The Effects of Farmers-Herders Conflict on Farming Households in Southern Taraba State, Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Farmers-Herders conflict on the farming households of in southern Taraba State, Nigeria. The objective were to: describe the socioeconomic characteristics of crop farmers in southern Taraba State; ascertain the causes of conflict between farmers and herdsmen as perceived by crop farmers and ascertain the effects of the conflict on livelihood of farming households in southern Taraba State. Data were collected from 102 farming households using structured questionnaire, as respondents for the study. Multi-stage sampling was used for the study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected. The results of the study shows that 61.8% of farmers were males, Majority (81.4%) of the farmers fell within 21-50 years with mean age of 41 years, majority (55.9%) were married with average household size of 11 persons. Majority of the farmers are predominantly small-scale farmers with average farm size of 2.82 ha, about 88.2% of the rural farmers had formal education. The major crops grown were cereals crops (47.1%), 73.5% of the respondents belonged to organizations with average annual income of farmers was N181, 050.52. The major perceived causes of conflicts by crop farmers in the study area was uncontrolled grazing and damage to crops by cattle (95.1%). The most severe consequences of conflicts were decrease in output and income of farmers (99.0%) and Loss of lives and injuries sustained (98.0%). It was concluded that Farmers-herders conflicts are destructive and have far reaching consequences on livelihoods farming household as well as rural development in Taraba State and Nigeria at large if left unchecked quickly. It was recommended that intensive system of grazing, through ranching should be introduced so that cattle's are restricted to a particular place and chances of future clashes foreclosed.