Perceived Factors Responsible for Herders-Farmers’ Communal Conflict in Plateau State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to assess farmers' perception on the impact of grazing livestock on some tuber crops (yam, cassava and potato) in North Central Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted to select randomly 1200 tuber crop farmers in the study area (Abuja). Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistic and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the results. The socio-economic analysis showed that most of the farmers were male and married. Most of them had a household size of 6-10 people and were between the ages 41 and 50 years meaning they were within economically active age. Also, most of them had farming experience of 11-20 years and had secondary school education. Majority of them were smallholder farmers and had a maximum of 3 hectares of farmland. Cassava was the most affected tuber crop by grazing livestock in the study area while cattle were the most destructive livestock to tuber crops in the study area. The study revealed that impact of grazing on tuber crop production significantly (p <.05) depended on the tuber type (yam, cassava and potato), livestock type (cattle, goat and sheep), and location of the farmers in terms of state (Plateau). Also, the interaction between tuber type, livestock type and location had significant influence on the level of grazing on tuber crops in the study area. It was recommended that grazing reserves be provided for livestock farmers so that the incessant clashes between crop farmers and herders resulting from destruction of crops by livestock can be reduced.