KADUNA STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION
MASTERS IN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

COURSE CODE: MDC 803

COURSE TITLE:
DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

Question:
SELECT ANY TOPIC OF YOUR CHOICE AND CONDUCT RESEARCH ON IT
(TRADITIONAL RESEARCH).

TOPIC:
AUDIENCE KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS CLIMATE
CHANGE ADAPTATION IN KAJURU LGA

BY

GROUP TWO (2)

S/no Name Matric No

1. Chawai Florence Kasham KASU/mdc/mcm/21/0002
2. Maryam Ahmed KASU/mdc/mcm/21/0011
3. Maryam Pamma KASU/mdc/mcm/21/0022
4. Muhammad Ahmad Ibrahim KASU/mdc/mcm/21/0007

COURSE LECTURER:
Prof. Bashir Muhammad Ali

JULY, 2023

ABSTRACT

0
The issue of Climate Change is still strange to many Nigerians especially the rural dwellers. This
has hampered on the aims of Nigerian government to invest in climate change mitigation and
adaptation technologies as prioritized in her Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions and
National Adaptation (NAMA) plans. The knowledge assessment in this study was used to
evaluate respondents' broad knowledge of climate change, including their comprehension of
what climate change is, what causes it, and how it is affecting their community. Citing the
knowledge-gap theory as a perspective framework to guide us on the principles and nature of
what is expected in a dichotomy of information rich versus information poor. Using focus group
discussion, the study was carried out in 2 communities in the coastal areas of Kajuru LGA that
are vulnerable to climate change representing representing a rural community. To further elicit
data, the study surveyed a sample of 400 respondents purposively selected. Findings revealed
that 60% of population in the urban areas knew about climate change and its impacts within their
areas. However, a thorough understanding of what causes climate change appears to be another
big knowledge gap with respondents in the rural areas. There is need to close the knowledge gap
in the rural areas through adequate media information and education.

Keywords: Climate change, knowledge-gap, media, mitigation, adaptation

1
Introduction

One of the greatest hazards to society is climate change, which has been seen as looming larger than other

dangers like war and terrorism (Lomburg, 2015). Climate change is a widespread phenomenon that has

caused numerous worries among both individuals and world leaders. This is because it has an impact on

the environment, which therefore has an effect on humans. Climate change is defined by the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Mosser (2007) as a "change in climate

that can be directly or indirectly linked to human activity that modifies the composition of the earth's

atmosphere in addition to natural climate variability seen over comparable time periods".

It is one of the biggest risks to the environment, society, and economy around the world. The evidence is

overwhelming that the average global temperature is rising, including air and ocean temperatures,

snowmelt, sea level rise, and melting of ice. The average world temperature is affected by a variety of

natural phenomena, but human activity continues to be a major contributor to climate change since it

increases the emission of greenhouse gases (Nwabueze & Egbra, 2016; Lomborg, 2015). In 1992,

Nigeria and Ghana both ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The National

Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action on Climate Change was adopted by Nigeria. (Nashuuta, 2016).

A huge number of people generally obtain their information through the media. They specifically relate to

the disseminating of climate change information through media including radio, television, newspapers,

mobile phones, extension agents, services, posters, bulletins, and so on (Adegbija, 2001). They offer

simple explanations of climate change and global warming (Boykoff, 2010). Contrarily, the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has defined climate change as a shift in the state of

the climate caused by human activity or natural variability that can be detected statistically by changes in

the mean and/or variability of its properties and that lasts for a long time, typically decades or longer

(IPCC, 2007). One way to attribute this knowledge and attitude study is to attribute it to the concept of

risk communication. Risk communication is a branch of risk perception that analyses the deliberate

2
dissemination of risk signals to laypeople and risk assessors (Smith & Johnson, 1988; Plough &Kirmsky,

1987 in). Policymakers and organizations that aim to disseminate risk information with the goal of

attempting to address people's risk perception biases might use the information as guidance.

