Typical of most communities in Nigeria, people living in rural communities of the Niger Delta rely heavily on their environment as well as the natural resource base for their livelihood. The uncertain effects of the changing climate on these invaluable resources appear to be a malignant problem facing the region over the past decades. Low household and community resilience, poor adaptive responses to shift in rainfall pattern, temperature, sea level rise and incessant flooding in most part of the Niger Delta region have led to unprecedented economic deprivation, hunger, sickness, and violent conflict. These problems are further compounded by a lack of legislative and institutional capacity for effective management of natural resources and stability of the ecosystem; leading to reduced farm productivity and increased work load for women and girls who are in the frontline. If this narrative must change, there is, therefore, the need to build the capacity of rural community stakeholders to play key roles in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the Niger Delta region. Mainstreaming Climate change adaptation into development plans is an important strategic action at this stage of our development because emergency preparedness guarantees effective contingency plans to protect citizens, property and the environment.
