Farmer-herder conflict in many parts of the country is seen as one of the many protracted crises that have failed to go, despite promises by various governments at the national and state levels to bring lasting peace. Over the years, thousands of lives have been lost, communal relationships severed, and economic opportunities wasted, especially in parts of the North Central and the North West, with flash incidents in southern parts of the country as a result of the fight between herders and farmers.

However, experts believe that the underlying factor behind the crisis is the inability of leaders to muster the courage and address the root cause, which is getting an enabling environment for pastoralists who roam about from the North to the South in search of pasture for their animals.

According to the National Agricultural Sample Census (NASC) for 2022, the most recent official figures indicate Nigeria has an estimated 20.9 million cattle, 88.2 million goats and 49.1 million sheep. It said this resource, if properly harnessed, is enough to provide job opportunities for millions of Nigerians through the value chain, reduce importation and also attract foreign direct investment.

Current situation

Since 1942, certain areas across the country have been classified as grazing reserves for pastoralists. In 1965, the grazing reserve law was enacted in the northern region to provide legal backing for some of the reserves that had been gazetted.

As of today, Nigeria has 417 grazing reserves, which span more than 4 million hectares of land across 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), according to information from the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development.

The 21 states that have grazing reserves are Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe; Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi and Kogi. Others are Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT.

One of the states with the highest number of reserves is Adamawa, which has 69 reserves, but only 31 of those reserves were gazetted. Borno came second with 56 reserves, but only 15 of the reserves were gazetted. Bauchi State has 42 grazing reserves, of which 27 have been gazetted; while the neighbouring Gombe has 23, with only four gazetted. Yobe and Zamfara have 28 and 37 reserves respectively. Seventeen of the grazing reserves in Yobe were gazetted while only six were gazetted in Zamfara State.

According to the record, Kebbi has 21 reserves but only one was reportedly gazetted.

There are 17 grazing reserves in Kwara State, but only one was reportedly gazetted. On the other hand, all the four of the FCT reserves have been gazetted.

Altogether, across the 21 states, 142 of the 417 grazing areas, covering about 3 million hectares of land, were gazetted; while 275 of grazing areas remain ungazetted.

A study by Okoli Solomon Chieloka and Onaga Awele on “Grazing reserves: A panacea to the farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria” in 2022 warned that “66 per cent of the ungazetted grazing areas were at risk of encroachment by individuals, corporate entities and farming communities.”

The national president of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Baba Othman Ngelzarma, pointed out that most of the grazing routes had also been blocked due to development hinged on population growth.

Weekend Trust gathered that the cattle route, which links the Keana reserve in Nasarawa State from Bauchi State through Plateau, down to Benue and Kogi, has been blocked.

The corridor was designed to provide cattle the right-of-way and forbid farming and development of any kind along the routes, allowing herders to connect the reserve from different parts of the country without having to encroach on farmlands.

Similarly, the federal and state governments’ projects have blocked the route from Yelwa, Shendam in Plateau, down to Asakio in Lafia, Nasarawa State, through a forest reserve on the outskirts of Lafia, ending the cattle’s right-of-way to the Lafia cattle market.

MACBAN explains current situation

Ngelzarma, the leader of MACBAN, a socio-cultural organization of cattle breeders that include herders, gave background information on the current situation and its effects on the country’s pastoralists.

“We have 417 grazing reserves spread across the northern part of the country, with few of them in the South-West. And these reserves put together cover an area of 5 to 6 million hectares.

“Out of this number, there are some that have been gazetted, there are some that don’t have law protecting them but they are in a designated area; they are organized for grazing.

“Some of these reserves have infrastructure and have enjoyed a lot of interventions within and outside the country. You will see dams, veterinary clinics, nomadic schools and milk collection centres in some of them. There are also dams that are silted or other infrastructure that are dilapidated because of lack of maintenance.

“So, a lot of the infrastructures in all the grazing reserves we have today, including the dams that are supposed to hold water, are bad. Some of the reserves have been encroached on by farmers. However, minus the encroachment, we will still have about 5 million hectares of land that can be used as grazing reserves today in this country,” he told the Weekend Trust.

On the cattle routes, he said the situation was pathetic as most of them had been taken over by various state and non-state actors.

“There are routes that normally connect these grazing reserves; some connect the watering points. Today, because of encroachment by farmers and one development or another, as well as increase in population, most of these cattle routes are blocked. So they are no longer accessible. They are either blocked by major farmers that have acquired very large farms or roads that have been constructed due to establishment of new villages, towns and cities as a result of increasing population in the country,” he explained.

Why grazing reserves are bare

Today, both the cattle routes and grazing reserves suffer a lot of challenges such as climate change, which brought about desertification in the northern part of the country and affected rainfall pattern, making the grasses consumed by cattle to give way to the ones that are not edible. Overgrazing is also a challenge.

