Beyond the ban placed on open grazing of cattle by many states of the federation to curb incessant violent conflict between herders and farmers, some of the state governments have also come up with novel initiatives to forestall the menace in their domains.
The action of the states is guided by the realisation that the establishment of ranches, which both northern and southern governors point to as the way forward, would not come quickly and cheaply and herders must continue with their business pending when ranches are built.
While presenting the plan, the Technical Adviser to NEC, Andrew Kwasari, had explained that NLTP stemmed from meetings and recommendations by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the NEC in 2017.
The plan, he added, was built on six key pillars — economic investment; conflict resolution; law and order; humanitarian relief, information, education and strategic communication, and “cross-cutting” issues.
It was envisaged that the economic investment pillar would support and strengthen the development of market-driven ranches in seven pilot states for improved livestock production through breed (genetic) improvement and pasture production, among others.
In Enugu, beyond the ban on open grazing by governors of the Southeast states in the geo-political zone, the state government constituted a committee headed by the traditional ruler of Ibeagwa Kingdom, Enugu East Local Government, Igwe Emmanuel Ugwu.
The committee, which meets once a month, comprises traditional rulers and representatives of the police, military, forest guards, farmers and herders in the state. They visit communities to resolve conflicts and recommend adequate compensation where there are infringements.
Ugwu told The Guardian that the state had become peaceful from clashes between herders and farmers.
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s peaceful disposition has encouraged regular meetings of members of the committee, who have established a principle that in operating one’s business, it should not in any way be allowed to encumber the business of another person.
The monarch said: “My committee is doing well. Our governor is a very peaceful person and has the skills to know how to handle issues of such nature. My committee, in compliance with state programme, has been able to create understanding that both herders and farmers must coexist in peace to be able to do their businesses. As you can see, this understanding is reasonably controlling such crisis in Enugu. We try to settle issues when they arise; the communities know the herders and know how to relate with them. The herders also now know that they must respect the farmers by not releasing their cow to eat up their crops. This has helped in the peace building efforts,” the monarch explained.
Ugwu said that beyond building the understanding, compensation would be paid to any of the parties that suffer damage, as a way of curbing crisis. He noted that problems arising between herders and farmers are being easily resolved when those involved are the real owners and not hired hands in the business.
On how ranching could end the incessant crisis between the farmers and herders, Ugwu stated that it might be difficult to practice in the Southeast without the involvement of the indigenous members of the community.
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