size, farm size, and years of farming experience are factors that largely determine the choice of climate change adaptation strategies adopted. The study also revealed that access to microcredit significantly affected the intensity of adoption of climate change adaptation strategies; and farmers’ age, education, and farm size significantly affected rice yield. Hence, policies that can promote increased access to microcredit should be promoted.