Farmers-Herders’ Conflict and Agricultural Development in Benue State

Political leaders often introduce agricultural strategies and policies with the aim of boosting agricultural development in Benue State and other States in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the conflict that occurs between farmers and herders has constituted a major threat to the development of the agricultural sector in Benue State. This study examined the phenomenon of farmers-herders’ conflict and agricultural development in Benue State, 2010-2022. An objective of this study was to examine the effect of the farmers-herders’ conflict on agricultural development in Benue State. The theory of eco-violence which focuses on the competition over scarce ecological resources guided this study. Also, qualitative research design which relied on data sourced from secondary sources such as archival materials, textbooks and journals were employed for this study. Data were content analysed. This paper showed that over the years, being that Benue is an agrarian State, many agricultural policies and programmes have been introduced by successive governments in the State to boost agriculture and possibly grow the economy. Unfortunately however, the farmers-herders conflicts amidst many challenges have posed as obstacles to the actualisation of substantial agricultural development in Benue State. The anti-social actions of herders have made some analysts to refer to them as “social misfits†. As a matter of fact, this paper argued that despite the existence of a law to guide and regulate pastoralists-farmers relationship in Benue State, herders–farmers’ conflicts and related killings have continued to persist. The resultant effect of this is the gradual erosion of agro-investors’ confidence, growing fear of farmers to venture into farming and a decline in agricultural development in the State. This study therefore, recommends a collaborative and holistic approach in curbing the pastoral-farmers’ conflicts as well as the robust formulation and implementation of agricultural policies and programmes that will trigger agricultural development in Benue State