There is a variation in how the information is distributed. Comparatively to a qualitative approach,

information presented in a quantitative style with probabilistic probabilities will cause one to perceive

risk to be lower (Smith, et al. 1990). The theory of risk communication focuses on people not only

comprehending the information provided to them but also considering it significant in light of their own

situation (Fischoff, 1998).

Statement of the Problem

Political and economic interests have long sought to sway media coverage of climate change in order to

have an impact on public knowledge, understanding, and perception due to the media's crucial role in the

reconstruction of climate change narratives (Sampei & Aoyagi-Usui, 2019).

However, there is a huge knowledge gap in the information flow between urban and rural areas. Parts of

the population with a better socioeconomic class acquire this information faster than sections with a lower

base, as the decline of mass media information into the social system increases; as the difference or gap in

awareness between these sections increases. The knowledge gap hypothesis is the name given to this

phenomenon. (Surin & Tancard, 2007). By outlining the theory and guiding principles of the gap in

consciousness of the population towards climate change and the environment, this study aims to

investigate the level of information seeking about climate change among residents of two communities in

Kajuru LGA.

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Study Objectives

The study objectives are to:

1) Ascertain if the respondents are aware of climate change risk impact on their environment;

2) Find out the media they most likely obtain their information on climate change; and

3) Determine the level of audience understanding about information on climate change.

Empirical Literature Review

The public's attitudes toward climate change mitigation are strongly influenced by risk perception and

knowledge accuracy, but as with other science-based problems, the public initially learns about climate

change through the media. This indirect transmission, while unquestionably required, likely raises the risk

of introducing biased or wrongly weighted information into the discourse, whereas information that is

perceived to be more credible is more likely to lead to behavior change (Coleman, 1993).

The knowledge that is made available to the public must be translated into understandable words because

climate change is a scientific process. The media plays this role organically in the majority of nations.

The media has the ability to influence how people perceive climate change science in addition to how

they comprehend it. Using thirty years' worth of data (1980–2009) of the Benue and Plateau

meteorological stations in North Central Nigeria, Falaki (2012) used analysis of regression. According to

the study, the lowest and maximum temperatures in Makurdi and Jos respectively increased by 0.10°C

and 0.58°C and 0.49°C and 0.55°C, respectively. The study also showed that rainfall increased by

46.4mm/30 years in Makurdi but declined by 8.48mm/30 years in Jos, with the pattern of rainfall

becoming more irregular.

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Desertification and severe drought are effects of climate change in Nigeria. According to Odjugo and

Ikhuoria (2003), Nigeria north of 12oN is severely threatened by desert encroachment, and sand dunes

have covered vast swaths of arable land, diminishing the amount of productive agricultural area.

As a result, there has been a significant emigration and relocation of people to regions less at risk of

desertification. Such exodus results in social impacts like a loss of social ideals and dignity. Herdsmen

and farmers frequently engage in rising numbers of racial conflicts as a result. Between 1998 and 2006,

these confrontations in Nigeria's six northern states claimed the lives of 186 persons (Yugunda, 2002

&Yaqub, 2007).

Additionally, it has been claimed that a number of rivers in Nigeria have dried up or are becoming more

navigable during certain times of the year, including Lake Chad, whose extent decreased from 22,902

km2 in 1963 to just 1,304 km2 in 2000. (Odjugo, 2007). Due to the restricted supply of water, there will

be a propensity for people to congregate near the few remaining sources. Under such conditions, there is a

higher chance of further contaminating the few water supplies and of water-borne diseases like cholera,

typhoid fever, guinea worm infection, and river blindness spreading. Moreover, In the semi-arid region of

northern Nigeria, Ayuba, Maryah, and Gwary (2007) demonstrated how drought, desert expansion, and

coastal inundation have begun to disrupt the country's ecology and cause ecological destabilization.