“Because of hunger, immediately the new grasses begin to shoot out during the rainy season, cattle are forced to feed on it. And by doing that, the grasses are removed from their roots; hence they are not allowed to grow, develop and produce seeds for next season. This has contributed in making the grazing reserves bare.

“What you see in those grazing reserves today are shrubs that are not useful to the animals. This is the effect of climate change that is taking its toll on the grazing reserves,” he noted.

Asked if fixing the reserves would be the solution to the problems that confront the pastoralists in the country, the MACBAN leader said rehabilitating them was a major step.

He said, “This is the only solution we have. We need to develop the grazing reserves. We need to propagate pastures. We need to provide dams for irrigation and train the pastoralists to provide pasture during the rainy season so that they can use it during the dry season. We just have to work to develop all these reserves. We have to work to provide water, construct new dams, de-silt the ones we have and provide enough water within the grazing reserves.”

According to him, the movement of herders is always predicated on the search for water and pasture.

“The essential requirements of the herders are always water and grass. Don’t bother about giving them a house; they don’t care about houses. Once there is water and grass in a reserve, they can live in their local huts. They don’t care. This is their life. This is what they grew up to see their parents live in, so that one is not going to be a big issue. All they want is grass and water,” he said.

With a dedicated institution like the Ministry of Livestock Development to champion and provide leeway in the livestock production system, Othman said, “I see no reason why it is going to be impossible for us to do this. We can do it.”

Today, over 20 governors have keyed into the federal government’s initiative to also establish similar livestock ministries in their states, working with the federal government.

“Just imagine the huge investment that would be injected into the development of livestock in this country. We can resuscitate them. We can make them useful. We can provide water and pasture in those reserves that cover the entire livestock population we have in the country. It is possible,” he noted,

The pastoralist said that creating safer corridors linking the reserves across the country was also possible but would need the political will of state governors.

“You see, it is all about political will. If there is a political will, all these state governors could redirect those routes that are being blocked. We just have to have a route where these animals can link either grazing reserves or watering points. It is all about political will.

“The government has to strike a balance between crop production and livestock. These two professions must be given their due. The way you are giving crop producers certain things because of food production, you also have to give livestock producers for the survival of livestock and provision of protein for the country’s population.

“We have to navigate and get some new routes where the old ones have been blocked. We have to create links among the reserves, communities and watering points. Mind you, it is not only the pastoralists that live in the forests that have animals, even those that are living in the villages and towns have sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels and other animals. In the morning, some of them usually release them to go and graze outside and come back in the night.

“We just have to know that the animals also have their rights, which must be protected by the government,” the Miyyeti Allah leader said.

Dr. Maina Junaidu, a former director of livestock at the Federal Ministry Agriculture, in an earlier interview said anti-grazing laws propagated by some states had not helped the matter, particularly as it affected most of the routes that connected some of the historical valley to other parts of the country, making it difficult for pastoralists to navigate.

“What we need is to have a clear understanding of what the states can do in terms of being an enabler and having the private sector involved. Now, anti-open grazing laws are not particularly helpful at this stage. But I can understand that people thought about it because we have security challenges in this country.

“Now, let me give you an example of how anti-open grazing laws have affected three major stock routes. If you look at it structurally, you find that Benue valley has been a major grazing route. There is also the North-West, which starts from Sokoto, around Ilela and ends at Niger valley. There is a central one that starts around Kano. And there is the North-East international route, but all of them converge and go to Benue. Today, Benue is inaccessible,” he noted.

What the ministry should do

Othman suggested that the ministry would have to sit with state governors to have a unified understanding of a particular concept that can be used in the entire country for the development of the livestock subsector. He explained that it is the best way to develop reserves or halt the continuous movement of herders, which is creating a lot of problems between them and farmers.

“We just have to confine pastoralists to a particular area that has water and pasture. Once we get them in their large numbers living in one place, it will always be easy for us to enlighten them on how to modernize the animal production system.

“This is how we can also get them educated. If they live in one place, it will be easier for the government to give them education, water and pasture and create a very flourishing market for the livestock within the reserves. So, we want to have a model where the entire reserve will be provided with water and grass and the entire value chain facilities that are required there – veterinary services, clinics, hospitals, schools for the pastoralists’ children, meat processing centres, milk-processing centres and markets. Whatever is supposed to be there must be there so that the pastoralists will not have to move out of the reserves to go and make destruction into people’s farms.

“No matter how big the reserves are, they can be fenced locally by planting a specific type of trees. It is said that facing makes better neighbours. Once there is a fence, the animals will not stray.

“We just have to confine them in a particular area where they will be grazing and watering their cattle; and if they extract milk from the cows, they have a milk-processing factory that will off-take their milk. If they want to sell a live cow, we have a meat-processing factory that can off-take, process and sell it. This is what we want to see happening in this country under the ministry,” he said.

