Farmers-herders conflict: 4,000 lives lost in seven years, says ex-minister

A former Minister of Finance, Mansur Muhtar, has said no fewer than 4,000 Nigerians had lost their lives and thousands of others maimed as a result of the perennial conflict between herders and farmers since 2016.

Muhtar, the vice president of the Islamic Development Bank, disclosed this at the three-day ‘National Conference on Livestock Reforms and Mitigation of Associated Conflicts’ in Abuja, where he was among the over 500 stakeholders comprising technocrats, traditional rulers, and livestock researchers invited to develop a blueprint in solving the problem.

His statement is coming hours after Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, insisted that ranching remains a viable solution to curbing the frequent clashes between pastoralists and locals, especially in rural communities.

In his address, Muhtar disclosed that though conflicts between farmers and herders/pastoralists had been an issue of national concern, the northern part of Nigeria had remained the epicentre.

Consequently, he called on stakeholders to ensure that winners of the forthcoming general elections work on the deliberations of the national conference on informed policies, strategies and programmes towards livestock production.

He said, “Between 2016 and now, at least 4000 people lost their lives in these conflicts, with several thousand others sustaining injuries, both physical and emotional. While fatalities were initially confined to the North Central, they have since spread across the country increasing pre-existing religious and ethnic tensions.

“In addition to the unfortunate loss of lives, this conflict has often been manifested by an increasing number of internally displaced persons, leading to the breakdown of family units, the bedrock of our society, and disruption in education, especially for young girls. This crisis has also undermined agricultural production compromising our nation’s food security, especially during these periods of rising food prices .

“Northern parts of Nigeria have been the epicentre of this conflict, although this is spreading to other regions. This conference is perfectly timed, as our nation prepares for elections, literally in a matter of days. It is my ardent hope that winners of these elections would draw on the deliberations from this event to inform policies, strategies and programs towards livestock production. The Buhari administration has done well by developing the National Livestock Transformation Plan; however, a significant amount of work is needed to achieve its ambitious goals.”

According to him, ranching, while very important, is insufficient to effectively address the fundamental drivers of the farmer-herder crises, not only because of the challenges identified above but because of the complexity of the crisIs which calls for a multi-stakeholder intervention.

However, Muhtar’s position on ranching was at variance with the view of Kano State governor, who reiterated that the Rural Grazing Areas, popularly called ‘RUGA’ or ranching, which had been deliberately politicised, remains the only option to mitigating the existential problems.

Ganduje stated that it would afford pastoralists the opportunity of having access to lands for grazing without cattle encroaching on people’s farmlands

He said, “The Rural Grazing Areas (RUGA) or ranching, which has been deliberately politicised, remains the only option that would go a long way in mitigating existential problems, as pastoralists would have lands to graze without cattle encroaching on people’s farmlands, because, herders need fodder for their cattle and promoting alternative means of producing feedstock, which reduces the need for grazing land.

“For many years in Nigeria, farmers and cattle herders have been in conflict over land rights. But the disputes have reached crisis levels in recent years, killing thousands of people and displacing many thousands more from their homes, left in relics by attacks.

“The livelihoods of farmers and herders have, historically complemented each other. They exchanged produce with one another and when conflicts arise, they were addressed by traditional institutions and existing conflict resolution mechanisms. However, over the past few decades, a wide range of factors have resulted in tensions often ending in deadly violent conflicts between the two groups.

“Climate change which resulted in desertification and soil erosion has enraged competition over natural resources, pushing herders to venture into new areas to seek pasture for their herds. Drifting away from traditional migratory routes and encroaching on farming lands has fueled negative perceptions, contrasting sedentary communities versus nomadic ones, often stigmatising the latter as cultural and/or religious intruders.”

(Punch)