Adaptive communication Strategies: Implication to Knowledge and Attitude Change to Climate Issues

Thus, it becomes necessary to focus actions in order to lessen the negative effects of climate change and

improve adaptive capacity. The intricate interrelationships of numerous components at various scales

define adaptive capacity. The IPCC (2007) listed a number of variables that can alter adaptive ability,

including money, technology, education, information, skills, infrastructure, access to resources, various

psychological variables, and management skills. According to Vincent (2009), a person's ability to adapt

to climate change at the household level depends on a variety of factors, including their knowledge base,

which may allow them to foresee change and identify new or modified livelihood opportunities, and their

5
access to additional resources needed to do so. This knowledge base necessitates an understanding of the

need for adaptation, as well as awareness of the options available, the ability to weigh them, and the

capability of putting the best options into practice.

In their study, Gupta and Hisschemöller (1997) in Uddin and Anjuman (2013) came to the conclusion that

it is crucial to set up systems for the national and regional transmission of information on climate change

and adaptation as well as venues for discussion and creation of adaption techniques at various levels. The

biggest barriers to adaptation in Nigeria, according to the Nigeria Environmental Study/Action Team

(NEST) and Global Change Strategies International (GCSI), include a lack of information (awareness)

and understanding (education) about the phenomenon of climate change. Boykoff (2010), for instance,

examined how twenty different nations and six different continents covered climate change in their

newspapers. He found that publications like The Age in Australia, The Wall Street Journal in the United

States, Globe and Mail in Canada, and Business Day in South Africa all covered the issue, but he did not

find any publications from Nigeria that did media coverage of climate change.

Although Nigerian meteorological stations provide weather-related reports, there is no specialised media

coverage of climate change. The only time this rule does not apply is when there will be flooding or other

natural calamities. The media will report on such but will not make use of occurrence to inform the

populace of what might be to blame for the sudden harsh weather events our nation is currently

experiencing. However, as is the case with the majority of science-based concerns, the public first hears

about climate change through the media, particularly radio and official sources like extension agents and

village heads, etc. Although unquestionably required, this indirect transmission most likely raises the risk

of inaccurate or incorrectly weighted information being introduced into the conversation. In addition to

shaping understanding of climate change science, the media have the power to shape people's impressions

of their fate; a doomsday story may resign its audience to passivity, while a piece emphasising the real but

not inevitable devastation from climate change may incite action.

6
The majority of research on the relationship between agriculture and climate change has focused on

economics, social infrastructure, institutional features of adaptive ability, and technological factors

(Burton, Smith, & Lenhart, 1998; Kates, 2000; Scheraga & Grambsch, 1998; Magadza, 2000).

Theoretical Framework

According to Bighash & Qamarzadeh (2021), “in the Knowledge Gap theory, new knowledge that is

disseminated by the media in a social system causes information inequality and disparity among people

especially when not all demographic groups are exposed to news via the media”. Researchers' analyses

reveal that while these distances may not always widen, they may sometimes be minimized by planning

particular activities through chats, lectures, and other forms of direct communication. The gaps in

awareness are narrowed when the groups' levels of information, distances, and proximity to one another

all increase.

One of the theories in the realm of communication and media is the knowledge gap theory. Tickenor and

Donohue first formulated this theory in 1970. In Tickenor & Donohue (1970) in Wei & Yan (2010), their

key finding was that, as knowledge is disseminated via the media in a social system, segments of the

population with greater socioeconomic position tend to do so more quickly than segments with lower

socioeconomic status as a result, rather than closing, the awareness gap between the two is growing.

The basis for the gap of awareness hypothesis is the notion that the media continuously widen the

information gap between various social classes. Because of the differences in how they interact with the

media, access the media, and consume information, this gap is also influenced by these differences. The

portion of the population with better economic conditions has greater and quicker access to information as

it moves through the mass media than the portion of the population with the worst living situations. (Wei

& Yan, 2010)

Methodology

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The study adopted a combined research approach including quantitative and qualitative research methods.

