Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

Climate variability, weather data, and pest dynamics shape smallholder sweet potato adaptation in Nigeria. Using field data on whitefly populations and viral disease, it highlights how access to timely climate information mediates farmers’ adaptive capacity, vulnerability, and decision-making power.

Paper long abstract

Smallholder farmers are increasingly required to adapt to climate variability while operating under conditions of limited resources, asymmetric information, and environmental uncertainty. This paper examines how weather variability and data-driven knowledge shape climate adaptation in smallholder sweet potato production in southeastern Nigeria. Drawing on field-based data on whitefly populations, sweet potato virus disease incidence, and local weather parameters, the study demonstrates how temperature, humidity, and wind patterns directly influence pest pressure and yield vulnerability. The findings reveal that rising temperatures significantly increase whitefly populations, intensifying viral disease incidence and threatening smallholder livelihoods. While such climate–pest relationships are increasingly legible through meteorological data and agronomic monitoring, smallholder farmers often lack equitable access to timely, localized, and actionable climate information. This gap highlights how adaptation is not only a technical challenge but also a question of power, data access, and knowledge control. Situating the analysis within debates on digital agriculture and climate resilience, the paper argues that weather data, pest surveillance, and decision-support tools have the potential to enhance adaptive capacity, but only when embedded in locally grounded knowledge systems. Without inclusive digital infrastructures, climate data risks reinforcing dependency on external expertise rather than strengthening farmer agency. By foregrounding the lived realities of sweet potato farmers confronting climate-driven pest dynamics, the paper contributes to critical discussions on whether data-driven adaptation fosters equitable resilience or reproduces existing inequalities. Ultimately, it calls for more democratic approaches to digital climate services that centre smallholder knowledge, participation, and control in adaptation planning.