Residents' Assessment of Farmers-Pastoralists Conflict in Enugu State, Nigeria

This study focussed on residents’ assessment of farmers-pastoralists conflict in Enugu State Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 farmers from three Local Government Areas in Enugu State. Data were collected using structured questionnaire, focus group discussion and in-depth interview. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics while the hypothesis was tested using Chi-square and PPMC. The mean age of the respondents was 46 years. The majority (79.2%) of the farmers were married and 86.7% were male. The average household size of the respondents was 7 persons. Most of the respondents were involved in reporting conflict situation (x̅ =1.62). Major perceived cause of conflict was destruction of crops by cattle (x̅ =1.97) and the method mostly used in resolving conflicts was dialogue between the two parties (85.0%) while the predominant consequences of such conflict were displacement of farmers (x̅ =1.95) and reduction in farm output (x̅ =1.94). The socioeconomic characteristics of respondents and the consequences of conflict were not significantly related (sex (χ2=18.147, p>0.05), religion (χ2=9.172, p>0.05), age (r=-0.710, p>0.05), level of education (r=-0.005, p>0.05)). The study concludes that farmer pastoralist conflict in the study area has resulted in insecurities in terms of food, lives and properties. It was recommended that farmers should be educated by extension agents and other professionals on conflict management strategies and the implications of embarking on conflicts on their livelihood activities.