Fulani Herdsmen and Grazing Activities in Southwestern Nigeria: Yoruba Farm Youths’ Perception Analysis

Abstract

This paper analyses Yoruba farm youths’ perceptions of conflict arising from Fulani herdsmen’s grazing activities in three of the six southwestern Nigerian states. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 360 respondents using a pretested and validated structured interview schedule to elicit information. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages were used to summarise the data while inferential statistics were used to validate the hypotheses of the study. The study revealed a high (98.0%) occurrence of Fulani herdsmen’s grazing activities with grazing on crops (mean =4.74) ranked 1st among surveyed occurrences. Overall, the farm youth negatively perceived the grazing activities of Fulani herders. At p d” 0.01 and 0.05, age (r = 0.28), number of children (r = 0.303) and farm experience (r = 0.478) show positive and significant correlations with youth’s perceptions of Fulani herdsmen’s grazing activities, while at p d” 0.05, household size (r = -1.18), farm size (r = - 0.126) and income (r = -0.103) had a negative but significant correlation with the youths’ perceptions. In conclusion, the Yoruba farm youth had negative perceptions about Fulani herdsmen’s grazing activities. It is recommended that the government needs to enact relevant legislations to guide the grazing of cattle and establish functional grazing reserves to enhance meeting herders’ needs and alleviating conflict situations between farmers and the herders.