CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Conflicts between pastoralists and farmers dates back to the dawn of history:  Herodotus writing in the Fourth Century B.C. in Ancient Greece described Scythian nomadic depredations (Herodotus 1972[4th C.B.C.]). Even earlier conflict is recorded in Ancient Mesopotamia (Kuzner and Sedlmeyer, 2005). The biblical story of the conflict between Cain and Abel, which led the former to kill the latter, is the archetypal example of the tension between sedentary farmers and migrating pastoralists, the Chinese emperors built the Great Wall to keep out the marauding hordes.

The endless struggles between the nomadic Bedouin and the fellahin (or peasant farmers) of Arab societies have shaped the history of the Mideast (Smith, 1969).  Anthropologists have recorded continued volatility between pastoralists and agriculturalists in the 20th century (Berntsen 1976, Goldschmidt; 1979, Parkington; 1984, Secoy; 1992) cited in (Blench & Dendo, 2003).

These conflicts are a Global phenomenon that stretches across the continents of the world, having negative consequences on social, economic, political and environment spheres of human endeavor. The social and spatial marginalization of some population groups tends to encourage conflicts where rules and regulations regarding resource access and use are not clearly defined (Babiker, 2005). The cause of this problem is that pastoralists require access to relatively large areas of land and tend to move their herds according to the seasons, ecology and weather changes. Such activities almost inevitably mean that they and sedentary agriculturalists come into competition over access to use of land and water. It is this competition that serves as the basis for armed violence between different communities cited by Butler & Gates (2010).

All aspects of pastoral socioeconomic life are ordered in relation to livestock (cattle, goat and sheep) and the environment in which they live. In pastoralist societies, cattle hold central value within the society and are the basis of association in a complex of social, political and religious institutions. The livelihood is practiced predominantly in semi-arid and arid areas where pastoralists are able to exploit land and conditions that normally cannot support other economic activities. The system depends largely on the availability of water and the distribution and quality of, and access to, pasture. The farmers complain of trampled or eaten crops. The pastoralists express frustration with fenced off land and watering holes drained for irrigation.

The sequence of events that precipitate the violence varies. It may be pastoralists retaliating after farmers seize some of the trespassing cattle, or it may be farmers defending their land against encroachment. Typically, though, the violence comes after a long history of conflict and escalating disputes over rights of access to water or land. The perennial tensions between pastoralists and farmers over land and water use have become more complicated as the two occupational groups are on opposite sides of the ethno-religious fault lines. The conflict between livestock producers and cultivators is dominant both geographically and in the literature worldwide. This is principally because it occurs throughout the semi-arid zone (Blench, 1998).

Much of rural Sub-Saharan Africa experiences such conflict today, from Namibia, to Tanzania, to Burkina Faso, to the Sudan (Derman, Odgaard & Espen 2007). Indeed, an important element of the conflict in Darfur is one between pastoralists and sedentary agriculturalists (Kuznar & Sedlmeyer, 2005). In West Africa, the introduction of cheap trypanocides and other veterinary drugs increased herd sizes to levels that compelled pastoralists to seek pastures outside their traditional ecological range. At the same improved human health has increased overall population and thus -pressure on arable land. Nonetheless, the persistence of slash and burn agriculture typical of much of semi-arid and sub-humid West Africa allowed the two groups to co-exist, especially through the exchange of crop residues for manure. However, the marked expansion of riverine and valley-bottom (fadama) cultivation since the 1980s has meant that pastoralists and farmers are now competing very directly for access to river banks with a consequent increase in conflict (Blench et al, 2003).

Today in East Africa and the Sahel, in Kenya, Tanzania, and Sudan, as well as Mali, Niger, and the Ivory Coast, violent low-intensity conflict occurs with regularity (Turner 2004, Benjaminsen & Ba 2009). Violence typically erupts as pastoralists move their cattle into areas predominated by farmers. The farmers complain of trampled or eaten crops. The pastoralists express frustration with fenced off land and watering holes drained for irrigation. The sequence of events that precipitate the violence varies. It may be pastoralists retaliating after farmers seize some of the trespassing cattle, or it may be farmers defending their land against encroachment.

Typically, though, the violence comes after a long history of conflict and escalating disputes over rights of access to water or land. Like other countries in Africa’s Sahel region, Cameroon is experiencing population pressures, soil degradation, more intense and variable drought cycles, and shifts in agricultural practices. These factors have contributed to the expansion of land under cultivation and decreased availability of land for grazing animals.

Recently, conflicts between Cameroon’s pastoralist Fulani and settled/sedentary farmers have intensified, with dwindling natural resources and land availability greatly contributing to the escalating conflict in the country. Records of clashes with thousands reported killed in skirmishes between farmers and traditional herdsman as the latter work their way south in search of grazing for their cattle. Incessant conflicts between farmers and herdsmen have seriously affected intergroup relations.

