Effects of Adoption of Climate-Smart Livestock Practices (CSLP) on Income of Cattle Farmers in Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effect of the adoption of climate-smart livestock practices (CSLP) on the income of cattle farmers in Bauchi State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 446 cattle farmers from 20 communities in ten Local Government Areas, and data were collected with a structured questionnaire. Adoption was measured as a yes/no variable, based on whether a farmer used any of 17 climate-smart livestock practices. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation (point-biserial) and a paired t-test. Only 31.4% of the respondents had adopted at least one practice. Most respondents (76.2%) had no access to credit, and their mean annual income from livestock was ₦1,591,760.09. Land was acquired mainly through inheritance (87.2%), 66.4% kept sheep alongside cattle, and 55.8% were full-time livestock producers. Adoption was positively correlated with average milk production per cow (r = 0.406), current herd size (r = 0.290) and herd size in 2025 (r = 0.201), all at p<0.01. After adoption, mean herd size rose by 2.39 head (t = 8.556, p<0.01) and mean milk yield by 0.79 litres (t = 2.148, p<0.05). Mean livestock income rose from ₦194,682.74 to ₦421,265.70, an increase of ₦226,582.96 that was significant at the 10% level (t = 1.678, p = 0.094). Adoption of CSLPs was therefore associated with larger herds, higher milk yield and a modest rise in income, although the before-and-after design and the use of recall data mean that these changes cannot be attributed to adoption alone. Government and financial institutions should provide affordable credit to cattle farmers, and extension agencies should expand training and technical support on climate-smart livestock practices.