Resolving the herdsmen-farmers conflicts in Nigeria

The herder-farmers conflict has led to nation-wide insecurity, which is a great setback in the fight against food insecurity. This article will highlight the recent trends of the conflict and propose possible solutions.

Dynamics of the conflicts

Both herdsmen and farmers have suffered casualties from armed attacks and ensuing reprisals, and properties worth billions of Naira have been destroyed. The conflicts usually start as a competing interest over access to natural resources (such as land and water) and most often, take an ethnoreligious dimension. Most herdsmen are Muslims from the Fulani ethnicity while the farmers are mostly Christians from other ethnic groups. Complicating the conflict is the fact that a proportion of the herdsmen keep cattle for powerful local actors, such as public servants and politicians, thereby generating a conflict of interest and leading to political inaction. The conflict hotspots are concentrated in the North-Central, affecting states like Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau. Other states affected include Adamawa and Taraba in the North-East, Ogun and Oyo in the South-West, Ondo in the South-South, and Enugu and Imo in the South-East. The tension is still spreading to other regions.

Between January 2016 and October 2018, the conflict claimed the lives of at least 3,641 people. Thousands of farmers were forced to abandon their farmlands to stay alive. Besides the herders-farmers conflicts, the country is also facing other security challenges: the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, and the scourge of banditry in the North-West. In November 2020, at least 43 rice farmers were reportedly slaughtered by the Boko Haram insurgents. These incidences do not reflect a positive outlook in the quest to end poverty, hunger and malnutrition, and food security in the country.

The Herdsmen

In Nigeria, the word ‘herdsmen’ is synonymous to ‘Fulani herdsmen’ – Fulani represents an ethnic group predominantly in the Northern Nigeria. They have their indigenous language known as ‘Fulfulde’, but because of their close-knit relationship with the Hausa tribe, the Fulanis have also adopted the Hausa language.  The herdsmen are predominantly Muslims and are widely recognized for livestock keeping, particularly ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats. Their women are very enterprising and work downstream in the diary value chain. The Fulani herdsmen account for 90% of the livestock population in Nigeria which contribute about one-third of the agricultural GDP and approximately 3.2% of the entire country’s GDP.

The Farmers

At the other side of the conflict, we have smallholder farmers who depend on their farming activities for their livelihoods. They constitute 80% of the total farmers in Nigeria, and in addition to the incessant conflicts with herdsmen, they are facing other challenges including climate change, irregular rainfall, drought, pests and disease outbreaks. These hampers their yield and consequently, low profits. Many farmers in the North-West are now abandoning food crops for cash crops due to low returns on investments. Their situation was further worsened by the activities of armed bandits and incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen. Farming communities in the North-Central panic at the glance of Fulani herdsmen. They have accused the herders of grazing their animals on their crops. And since they cannot depend on the government to provide adequate security, they mobilise the youths to form local vigilante groups with the aim of expelling the Fulani herdsmen out of their communities. Some states government like Ekiti, Benue, and Ondo, have implemented laws that banned herdsmen from open grazing. This policy further deepened the hostility between the herdsmen and their host communities.

Major government interventions

The conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria are not new and some government interventions are no longer sustainable due to high population growth, land use change, and ethno-religious sentiments, amongst other factors. One of the major government interventions was the establishment of grazing reserves. The government enacted the grazing law in between 1964 and 1965 to allocate lands for pastoralists where they can graze their animals. The idea was to indirectly force the pastoralists to adopt the sedentary system whereby they settle on the grazing reserve. They would be incentivized by access to feeds, water, veterinary services and through enactment of the law, were granted some level of land ownership rights. In 1980, 2.3 million hectares of land had already been allocated for grazing reserves across the North. However, with rapid population growth and urbanization, parts of these lands were encroached and used for other purposes such as housing, construction of roads and expansion of arable farming. The Nigerian population was about 55 million in 1965 and over 200 million in 2019. As such, it has been nearly impossible to sustain these policies.

In January 2019, the Federal government introduced the RUGA project aimed at revitalizing the national grazing reserves under the National Livestock Transformation Plan, but the idea was widely criticized as a land grabbing attempt. Some states welcomed the idea while many others kicked against it. Land that would previously have been available to local farming communities would now be subject to land use restrictions, while access to arable land is already decreasing due to the effects of pollution and climate change. It was also not clear as to who would be responsible for maintaining the grazing reserves. Many critics proposed that since cattle rearing is a private business, the pastoralists should acquire their own lands and set up a ranching system. These projects have yielded low results as many communities have rejected their implementation.

Against this backdrop, it is imperative to develop novel approaches that would help to move the conflict from zero-sum to win-win. My experience working with farmers and herdsmen, and my observation of the conflicts over the past decades, led me to propose the following interventions as possible elements of what will have to be a multi-pronged solution:

1. Promoting climate-smart agriculture 

Promoting sustainable nutrient cycle whereby herders supply animal manure to farmers in exchange for crop residues can help in soil nutrient restoration. One of the key drivers of these conflicts is climate change and soil degradation. There are nineteen (19) northern states and seven (7) are severely affected by desertification while eight (8) are moderately affected. This forces herders to migrate from the north to the south in search for greener pastures. The impact is less herbage are available for grazing. Hence, with the exchange of manure for crop residues, the herdsmen and farmers can cooperate thereby moving the conflict from zero-sum to win-win.

2. Feed preservation and storage 

Training herdsmen on local feed preservation techniques such as silage and hay would make a significant contribution towards seasonal dependency on feeds supply. It would further reduce the need for seasonal migration. Feed supply is generally not a problem during the rainy season. The excess herbage can be harvested, processed and stored against the dry season. Private investors can also tap into the business of feed manufacturing for ruminants. The poultry and aquaculture sub-sectors have well-established feed manufacturing companies and a lot of brands, but the ruminant sub-sector does not.

3. Establishment of satellite milk collection centres

The Fulani women walk thousands of kilometres hawking their ‘Fura da Nono’—Milk product. Many of them have been victims of rape and sexual assault. During the rainy season when the milk yield of their cows increases due to availability of green pastures, the poor road network hampers their access to urban markets and part of their milk goes to waste. Therefore, the establishment of satellite milk collection centres close to their homesteads, would create an assembling point where they can sell their fresh milk. In addition, the government can leverage the existence of such locations to establish vocational training centres for them on local milk processing techniques.

4. The establishment of a community-based educational system using their local language

The herders and their families do not have access to quality education for proper integration into the society. Presently, they reside in remote areas and only come to town to graze their animals or sell their milk. Consequently, they have less interaction with people of other ethnicities. However, if their children were enrolled into formal education they would learn intercultural communication strategies. Likewise, they can be introduced to innovative livestock production systems that are environmentally sound, economically viable and socially acceptable. The government could provide incentives for those that will enrol their children in schools; for example, subsidized veterinary services, and premium prices for their milk.

5. The use of animal trackers.

There are different types of animal trackers that herdsmen can use for effective monitoring of their animals during grazing. Since farmers are complaining about animals grazing on their crops, with these trackers, herders can prevent their animals from eating farmers’ crops. In addition, it would protect the animals from cattle rustlers and proper record keeping.

6. Development of a database for cattle owners in Nigeria.

The government should develop a database containing the biometrics of farmers and cattle owners in Nigeria. Farmers and herders should have a unique identification number for proper referencing and data-driven policies. The data can be generated using mobile phones or through the use of a register at the local government authority. Whenever a herder enters a community, he should document his presence at the local government authority and also sign out when leaving. This manner, offenders can be tracked and prosecuted.