In other words, mixed method combining survey and focus group discussion (FGD) was encouraged.

This was accomplished by applying the method developed by Taro Yamane for calculating study sample

sizes. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to facilitate computer-assisted analysis

(SPSS). Statistics tables and percentages were used to present the data. By analysing the statistical

correlations between the pertinent variables, the study's objectives were met.

According to citypopulation.de/en/nigeria.com, the population of Kaduna North LGA which comprises a

combined population of 247,888. Using the wards in Kajuru LGA are – Afogo, Buda, Idon, Kajuru,

Kallah, Kasuwan Magani, Kufana, Maro, Rimau, and Tantatu. Two wards were purposively selected in

the local government area.

The selection was to make the intention of ideally bringing the various perspectives on the current

climate change issue to a shared platform. The organization and management of the exercise were under

the supervision of two team members. While one was in charge of leading the conversation, another was

responsible for taking notes and helping to compile the findings for the feedback session. Two distinct

group conversations were held for the focus group discussion. Each group consists of eight persons, aged

18 to 50, who were selected from various communities. According to Liamputtong (2010), FDGs

"involve a group of 6-8 persons who come from similar social and cultural backgrounds or who have

comparable experiences or concerns," hence it was decided that each group would have six participants.

The discussion/contents interviews were thematically analysed after being fully transcribed, however in

direct contrast to the quantitative data.

Data Analysis

The following key questions served as discussion starters and were followed by the relevant phases or

activities in chronological order to help accomplish the desired objectives:

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 1) Do you know about climate change?

2) What are the main issues with climate change that individuals have experienced over the last ten

years, in your opinion?

3) What are the potential root causes of the climate change issues you've noted, in your opinion?

4) Which of the old media do you think gives you comprehensive information about climate

change?

5) Do you consider the social media as a very accessible channel to obtain climate change

information?

6) Do you perceive the issue of climate change a politically motivated issue?

7) Do you consider climate change as an environmental threat that needs more media attention?

Research Objective One: To ascertain if the respondents are aware of climate change risk impact

on their environment

First Question: Do you know about climate change?

Table 1

S/N Variable Frequency Percent

1 Yes 227 60
2 No 153 40
Total 380 100

Knowing, perceiving, and being aware of occurrences are all parts of the concept of awareness. Table 1

states the respondents' climate change awareness which is connected to different sources of media

information. 60% acquiesced that they are aware of climate change issues while 40% do not. The

structure of awareness is reflected in the structure of media experience.

The participants in the FGD were asked to say in their own words if they know about climate change.

Majority of their responses affirm their awareness with statements like: "I have heard through the media

that flooding is as a result of global warming"; "climate change is a consequence of dangerous gases

9
flaring in the atmosphere". Some of the comments especially from group in the rural area are not aware of

climate change issues with responses like "The word is very strange to me"; "Our God is angry with us".

"It is a sign of end time". Several of these comments demonstrate a lack of understanding about climate

change.

Second Question: What are the potential root causes of the climate change issues you've noted, in

your opinion?

Table 2:

S/N Variable Frequency Percent

1 Fossil fuels 143 38
2 Bush Burning 60 15
3 Tree Cutting 54 14
4 Industrial Chemical Emisions 123 33
Total 380 100

Question 2 in the FGD had the group categorize and rank the identified potential causes of climate change

as 6 members of the group representing the urban area identified industrial chemical emissions and fossil

fuel as the major contributor of climate change. Hear one say: "In many parts of Europe, there have been

government legislation to ban fossil fuels in order to embrace renewable energy". However, in the

separate group from the rural areas, only two persons attributed climate change to bush burning.

Analysing the survey, fossil fuels emerged as having the most severe impact on the climate 38%.

