Herdsmen and Farmers conflict in Birnin-Gwari local government area of Kaduna state

Abstract

Previous studies mainly touched on causes of conflict in governance with little researches on Farmers / Herdsmen Conflict thus this research was carried out to cover the gap. The objective of this paper is to examine the causes of Conflict between herdsmen and farmers  and it effects on socio- economic development of Kaduna State Nigeria. The Marxist theory of conflict, Resource scarcity theory of conflict, Environmental scarcity theory of conflict, theory of the tragedy of the commons and the Neo-Malthusian theory of conflict were adopted for the study. Data were collected through primary and secondary sources. Five communities comprising; Dogon-dawa, Kuyello, Magajin Gari, Dangaji and Randaji were purposively selected for the study. Key informant interviews were conducted with 5 Key Informants comprising religious leaders, politicians, community leaders, farmers and herdsmen as well as security agents and four (2) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) conducted with herdsmen and farmers. In addition, a total of 120 copies of questionnaires were administered to 30 residents of herdsmen, 35 residents of farmers, 25 security agents,20 community leaders and politicians from selected communities. Secondary data were collected from published books, journal articles and the internet. Quantitative data were analyzed using narrative and descriptive techniques such as frequency and percentage distribution while the qualitative data were content analyzed. Findings from FGDs showed that most herdsmen and farmers have adopted social behavior as a way of living to enhance peaceful co-existence among them in the communities. The findings shows that Conflict often caused as a result destruction of farmers crops and trespassing  by herdsmen, absence of grazing reserve as well as drought and water scarcity are rampant in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of  Kaduna state, mainly because, the people are predominantly farmers. In conclusion, the study generated a synthesis of information on the root causes and mechanisms of conflict resolution and affirms the need for proper control of the resources that are responsible for conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area