Alubo (2005) reports that between 2001 & 2002 twelve separate incidences of farmer herder conflicts have claimed thousands of human lives. Cattle and property worth millions of naira were destroyed in Taraba state alone. Similarly Okoli and Atelhu (2014) observed that in 2013 alone over 300 people lost their lives in Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Plateau states owing to the classes between herdsmen and farmers.

A growing population and the effects of climate change have exacerbated the herdsmen’s plight. More than 35 per cent of Cameroon’s land is threatened by desertification. Triggered by desperation to protect and advance an ever-shrinking ecological space, characterized by resource-scarcity, population explosion and climate change have induced migration of pastoralists from the far North to the North-Central region of Cameroon in search of grazing fields; the country has recorded deaths by the thousands from clashes between predominantly Fulani herdsmen and local farmers (Odemwingie, 2014). This norm is further aggravated by traditional believes that social standing of a Fulani man depends on the number of cattle he owns, this therefore instinctively leads herds men to guard and protect their cattle and fight anybody who tries to harm them.

Cameroon has an estimated population of over 15 million cattle domiciled in the country. Apart from these, several thousands of cattle migrate annually into the country from neighboring countries. In recent years, the increase in violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Adamawa State and in Cameroon is being attributed to the influx of foreign cattle from Niger, Cameroon and Chad. The herdsmen often own sophisticated weapons.

It is important to note that over 90% of livestock holding is found in the Northern part of Cameroon. The semi-nomadic that are partially settled and the agro-pastoralist with a permanent settlement, Gbaka,(2014). Although historically there has also been complementarily and mutual benefits between these two groups, today this complementarity has in many parts of Cameroon been replaced by competition. Accounts reveal that after cultivation the herdsmen come to farming communities to feed on the crop residue in exchange for meat, milk and cow dung.

Pastoralist farmer conflict in Adamawa State is on the increase with repeated attacks. On Sunday 24th Jan, 2016, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Vunokilang Police Station in 3.2.1 Jakiri Local Government Area of Adamawa State was killed alongside 30 other people in an attack by suspected herdsmen. The alleged herdsmen raided four villages: Demsare, Wunamokoh, Dikajam and Taboungo in what is believed to be a vengeance mission over an existing feud with farmers in the area. Several houses and other property in the villages were also burnt in the attack (Daily post, 2016). .

It is therefore important to note that with all the studies and literature on pastoralist farmer conflict, there seem to be no end to the incessant fracases and no solution in sight. This study seeks to study the strategies employed or used by Governmental and non-governmental institutions to manage/resolve these conflicts. Whether there is a need to take a different approach to consolidate on the very little or no achievement recorded in the management and resolution of the conflicts, and or review the participation of these institutions.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Cattle are very important to pastoralists. The larger the number of livestock the greater the wealth and social status; to a farmer the most important thing is the crop. The two groups need each other: farmers for animal dairy and dung; herdsmen for fodder. These needs have constantly brought these two groups into contact with each other, which have made them to clash.

Clashes have arisen from farm encroachment by livestock and encroachment of grazing, ranching reserves and cattle routes by farmers. This is supported by the National Livestock Development Project (NLDP) under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture that documented about 415 Grazing Areas in Northern Cameroon exclusively carved out for grazing and subsistence farming (Tukur, 2013).

Clashes between farmers and pastoralist linked to disputes over cattle routes, grazing land and many other factors have become frequent in Adamawa state in recent years. Some experts have blamed the trend on increasing desertification which push pastoralist southward in search of pasture often bringing then in contact with farmers which often results into misunderstanding which may eventually result to violent conflict.

This study examined the strategies used or adopted by Governmental and Non-Governmental institutions in managing farmer-pastoralist conflict in Adamawa sate. Furthermore it explored the strategies to show how effective they have been so far, the roles these institutions play and the challenges they faced in their attempt to manage or resolve the conflict between farmers and pastoralists in Adamawa state.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

This study examined the Governmental and Non-Governmental institutional strategies used in the management of farmer pastoralist conflict in Adamawa State with a view to;

1. Identify the role of the Governmental and Non-governmental institutions in managing farmer pastoralist conflict in Northern Highlands areas.
2. Assess the strategies adopted by Governmental and Non-governmental institutions in managing farmer-pastoralist conflict in Northern Highlands.
3. Examine how effective the strategies adopted by Governmental and Non-governmental institutions in managing farmers-pastoralist conflict in Northern Highlands.
4. Identify the challenges faced by Governmental and Non-governmental institutions in managing farmer-pastoralist conflict in Northern Highlands.

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