Volume 12, Issue 25, January - June 2026

Fish farmers' perception of climate change and its impact on fish production in Sokoto metropolis, Nigeria. A preliminary study

Ibitoye EB^1♦, Yusuf N¹, Ajanaku D², Iriobe T³, Gosa R⁴, Gwimi BP⁵, Ishola OD⁶, Oladele OO⁷, Tanimomo BK⁸, Jimoh AA¹

¹Department of Theriogenology and Animal Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria.
²Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ogun State, Nigeria. ³Department of Forestry and Fisheries, Abdullahi Fodio University of Science and Technology Aliero, Kebbi state, Nigeria.
⁴Zonal Veterinary Clinic Argungu, Opposite Kara Market, Kebbi State, Nigeria.
⁵Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture Zuru, Kebbi State, Nigeria.
⁶Olam Hatcheries Limited, Kaduna, Nigeria.
⁷Department of Medicine, Surgery and Radiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Jos, Nigeria.
⁸Department of Animal Health and Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja, Nigeria.

^♦Corresponding author
Ibitoye, E.B.: Department of Theriogenology and Animal Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The Nigerian aquaculture industry is growing, but it is being affected by changes in the global climate, particularly in the semi-arid Sudano-Sahelian zone. In Sokoto Metropolis, where the "Blue Economy" is vital for bridging the animal protein supply-demand gap, erratic weather patterns and rising temperatures challenge the viability of fish production. This study assessed fish farmers’ knowledge of climate change, their opinions of its effects on productivity, and the farm-level adaptation tactics they used. An exploratory approach was used to gather data from 24 fish farmers recruited via convenience and snowball sampling methods. Structured questionnaire was used to collect information on fish farmers’ demography, awareness levels, environmental observations, and coping mechanisms and descriptive statistics was used to analyze data generated using Microsoft Excel (Version 2023). Our results revealed that fish farmers in Sokoto metropolis are predominantly male (75%), with 50% of them aged 20–30 years. Findings of this study also revealed that most of the farmers (75%) had tertiary educational qualifications. Awareness of climate change is high where 95.8% of the farmers had observed a significant change in temperature and water levels. Some of the farmers reported a decline in production due to increased mortality (25%), stunted growth (20.8%), and overall yield reduction (83.3%). Although 45.8% of the farmers utilized self-governing adaptation measures such as pond shading and improved water management. Institutional support is low; only 12.5% of the farmers had received governmental assistance in the form of training with no report of financial aid or climate-resilient breeds. Fish farmers in Sokoto are aware of risks associated with climate change, but they lack the capital-intensive infrastructure to achieve full resilience. The study recommends increased governmental support by subsidizing capital-intensive infrastructures, promoting the development of thermo-tolerant fish strains, and the integration of digital extension services to bridge the gap between scientific climate data and pond-side application.

Keywords: Climate change, Fish farming, Institutionalized resilience, Sokoto metropolis, Thermo-tolerance

Discovery Agriculture, 2026, 12, e5da3190

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Published: 09 May 2026