This study assessed variability in some weather variables and its impacts on agricultural
incomes in northern and southern Nigeria. To achieve these, we combined time series
weather variables obtained from some meteorological stations in Nigeria with household
cross-sectional data collected by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The descriptive
and regression methods were used to analyze the data. The results show high variability
in some weather with rainfall exhibiting the highest variability between 1971 and 2003.
Impacts of climatic changes on agricultural income and welfare were modeled with
climate-related variables like variability indices of annual for 1971-2003, actual annual
rainfall data in 2003, time for gathering fuel wood, time for fetching water and season of
interview. It was found that agricultural income and welfare in northern part of Nigeria
will be more negatively affected by climatic changes than southern part. The study
recommended development of alternative energy sources, promotion of irrigate
agriculture and skill development for combating adverse climatic changes, among others.