A REVIEW OF FARMERS-HERDERS CONFLICT AND IMPLICATIONS ON FOOD SECURITY, ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS AND ECONOMY OF IBARAPA, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

In Nigeria, thousands of people die in violent clashes between groups of farmers and nomadic pastoralists. Due to better access to weapons and communication tools, the war has been worse in recent years. The old and the well-established systems of negotiation between the groups have mostly broken down. Thus, those with superior tools try to acquire what they want without speaking to other parties. The lack of resources, however, did not suddenly appear in the region and is also a result of several other factors that were discussed in this study, such as ineffective state mechanisms, the Nigerian oil boom, late effects of colonialism, climate change, constantly rising non-state group armament, e. t. c. To demonstrate effects of the conflict, the socioeconomic implications will be discussed. This research focuses on the crisis between the farmers and the Fulani herdsmen in the Ibarapa community of Oyo State as a review case study. The Ibarapa community is made up of various socioeconomic groups who have lived together for a long time, even though this coexistence has both beneficial and negative effects. Yoruba people, that are primarily farmers, and Fulani herdsmen, who are primarily herders, make up the majority of those leaving the Ibarapa community. In recent years, tension and hostility between farmers and herdsmen have emerged due to the battle for land and other scarce resources. Insecurity and food crisis have also resulted from the conflict, which have escalated into fights between the two groups. The connection between the two groups has soured, though, and this is a serious matter that warrants attention on a worldwide scale. Hence this review is apt.