CEDDERT Holds Seminar to Resolve Herdsmen-Farmers Conflicts

The Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training (CEDDERT) in Zaria and ENABLE2, a DFiD project will on Thursday hold a seminar on the farmer/pastoralist conflicts currently ravaging communities across Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara States.

In a statement signed by the Executive Director of CEDDERT, Dr Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, said: “Over the last three decades, most of the states in the northern part of Nigeria have experienced one form of violent conflict or the other resulting from farmer/pastoralist clashes.

The information about these conflicts, as reported, paints a depressing picture and points to a future of chaos, social disarray and political instability. The problem, however, is that much of the available information about herders-pastoralists conflict is inaccurate, one-sided, deliberately misleading or does not give an accurate account of their genesis, causes, nature and patterns. As one attack leads to another, more lives, properties and means to livelihood have been destroyed. As these conflicts persist, their root causes, nature, patterns and consequences have not been fully investigated so as to find durable and sustainable solutions.”

The statement further added that the seminar would discuss research findings and the economic impacts of the conflicts on the livelihoods of the affected communities. The broader objective for conducting the research, is to proffer solutions to policy makers based on evidence form the research findings.

To this end, CEDDERT is inviting stakeholders; government representatives, peace-builders, social and community development workers, development communicators, farmers, pastoralists, agricultural cooperatives, the media and the public to the seminar, where the findings of the study would be shared.