Impact of climate variability on yield of maize and yam in Cross River State, Nigeria: An autoregressive distributed lag bound approach

The study examined the impact of climate variability on yield of maize and yam in Cross River State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the long-run and short-run impact of climate variability factors on yields of maize and yam. Data were sourced from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMeT) and Cross River State Ministry of Agriculture spanning from 1990-2016. Data obtained were analyzed using inferential statistics. Precisely, the model was estimated by the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple regression technique, which is within the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Bound approach and error correction testing framework. Both model-1 (maize yield) and model-2 (yam yield) passed through the conditions of the diagnostics and stability test. The study revealed that climate variables had a significant impact on maize yield both in the long and short-run. Based on the findings, it was concluded that proactive measures should be put in place to aid crop farmers adapt to the prevailing and looming threats of climate variability for the purpose of attaining the State’s food security balance sheet. To sustain this drive, an institutional and infrastructural support system is advocated in order to meet one of the goals of sustainable development agenda of the United Nations. Policy recommendations on how to cushion the impact of climate variability on the prescribed crops have been appropriately cited.