ABSTRACT

 

Crop farmers and Cattle herders‟ conflicts have remained the most prevailing recourse conflict in Benue State especially in Benue state. Social and economic factors continue to inflame violent conflicts. The study objectives were narrowed down to investigating the cause of Fulani herdsmen and farmers conflict and the effect on food security. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collections were used. The respondents were drawn using purposive, multi stage and snowball sampling methods in the four selected Villages. Information was elicited using structured questionnaire. The quantitative data collected were subjected to both descriptive (frequency count and percentage) and inferential (T. test) statistical analysis while the qualitative data were analysed in a thematic form. The study concludes that crop farmers and cattle herders’ conflict instigate a loss of livelihoods to both groups and contributes to low agricultural output production. Therefore, it is in the interest of the State to address the genuine needs of the cattle herders for availability of grazing land, resolve the recurring conflicts in the agricultural sector that provides employment to reasonable portion of the country’s population. The study finally recommends that farmers should adopt intensive cultivation by using improved seeds and farm inputs.

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the Study

Food insecurity and armed conflict are two major problems that have aroused the attention of international institutions, political analysts, and governments in the country.  Over several decades, resources have been mobilized to reduce the number of hunger in the world, particularly in developing countries.

Nigeria as a nation state is under a severe internal socio-economic and security threat. At a more general level, the threat has special economic, political and environmental dimensions. Each of these dimensions has greatly affected the nation’s stability and can be traced to the Fulani-herdsmen crisis, ethnic militant armies, ethnic and religious conflicts, poverty, insurgency, armed robbery, corruption, economic sabotage and environmental degradation [Damba, 2007].

Farmer-herdsmen conflict has remained the most influential resource-use conflict in Nigeria (Rashid 2012). Fulani and farmers co-existed for a long period but such coexistence has never been without tension because it demands an alternative dispute resolution of rival interests. Conflict can break out suddenly when livestock is poorly controlled and when herds wander on to cultivated fields. This has always had a tendency to occur at critical periods in the annual cycle, particularly during sowing when herds are late in leaving agricultural lands and during harvests, if they return too early. Clashes occur when agricultural activities hinder the movement of herds and cut off their access to water or pastures (Shetima and Usman 2008).

Agricultural and development experts are unanimous in their predictions that the gains recorded in the agricultural sector of the economy, especially in the area of food production, may suffer a serious setback as a result of the negative effects of terrorist activities on farmers in Benue and neighboring states. Already, seven out of the 23 local governments in Benue state, namely Guma, Gwer-West, Agatu, Logo, Kwande and the Northern part of Makurdi mostly affected by the rampaging herdsmen have tale of heavy calamity to tell.  The effects of the sustained Fulani war in the affected localities have led to farmers’ reluctance to go back to their farms even as the current farming season is far gone. In Benue state, for example, women from Guma and Gwer west local governments have stayed away from farms for fear of being killed or raped by the murderers. Several retaliation attacks have continued to occur, which had led to heavy loss human lives and properties recorded on both sides. For example, current intake may be adequate, but food insecurity may still be experienced because of concern over future intake. Alternatively, intake may be inadequate, but only temporarily to protect supplies and prevent future food insecurity (Wolfe and Frongillo, 2001).

Every farming system has a boundary which separates it from the larger system that makes up the environment. Conflicts and violent clashes between farmers and nomadic cattle herders have been a common feature of economic livelihood in West Africa (Tonah, 2006). The boundary represents the limits in the larger system. Farmers regularly compete with nomadic herders for farmland, pastures, water, trees and the use of rangeland in general (Akpaki, 2002). There have been violent clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farmers in several parts of Nigeria for several years. The clashes are occasioned by the destruction of agricultural farms of the farmers by the cattle of the nomadic herdsmen. The upsurge and incessant resource conflicts witnessed as a result of boundary dispute in the tropics have resulted in loss of lives, properties and environmental degradation as also witnessed in some developed countries (Niemella, Young, Alard, Askasibar, Henle, Johnson, Kuttila, Larsson, Matouch, Nowicki, Paiva, Portoghesi, Smulders, Stevenson, Tartes & Watt, 2005). Naturally, nomadic herdsmen by their nature are migrants who leave their traditional abode in search of greener pasture for their flocks. In most cases, their movement is caused by the absence of good and veritable land for their flock to feed on. The environmental degradation is perceived to be contributing enormously to the deterioration in ecosystem services to the environment of various communities. In the recent times, Nigeria has witnessed series of violent communal clashes arising from the activities of the nomadic herdsmen who move about on a daily basis with their cattle in search of water and green pastures.

