Spatial Analysis of the Impacts of Crop Farmers and Cattle Herders Conflicts on Community Development in Adamawa State, Nigeria

The constant conflicts between crop farmers and cattle herders over the years in the Sahel savanna region, particularly the Northeast geopolitical region of Nigeria has been a recurring issue claiming several lives and properties without any holistic approach by the government to ameliorate or solve the problem. In contemporary times, the conflict has assumed a dangerous dimension and therefore, requires urgent measures to curb the menace. It is against this background that this study seeks to investigate the impacts of crop farmers' and cattle herders' conflict on community development in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Three (3) Local Government Areas (LGA) in the state were purposively selected from the 3 senatorial zones in the state. This was followed by the selection of 21 crop farmers and 21 cattle herders from each of the 3 LGAs through purposive and random sampling techniques to obtain a sample size of 126 respondents. Data were gathered with the aid of structured questionnaires and structured interview schedules. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was also conducted with separate groups of cattle herders and crop farmers. Descriptive statistics (mean, frequency counts, percentages) were used to describe the personal characteristics of crop farmers and cattle herders, inferential statistics (Logit regression, chi-square) were used to determine the factors responsible for the cause of conflict and the relationship between the conflict and community development indices in the study area. Results from the findings shows that majority of the crop farmers and cattle herders are male, the perceived causes of the conflicts include encroachment of grazing reserve by farmers, the encroachment of stock route by farmers, grazing of crops by the herders and non-accessibility to water points by the two groups. The study further revealed major impacts of these conflicts to include loss of human lives and reduced household income, reduced access to agricultural land and destruction of infrastructural facilities. The conflict resolution strategies adopted includes but not limited to reactivation of existing grazing reserves, sensitization of conflicting parties by community leaders and amendment of laws on grazing reserves. Finally, the study further linked these constant conflicts to the very poor community development in Adamawa State. The study recommended formal education for both farmers and herders, sensitization of the crop farmers and cattle herders by the government and community leaders on the need for both groups to coexist and implementation of the existing laws on grazing reserves and land use policies by the government.