Like Baba Othman, Muazu Bello said developing grazing reserves alone would not provide the entire solution to the insecurity that affects pastoralists in the country today. This is because, according to them, the farmers-herders conflict in Nigeria is taking a turn for the worse, arguing that it is no longer resource-based but metamorphosing into sheer criminality.

“Even if the reserves are well developed and you are not able to address the security situation, they can be invaded and the animals rustled,” Bello said.

Stressing that the conflict is taking a dangerous dimension, the MACBAN president said, “The criminal gangs involved in the farmers-herders conflict today are also engaging in cattle rustling, which further exacerbates the situation. Today, we are talking of over 4 million cattle lost as a result of cattle rustling. And Nigerian pastoralists, who are mainly Fulani, are the 95 per cent owners of cattle in this country.

“Secondly, the criminal gangs involved in kidnapping do not spare either a farmer or pastoralist. They kidnap for ransom; whoever you are. This is further fueling the conflict. The third reason is armed robbery and trafficking. Because of this, there is a lot of proliferation of arms in the country, which is making the conflict more violent and deadly. This issue of criminality is something the ministry cannot do alone. Security concerns are the responsibility of security agencies.

“Security agencies must work with the ministry and state governments so that they can be on the same page. They have to sit down and agree on a particular concept or approach that can be used in solving the problem. We cannot succeed by doing different things in different states. For instance, if I am engaging in dialogue in my state and you don’t organize dialogue in your state, it will mean that those criminal pastoralists can move from my state to yours. If we have a unified understanding and application of a single approach towards solving the problem, it will mean that all the states will be doing one thing at the same time. “By this, we can cut the menace of criminality as the ministry is working to develop the livestock subsector using non-kinetic measures while security agencies are busy with the kinetic approach. Both will be taking place at the same time. I believe that when this is done, we will overcome this crisis.”

FG to electrify 4 grazing reserves

The ministry and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide solar-powered grids across some grazing reserves in the country.

The pilot phase of the programme will commence in Wawa-Zange (Gombe State), Wase (Plateau State), Gongoshin (Adamawa State) and Kawu in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory before expanding nationwide.

The ministry said the move was part of the ongoing resuscitation of grazing reserves to revamp the livestock sector.

The Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, said the partnership would transform pastoral livelihoods and unlock the economic potential of Nigeria’s grazing reserves.

Maiha said the move was ushering in a new era of sustainable development, adding, “For too long, the immense potential of Nigeria’s 417 grazing reserves has been hindered by lack of infrastructure. By providing solar-powered grids to rehabilitated reserves, we are laying the foundation for a more secure, productive and peaceful future.”

The minister further explained that the initiative would bring wide-ranging benefits, including “the provision of clean, renewable energy that will power irrigation systems, improve year-round access to fodder and water, enhance education and health care, strengthen security and create jobs. Millions of pastoralists and livestock keepers across the country will benefit from this intervention.”

Abba Abubakar Aliyu, the managing director of the REA, described the collaboration as “a marriage of convenience” and emphasized the agency’s commitment to energizing livestock clusters across the states.

He said, “Our mandate is to provide electricity to un-served and underserved communities. Partnering with the Ministry of Livestock Development allows us to deploy solar infrastructure to grazing reserves with schools, clinics, abattoirs and markets. This will catalyze livestock development, stimulate rural economies and create job opportunities in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.”

Expert’s view

In order to expand the livestock industry, Professor Abdulkadir Usman Junaidu of the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, underlined the critical need for a strategic realignment of veterinary services, grazing reserves and appropriate policies.

Professor Junaidu said many of the millions of hectares of grazing reserves spread across 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory were underutilized or abandoned, a situation that exacerbates the conflict between pastoralists and farmers and leads to poor nutrition for citizens.

He said there’s the need to redesign the reserves to increase productivity, adding that the potential in the sector is enormous; and called on the government and other stakeholders to realign major approaches.

He emphasized that with the right policies, expertise and investments, this contribution could double within the next decade, creating millions of jobs, strengthening food security and providing raw materials for industries.

“The livestock sector contributes 5 to 7 per cent to the national gross domestic product and up to 20 per cent of agricultural GDP. If properly developed, the livestock sector has the potential to significantly boost Nigeria’s economy by doubling its contribution within the next decade,” he said.

Junaidu, however, said that to achieve a better livestock sector, certain things must be done. He emphasized the role of embedding one health principle in national development strategies, promoting climate-smart livestock practices through research and adaptive technologies and expanding veterinary services beyond urban centres into pastoral and peri-urban areas.

The former commissioner for livestock production in Sokoto State also advocated reforms in veterinary training to include modules on livestock economics, climate change, one health diplomacy and agribusiness development, alongside fellow-led innovations disseminated through journals, conferences and the media.

According to him, Nigeria is richly endowed with livestock resources, yet the sector remains under-optimized. He noted that challenges such as limited access to finance, weak value chain systems, inadequate veterinary manpower and a high burden of animal diseases had continued to constrain productivity. (Daily Trust)