Community Based Mechanisms and Farmers/Herders Conflict in Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper illustrates the complexities of resolving farmers/herdsmen conflicts through community-based mechanisms. Local peacebuilding efforts have also helped to reduce intracommunal conflict. However, their effectiveness is often undermined by physical and non-physical components of human needs theory. The Benue experience requires the interrogation of the importance of community-based mechanisms in addressing the remote causes of farmer-herder conflict. Using an explanatory research design, it therefore examines the community-based mechanisms in resolving the farmers/herdsmen conflict. This paper found out that overgrazing is a significant remote cause of conflict between herders and crop farmers, leading to land degradation, soil erosion, and loss of useful species. It concludes that poor education and orientation of herders and farmers are essential factors contributing to the persistence of farmer-herder conflicts.