Numerous studies have shown similar findings, with Hamilton and Stampone (2013) stating that fossil

fuels and anthropogenic activities are both to blame for climate change (IPCC, 2007). Due to the rising

temperatures, methane emissions, which are a major factor in global warming, have increased (Science

News, 2010). According to Bloom et al. (2010), the warming of the mid-latitude and moist arctic region

caused a rise in methane of roughly 7% between 2003 and 2007. Higher temperatures today can increase

climate change's causes rather than just being a result of it. In addition, Nobre et al. (2009) stated that one

10
of the causes of climate change is deforestation. Deforestation and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions

are currently the main factors influencing the assertion (Nordhaus, 1991).

Research Question 2: What are the main issues with climate change that individuals have

experienced over the last ten years, in your opinion?

Table 3

Variable Frequency Percent

1 Flooding 188 50
2 Erosion 38 10
3 GasFlaring 70 18
4 CuttingdownofTrees 84 22
Total 380 100

Climate change issue is such as unpredictable weather occurrences were deemed to be the most severe of

the identified climate change issues, with a severity rating of 50% for flooding which of course is the

most occurred and known climate disaster in both rural and urban areas close to the River Kaduna.

In the FGD, one of the participants in the urban area has this to say: "flooding has really dealt with us,

first in 2013 and now in 2022 and another flood is predicted to occur in 2023. I have lost my belongings

twice because of these flooding events".

While Pickup (1998) described how climatic variability causes desertification, IPCC (2001) concluded

that climate change causes weather variability in the majority of regions throughout the world. According

to Morrison et al., climate change causes water scarcity (1998). In addition, Kinney (2008) and Delpla et

al. (2009) revealed that the impact of climate change on air and water quality.

Research Question 3: To ascertain the media they most likely obtain their information on climate

change.

11
To answer the second research question, two questions were posed to the respondents and they are:

Third Question: Which of the old media do you think gives you comprehensive information about climate

change?

Table 4

Variable Frequency Percent

1 Television 243 64
2 Radio 46 12
3 Newspaper 91 24
Total 380 100

In response to this question, traditional media entail newspaper, radio and television. The group from the

urban area identify television as the major source of information hence 64% (television), 12% (radio) and

24% (newspaper).

In FGD, radio remain the most major means of receiving mass media messages as many indicated.

However, they also indicated watching cable television programmes and this shows that cable and digital

television have penetrated the rural areas. "I have seen news about climate change in the CNN"; "I also

heard in the news that all these flooding in our area is as a result of climate change"; said by the

participants in the respective group.

According to Nwabueze's (2007) analysis of empirical data, Nigeria's mass media has not been doing well

when it comes to covering environmental issues, particularly with regard to the Niger Delta region's

environmental pollution, which appears to dominate environmental agendas. According to Udoudo in

(Ashong and Udoudo, 2007), "the media has not done a good job of covering the region's pollution,

particularly in the area of emphasizing and conveying the viewpoints of local residents affected by the

pollution".

12
Fourth Question: Do you consider the social media as a very accessible channel to obtain climate change

information?

Table 5

S/N Variable Frequency Percent

1 Yes 278 73
2 No 107 27
Total 380 100

In the responses, 73% of audience in the urban area opted for the social media as their desired source of

information about climate change while 27% of respondents opted for social media reflecting on the

overwhelming acceptance of digital communication in the Nigeria media space. Agbuta, Agumagu &

Adesope (2021), posit that social media usage is becoming increasingly popular in a variety of industries,

including politics, education, athletics, and even agriculture. Social media offers an efficient, portable,

and practical way to share information in real time and rural residents can used social media for

communicating climate change.

Research Question 3: To ascertain the level of audience understanding about information on

climate change

To provide insight to the third research objective, four questions were articulated for the study. The data
obtained thus were:

Fifth Question: Do you perceive the issue of climate change a political issue? Table 6

S/N Variable Frequency Percent

1 Agree 133 35
2 Disagree 247 65
Total 380 100

In response to this question, for urban participants in the FGDs, 5 agreed that it is political game between

the United States and China on Trading. When asked if they perceived this issue of climate change as a

political matter:

13
1st Participant: "yes, I think it is about trade".