They are on the streets in most of the cities and could also be found operating in the remotest villages in various states of the country. These nomads who are essentially Fulani tribesmen were originally found in small make-shift communities scattered across the northern fringes of Nigeria and other countries in West Africa.  Nzeh, (2015) maintained that in their culture, tradition and occupation, nomadic herdsmen have not remained a migrant race who does not own lands nor have any permanent abode. To him, they cared less about land ownership because they are always on the move. This practice which has been established as a culture by the Nomads had before now been observed with the highest ethical standards whereby the herded animals were prevented from grazing on crops. The fact still remains that these nomadic herdsmen care less about land ownership because they are always on the move. The nomads used to embark on seasonal migrations from the North to the South but this movement has become an all season‘s affair. The reason has been that overgrazing in the far north has given way to desertification and the normal alternating wet and dry seasons have metamorphosed into some unusual weather conditions now known as climate change. Ofem and Inyang (2014) revealed that a symbiotic relationship existed before now between the nomads and the farmers in every new community they stopped over to take a rest. The residents of host communities usually farmers derived free organic manure from cow dung and protein from the beef and dairy products, while the nomads relied on the farm produce for food.  In Nigeria, most herdsmen do not own land but graze their livestock in host communities (Awogbade, 1987). While a few have adopted the more sedentary type of animal husbandry, the increasing crises between farmers and nomadic herdsmen presupposes that grazing is a major means of animal rearing in Nigeria. The sedentary type of animal husbandry also proves to be more expensive, difficult to manage and inefficient for the rapid growing market of an ever increasing Nigerian population. However, over the years, the presence of the nomads and their cattle has provoked violent clashes in several communities across the country. Some farmers practicing mixed farming revealed that this animals have in one way or another affected their farming, likewise sedentary pastoralists were in one way or the other affected by farmers (Nformi, Mary-Juliet, Engwali, & Nji, 2014).

This shows that the issue of farmer-nomadic herdsmen conflict is more or less shared problem. Therefore, this may not warrant isolating the farmers or even the pastoralists into ethnic or regional groupings for the sake of issuing blames on any as the case may be. Nigeria is experiencing a historic demographic expansion and a spectacular change in food habits. With a population growth nearing 2.8% per year, according to NPC 2006, the country‘s own domestic production is far from being able to meet demand. Nigeria is however expected to have a population of over 398 million which is more than the population of Pakistan and Brazil in 2050 (PRB, 2016). At the federal level, livestock operations contribute only about 5% of GDP, whereas agriculture as a whole contributes 35% of GDP as reported by CBN (2013). Following the foregoing discussion, one can see why it is difficult for both the nomads and host communities to co-exist without problems. This is because, as the nomadic herdsmen are busy trying to protect their herds and make livelihood from their sales, the residents of host communities need to protect their farms which these animals upon migration use as grazing land. In recent times, the issue of violent clashes and instability between farmers and nomadic herdsmen across the regions in Nigeria has become a major focus to the Nigerian Government, International and National or indigenous development organizations. This to a large extent, if not halted at an early stage,  may affect the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 which aims at ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture by 2030. The clashes, instead of diminishing have been increasing quickly by large amounts to the dismay of helpless Nigerians. It is against this background that this study attempts to examine the overall effect of the nomadic herdsmen and farmers clashes in Nigeria.

• Research Problem

The threat Nigeria is currently facing from the Fulani herdsmen crisis is therefore, considered to be a major potential threat affecting Nigerians mostly on the part of socio-economic activities in the country [Egodi, 2010]. The Fulani herdsmen crisis is posing a serious obstacle to a successful national economy. Fulani herdsmen has become a major threat to the national security and development of Nigeria due to the fact that its increased operation has caused diversion and removed government attention on some key areas of the economy, as huge amount of human and material resources are channeled into curbing the menace [Egodi, 2010]. Food security is essential and fundamental to any society or nation. In fact, food security is the driving force of any nation in the world. Nations not only plan for production, but heavily invest in agricultural sector to boost food production and by extension, secure the citizens from hunger and subsequent malnutrition. However, more often than not, insecurity as constituted by the Fulani herdsmen in almost all part of Nigeria have to a large extent tempered with tens of thousands of people whom major activities is farming (crop production and animal husbandry).The extended violence ongoing in the affected areas of the country has forced large scale farmers to abandon their farming activities in search for their dear lives.

Fulani herdsmen crisis have no doubt had negative impact on lives and property, food security and educational development in Nigeria. Though, there is the shortage of quantitative evaluation in Nigeria of the catastrophic attacks, available statistic has it that between June, 2015 to December, 2016 human rights watch in 2017, reported a total death of 65 persons in more than 24 attacks. Fulani herdsmen attack apart from the loss of life has also led to the destruction of cultivable farmland and valuable properties worth seven billions of naira.

The above scenario has a dismal consequence for suitable and educational development in the regions of attack in particular and Nigeria in general. In the regions where the Fulani herdsmen crisis is passing through and the property destroyed potentially and in real terms, drag their economic fortune back by several steps. Besides the property destroyed, economic life in those regions is automatically grounded to a stop as people are no longer free to go about their farming, economic and educational activities for fear of being killed. Having become worse several thousands of people have moved (periodically or seasonally) swiftly to other parts of Nigeria. The overall implication for sustainable development is that the farming, economic and educational activities are fast deteriorating. The murderous campaign and vicious onslaughts on individuals and institutions provide highly unfavorable business environment for internal and foreign investment, which is a major factor in the achievement of sustainable development ( Damba, 2007).