Abstract
The study has further examined rural perception to the effects of climate change. The study used rural settlements in Otukpo, Nigeria as a case study. Primary and secondary data were utilised for the study. Data collection was done through the use of a questionnaire with open-ended questions and questions with multiple answers. A total of 100 questionnaires were randomly distributed among household heads in 10 settlements selected from 58 rural settlements for the study. Spatial distribution of the rural settlements were analysed using the nearest neighbour statistical analysis while descriptive statistics such as graphs and tables were used to present data. Rural settlements in Otukpo are randomly distributed and may be tending towards clustering. This is indicated by an Rn index value of 0.96 from the nearest neighbour analysis. Most of the settlements (59%) have a distance of two to three kilometres between them. There is an inadequacy of functional facilities and poor access to services in the rural settlements in Otukpo. Respondents in rural settlements in Otukpo are faced with the risk of agricultural occupational loss (22%), water shortages (42%), flooding (29%), land based conflicts (16%), health hazards (12%), erosion (26%), and migration (57%). With evidence of climate change ascertained globally including Nigeria, the study concludes that rural settlements in Otukpo and elsewhere are vulnerable to the effects of climate change which is evident in literature. Government should plan appropriately to optimize standard of living and provide basic functional facilities and services for rural settlements.