2nd Participant: "I do not think it is"

3rd Participant: "It is Russia and the US

In the rural area, 5 do not agree that climate change is political issue; while the remaining three do not

know. These results infer that there is knowledge gap in the dissemination of information about climate

change specially to concern areas that are affected by the impact. In the table, it is suggested that people's

reactions are affected by the flooding since 65% of people don't believe that politics has a role in climate

change.

Sixth Question: Do you consider climate change as an environmental threat that needs more media
attention?

Table 7

S/N Variable Frequency Percent

1 Yes 344 90
2 No 36 10
Total 380 100

Urban respondents in the FGDs who were asked this question indicated that all the participants believe

the issue needs more media attention while also for the participants of the FGD in the rural area agree for

the Nigerian media to report more on it. This also implies a knowledge gap in the communication of

information regarding climate change. The role of media influence in bridging the awareness gap in this

area, it is significant to remember that the media are not the primary factor in information inequality.

In the survey, the results on table 7 shows the need for media intervention. 90% of respondents in dire

need of the media to create awareness for government, non-governmental institutions and to

environmental change agents.

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Seventh Question: Do you consider using electric cars to save the environment from pollution?

Table 8

S/N Variable Frequency Percent

1 Yes 301 79
2 No 79 21
Total 380 100

The survey result in table 8 demonstrates that there will be an alternate choice if it becomes accessible

since electric automobiles are a very viable substitute for fossil fuel vehicles in industrialized economies.

In the FGD, the respondents in the two divide also showed appreciation of alternative options to clean

energy if affordable, reliable and accessible.

Eighth Question: Do you dispose non-biodegradables indiscriminately? Table 9

S/N Variable Frequency Percent

1 Yes 278 73
2 No 102 27
Total 380 100

Waste disposal is critical to environmental management as it entails conscious and responsible disposal of

waste to ensure environmental protection and promotion of safe environmental management. Table 9

shows that 73% respondents dispose their waste indiscriminately and do not differentiate between

biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes.

In the FGD, the result is the same as a greater number of the participants do not dispose their waste

safely. "I use to dispose some of our refuse in the river"; "In the market, we normally dispose waste in the

gutter usually when it is raining". Solid waste poses a threat to people and public health as Nwabueze

(2007, p. 14) tenders that "chief among the environmental problems bedevilling urban areas in Nigeria is

15
the mounds and mountain of refuse which constantly poses a threat to public health and further destroy

the aesthetic value of these cities".

Conclusion and Recommendations

Another environmental threat the globe is currently facing is global warming. It basically involves

burning fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases into the air like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous

oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. These gases are then caught by sunlight and radiated back into the

atmosphere as heat. The earth is warmed by the redistributive heat, which also causes the ozone layer to

thin and the Antarctic ice to melt, increasing the amount of water in the oceans, seas, and rivers. The

causes of these issues have been linked to violent tropical storms, floods, and draughts. It may be in the

interests of responsible authorities to highlight some of the specific issues that make climate change

responses workable.

The gap awareness theory's main problem is that when discussing how to equalize people in terms of

information and access, the key is the socio-economic status of individuals. Of course, the media can aid

in and speed up the distribution of information among segments of society who did not have access to it

prior to the spread of the media. The socioeconomic condition of individuals is a barrier to equality, even

if we can speed up knowledge dissemination and lower the cost of access.

More so, alternative options to clean energy should be made affordable, reliable and accessible by the

appropriate authority. Most governments in the world create laws or environmental regulations that serve

as guidelines for the environment, safeguard society from false environmental claims, and inform citizens

on how to manage and make ethical environmental decisions. The issue of climate change and its global

clamour has reached its crescendo to compel the government and of course, the media to embark on

national sensitization, education and mobilization for attitude change towards safe environmental

practices that align with the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals SDGs.

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