Abstract

Background:
Food availability that will adequately feed the world population is currentlyunder threat due to climate change. The effect of climate requires continuous review tomitigate the rate of change.

Aim:
This study examines the perceptions of agricultural researchers and relevant experts on climatic factors affecting food security in Nigeria, alongside the existing annual data to provide suggestions to farmers and policymakers about climate adaptation plans and agricultural environmental best practices.

Methods:
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 110 agricultural experts from Agricultural Research Institutes, Faculties of Agriculture of Universities, Ministries of Agriculture, and others. Four hypotheses were developed and tested using inferential statistics and chi-square test at the 0.05 level.

Results:
Most agricultural experts agreed that climate change factors affect the four dimensions of food security. Agricultural practitioners were encouraged to adopt best practices that will reduce ozone layer depletion and global warming and encourage afforestation and agroforestry systems.

Conclusion:
Agricultural researchers and related experts agreed that human-induced activities had a significant impact on climate change, with deforestation as the highest cause of climate change, which had a significant effect on all four dimensions of food security in Nigeria.

Key words: Climate change; Food security; Agricultural researchers; Environment