Community Responses to Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Plateau State

Farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria's North Central zone have escalated significantly in recent years, displacing communities, disrupting food production, and straining inter-ethnic social relations. This study examines community-level responses to farmer-herder conflicts in selected local government areas of Plateau State, focusing on adaptive strategies, conflict resolution mechanisms, and social cohesion outcomes. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining structured questionnaires administered to 290 farming and herding households with six focus group discussions and twelve key informant interviews involving community leaders, peace committee members, and local government administrators. Results indicate that 78% of surveyed farming households had experienced direct crop destruction or land encroachment attributable to herder activity within the preceding three years, while 61% of herding households reported retaliatory attacks on cattle. Community-initiated peace committees were reported in 42% of surveyed communities but were found to be effective by only 29% of participants, citing absence of binding enforcement authority as the primary limitation. Migration as a conflict avoidance strategy had been adopted by 34% of affected households, leading to secondary social disruption in receiving communities. Traditional chieftaincy mediation retained higher legitimacy than government-appointed committees among both farming and herding groups. The study recommends statutory recognition of traditional mediation mechanisms, establishment of dedicated grazing reserve zones, and intercultural dialogue programs targeting youth in conflict-prone LGAs. Keywords: farmer-herder conflict, community response, Plateau State, conflict resolution, social cohesion.