Herders Farmers Crisis and Food Security in Nigeria- A Case of Benue State.
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Date
2023
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Volume Title
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A Journal of Vytautas Magnus University
Abstract
Abstract
Food security is an area of research that is gaining the attention of scholars, because of its importance to
human survival. However, there is limited scholarly interventions on how the unabated activities of herder’s
farmer’s crisis as affected food security in Nigeria, and Benue state in particular. The focus of this study is
to identify and interrogate the triggers of herder’s farmer’s crisis in Benue state, and how it has impacted
on the quality and quantity of food in the state. The sample comprised 1600 farmers who were selected
through a multi-stage cluster technique. The analysis for the study was done using simple percentage and
mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) were used to describe demographic and other salient information in
the data. The multiple Standard Regression was performed to determine the impact of herder’s farmer’s
crisis on food security in Benue state. Results revealed among others that the location of the state within
the tropical rain forest which has provided it with arable lands was a motivational factor for herdsmen
incursion to provide food for their herds. Findings also showed that the incursion of the herders into Benue
state came with negative implications such as limited agricultural output that as resulted in food scarcity
and shortage. We also found out that the brazen attacks on local indigenes on their farmlands had severely
discouraged them from going to their farms, while some had found alternative in other unproductive vices.
Such a findings are wakeup call for political leaders to come up with holistic and honest strategies such as
confinement of the herds in one location, instead of open method that is in practice. Kinetic approach could
also be applied to curb the expansionist tendency of the herders for the sake of peace, and to make the
state and the country food secured and sufficient.
Key words: Herders, Farmers, Crisis, Food security, Nigeria.
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Citation
Herders, Farmers, Crisis, Food security, Nigeria.