A HISTORY OF FARMER-HERDER CONFLICTS IN SABON BIRNI DISTRICT, 1903-2018

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study is an assessment of a history of Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Sabon Birni District of Sokoto State from 1903 to 2018. Qualitative method of analysis was adopted in measuring the effects this Conflict has caused and factors that have sustained the conflict to linger for long without lasting solution. The dynamism of the Conflict and its complexity has frustrated the suggested regulations and policies to mitigate the conflict. The contemporary security challenges facing the District is seen as an offshoot of farmer-herder conflict over time. The period reviewed in this work witnessed more resolutions than the conflicts itself but yielded no lasting result because of the method involved in grazing and cultivation as both parties stick to traditional method of grazing and cultivation. The causes of conflict between farmers and herders are encroachment into grazing reserves, routes, watering points and resting places by farmers and also invading of farm lands and at times standing crops by herders, because of the uniqueness of the area of study and the parties involved, both parties are to be blamed for the conflict in the district.