Ukpong Christiana
The conflict between farmers and herders is age long things that have been attributed to a different thing among which is competition for land. Nigeria which is one of the African countries is not immune to these conflicts. Farmers/herders crisis with other form of insecurity problem have threatened the development, unity and existence as a nation; the different mechanism put in place by the government to manage the crisis have not achieved the required outcome rather the conflict is increasing in intensity. The eco-violence by Homer-Dixon which seeks to explain the relationship between environmental factors and violent conflicts was adopted in this study. The study design was descriptive Survey and Case study method; the study area was Iwajowa local government area of Oyo Sate. The primary and secondary data were used. 65 questionnares were administered to 50 farmers selected from 5 communities from 5 agricultural zones of the Local Government Area and 15 herders. The study concluded that in other to manage the crisis between farmer and herders, the government to effectively revisits the Land-Use Act of 1978 in other to resolve the re-occurring conflicts in the agricultural sector which currently provides employment to over 80% of the country’s population. It also recommended that state and local government should put laws in place that will ensure effective regulation of grazing and farming activities in Iwajowa Local Government area of Oyo State through efficient land-use laws/legislations and administration and open grazing should be ban in Oyo state and other areas that are experiencing farmers/herders conflict in the country.
