The turbulence of farmers/herders crisis has over the years been a subject of concern in Nigeria. While the threat at the sprouting level was never attended to firmly, it is saddening that the lacklustre posture of successive governments to deal with the threat has degenerated into a phenomenon that is impacting the entire fabric of the Country negatively. The protruding dimensions of the menace have degenerated under the present Administration to the point of albatross with the apparent silence posture demonstrated to address increasing encroachment of farm settlements across the Country.
The controversies which have trailed the subject have only brought nebulous standing order into place. The discourse of the ban on open grazing, the adoption of ranching and introduction of the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) have all been shrouded in controversies. Hence, it is apparent that no clear cut policies are in operation which can rationally be pointed to as the guiding principles instructing the conduct of pastoral adventures in the Country. The absence of such institutionalised system with well defined architectures, has left gaps which mischievous elements have continued to exploit to heat up the polity. Even the recent Asaba resolution of the Governors in the South under the aegis of the Southern Governors’ Forum, which had banning of open grazing as a point of agenda, had been greeted with confrontational resistance.
It is apparent that the background of the tussle has been premised on the plight of farmers whose farms are being encroached by cattle herders in search of green pastures for their livestock. The mere pain that comes out of the lose of investment, time and energy are such that erupts emotion against the ambitious posture of herders who are also looking for green pastures for their livestocks by all means. The nomadic nature of their venture, which are not clearly defined by restrictions, have left farmers at the receiving end of having their farms susceptible to encroachment. The subject of whether the misdeeds are intentional or unintentional is another subject matter shrouded in controversies also on its own.
However, records have shown that the reactions of mischievous elements amongst herdsmen in return to the expression of dissatisfaction of farmers for encroaching on their farms, have left overshadowing perception which necessarily pictures gory image of herdsmen. The reports of the gruesome nature of initial and reprisal attacks which assume horrendous dimensions have created a psychology of suspicion which over time have brought the perception of every herder as a potential threat to the society and, more emphatically, the farming occupation.
While there have also been records of reactionary attacks by farmers against herders, it is apparent that the farming communities and their settlements have much more been at the receiving end of suffering colossal losses. The destruction of farm settlements, attacks on farming communities, razing of their properties, and horrendous killings, among others, are some of the plights farmers and their communities have suffered.
The recent resolution by the Governors of the Southern States cannot be said not to be unconnected with the threats the menace of farmers/herders crisis pose on domestic security. The subject has been one of the forces heating up the Country in recent time, as farm settlements continue to deplete over attacks. The stormy attacks against farm settlements have left many of these settlements deserted while the inhabitants have been left displaced. The economic impact is acutely brewing its storms in the Country presently, with scarcity of food. The macroeconomic impacts have been debilitating to the economy as accruable revenue from agricultural produces has been brought to an ebbing state as more farmers are exposed to the risk of encroachment.
The Small Scale Women’s Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON), on Thursday, pointed out farmers/herders among factors responsible for food and nutrition insecurity in such states as Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT. The National President, SWOFON, Mary Afan, who made this known in a communique signed by her, which was issued at a two-day meeting in Abuja, to popularise the National Gender Policy in Agriculture for smallholder women farmers, in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria, mentioned that the value of post-harvest losses Nigeria suffers is about N3.5 trillion annually, lamenting that such a loss impedes the growth of the agricultural sector. She was quoted: “Apart from these 16 Northern states, other states are also faced with food and nutrition insecurity due to similar factors like insecurity, while food and nutrition insecurity is further exacerbated across Nigeria through post-harvest losses of about N3.5 trillion annually.”
With the prevailing situation where farmers are exposed to attacks by mischievous elements among herders who have not ceased to continue unleashing terror on farming stakeholders, it is apparent that crisis lies ahead of the Country’s economy. Thus, the song of diversifying the economy by agriculture under a prevailing situation where same sector is being ravaged by attacks crumbling farming settlements is only by and large a facade. The Country is currently suffering from domestic food crisis. It will therefore be irrational to think of having a robust export accruals where food insecurity domestically is on the indescribable state. Such State as Benue known to be tagged, ‘the Food Basket of the Nation,’ is gradually been reduced to looking out to other states for food supply owing to destruction and desertion of numerous farm settlements. The rising inflation of food prices portends grave consequences to the Country. It is high time the Federal Government awake to work with the component units of the Federation to devise the most practicable system of architectures to navigate patterns to pull the Country out of the prevailing mess. The Country cannot continue to wane into the mire of disintegration while the silence posture is maintained.