A Professor of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Sidiqat Adeyemi Aderinoye-Abdulwahab, has called on the Federal Government to address the root causes of incessant conflicts between the farmers and herdsmen in the country by adopting sustainable pastoralism through grassland intensification.
Grassland intensification, according to her, is the cultivation of large expanse of pasture fields.
Delivering the UNILORIN’s 289th Inaugural Lecture, titled, “Sustainable, Smart, and Safe Pastoralism in Nigeria”, Prof. Aderinoye-Abdulwahab disclosed that grassland intensification is a sustainable solution to the environmental insecurity occasioned by climate change impact.
She added: “Equally, grassland intensification enhances soil health and reduces soil erosion. All of these translate into reduction in greenhouse gases, reduction in competition for scarce resources and by extension, promotion of peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders.”
The Inaugural Lecturer, who noted that pastoralism and farming are the first professions on earth coupled with the fact that farmer/herdsman conflict led to the first killing on earth, therefore, admonished the Federal Government through the newly created Ministry of Livestock Development to immediately adopt sustainable pastoralism through grassland intensification.
She said that extension agents should serve as experts to guide on crop rotation and management, agroforestry, rotational grazing, and pasture restoration, among others.
Prof. Aderinoye-Abdulwahab
also recommended that livestock extension agents should provide sensitisation and socio-cultural campaigns to encourage inter-marriages between pastoralists and their hosts (the farmers), saying that such would ensure the people imbibe each other’s social values and help to foster peaceful co-existence.
She said: “Nimet should adequately scale down weather forecast information through media and viable agro-climate cooperative. The Agency must step up their scope to focus, not only on farmers but, to include pastoralists.
“The newly established Ministry of Livestock Development should promote safe pastoralism by educating and enlightening pastoralists as well as creating conflict mediation units that will specifically serve the need of pastoralists through massive deployment of livestock extension workers (the Insiders).
“Extension agents should promote a safe environment among pastoralists by encouraging them to embrace dialogue, negotiation, and conflict resolution mechanisms.
“The Federal Government should create social protection programmes to strengthen resilience of pastoralists wives.
“This should include institution of skill acquisition programmes and empowering pastoralist women through income diversification as this will help them mitigate and adapt to climate change impact. This will also reduce the pressure on resource use scarcity.
“Extension agents should incorporate enlightenment and campaign against discrimination of the pastoralists among the host communities.”
The highlight of the event was the pledge of N1.5m endowment fund as a way of giving back to the society and encouraging future generation of womenfolk.
