Mitigating climate change through agroforestry: exploring perceived efficacy, cues and practices in a community of Nigerian farmers

This study investigates the perceived efficacy of agroforestry as a climate change mitigation strategy and other motivating factors influencing farmers’ adoption of agroforestry practices, specifically in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria. A survey involving 400 respondents utilized structured questionnaires to gather data. Statistical analyses, including independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA, were employed to assess differences in agroforestry practices based on gender and age/education sub-groups. The relationship between perceived efficacy, cues to agroforestry, and agroforestry practices was examined using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings indicate that while 83.0% of respondents had previously engaged in agroforestry, current engagement reduced sharply to 42.8%. Gender significantly influenced agroforestry practices, with women at a disadvantage (p < 0.05), whereas age and education did not show significant effects (p > 0.05). Perceived efficacy showed an insignificant relationship with agroforestry practices (r = 0.069, p > 0.05), contrasting with cues to agroforestry which exhibited a significant positive correlation (r = 0.379, p < 0.05). Despite the substantial perceived efficacy of agroforestry in mitigating climate change, this perception does not translate into actual agroforestry practices among farmers. The study underscores the importance of introducing cues and prompts to bridge the gap between ideal perceptions and behaviour/adoption, thereby enhancing the efficacy of agroforestry as a climate change mitigation strategy, particularly in developing contexts like Nigeria.