SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF LAND CULTIVATORS-HERDERS CONFLICT IN ISI-UZO AND UZO-UWANI LGAS, ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA
Ibrahim Abdulganiyu Jawondo 1
Adewale Mathew Ogungbenro 2
James Clifford Nwakaji 3
Odunayo Elizabeth Akomolafe 4
Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, Nigeria 1 & 3
Department of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Faculty of Library Studies, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria 2
Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria 4
Corresponding Email: adewale.ogungbenro@unisoun.edu.ng 2
Abstract
Land cultivators-herders conflict is a conundrum in Nigeria, increasingly generating a peak of loss of lives and property in many communities. The causes of the conflict include destruction of farmland and crops, contamination of water points by herdsmen, blockage of official grazing routes and reserves, illegal arms proliferation, climate change and bush burning, among other factors. The effects of the conflict on the socio-economic livelihood of farmers and herders include food insecurity, unemployment, loss of lives, damage to private and public property, poverty, and social dislocation of the citizenry. This paper, therefore, examines the Land cultivators-herders conflict and its socio-economic impact in Isi-Uzo and Uzo-Uwani LGAs of Enugu State, Nigeria, using a mixed method. Through Key Informant Interview (KII), primary data were collected while secondary data were sourced from published and unpublished materials and internet (online) materials. Theoretically, the study is anchored on Eco-Violent Theory (EVT) by Thomas Homer-Dixon. Findings of the study showed that destruction of farmland/crops, blockage of grazing routes and reserves and contamination of water points were the major factors precipitating the pervasive conflict between farmers and herders in Isi-Uzo and Uzo-Uwani of Enugu State. The study concludes that land cultivators-herders conflict is responsible for food and insecurity, poverty and lawlessness across the affected communities in Enugu State and other parts of Nigeria and recommended the establishment of ranching system in all the affected LGAs where nomadism and cattle rearing thrive as a mitigation to curb the menace of land cultivators-herders conflict in Enugu State in particular and Nigeria in general.
Keywords: Conflict, Enugu State, Land Cultivators, Herders and Land Cultivators-Herders, Socio-economic Impact.
