Environmental Adult Education Programmes for Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural Methods/Practices among Crop Farmers in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria: An Empirical Study (Published)
Unsustainable agricultural/farming methods/practices (such as slash-and-burn, felling of trees and shrubs and application of chemical fertilizers and insecticides) by crop farmers in the Southern Region of Nigeria are known to have been doing a lot of harm to the soil, the environment and even the health of the farmers themselves. The purpose of this study was to identify, through an empirical/participatory process, the unsustainable methods/practices mostly adopted by the farmers (with focus on those from Abak and Etinan Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Akwa Ibom State), as well as the Environmental Adult Education (EAE) programmes that would make the farmers adopt sustainable methods/practices which would increase their occupational outputs as well as protect their environment and personal health. Four Research Questions and one Null Hypothesis guided the study. 222 (40%) of the 554 registered crop farmers in the two LGAs were selected for the study through proportionate random sampling. Percentages, means, standard deviation and the T-test were the statistical methods used to analyze the data obtained through a structured Questionnaire developed by the researchers. Based on the responses of the farmers, a number of EAE programmes were identified for achieving the purpose stated above. The researchers have strongly recommended implementation of the programmes as well as guidelines for effecting the implementation.
Keywords: Environmental Adult Education, Programme, Sustainable agriculture, Unsustainable, crop farming, farming methods
Sustaining the Nigerian Environment through Environmental Adult Education Strategies (Published)
All human beings in Nigeria depend on the environment and therefore must have a role to play in sustaining the environment since all of us take part in the degradation of our environment. Therefore providing relevant information on the complex nature of the environment and its associated problems through environmental adult education strategies will help in addressing the numerous environmental issues facing Nigeria. This paper, therefore, is an attempt to highlight some of the strategies of environmental adult education for the promotion of environmental sustainability. These strategies may include; communal areas management programme for indigenous resources, community participation, community environmental education, community tree planting and public enlightenment strategy. Sensitizing the general public on the nature of the environment and its complexity through the various strategies of environmental adult education will help them develop positive attitude to protect and sustain the environment. It therefore becomes pertinent that individuals, governments, practitioners and non-governmental agencies should lay much emphasizes on the promotion of environmental adult education strategies for environmental sustainability.
Keywords: Environment, Environmental Adult Education
Economic Opportunities of Climate Change to Rural Communities in Nigeria (Published)
Discussions on climate change have focused mainly on the negative impact on the environment and how to mitigate these and adapt to, different mitigation and adaptation measures available today, which are economically potential as proposed by IPCC. This paper looks at potentials that can be harnessed from increase in rice husk generation in Ebonyi State due to provisions of improved rice seedling by the present government of the state as an adaptation strategy to climate change. The paper establishes that to properly harness the economic potential of adaptation strategies of climate change among rural farmers, these farmers need to be educated because majority of them are illiterate and are ignorant of the consequences of their actions, and that the educator should adopt conscientization strategy as mode of facilitating learning.
Keywords: Adaptation, Climate Change, Conscentisation, Economic Potential, Environmental Adult Education, Rice Husk, Rural Economy