Climate Change and Plantation Agriculture : A Ricardian Analysis of Farmlands in Nigeria

This study used the Ricardian approach that captures farmer adaptations to varying environmental factors to analyze the impact of climate change (CC) on plantation agriculture in Nigeria. By collecting data from 280 farm households in seven different cocoa producing areas in Nigeria (Cross River, Abia, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo and Ogun States), the quantity of crops produced over time and land value proxied by net revenue per hectare (NR), was regressed on climate and household level variables. The selected crops were cocoa and Palm trees. The results suggest that these variables have a significant impact on the net crop revenue per hectare of farmers under Nigerian conditions. Specifically, seasonal marginal impact analysis indicates that increasing temperature and precipitation decreases net revenue per hectare for both cocoa and palm plantation. Furthermore, the net crop revenue impact of predicted future climate change from CGM2 and PCM for the years 2035 and 2050 suggest decline in future net revenue per hectare for the two plantation crops in Nigeria