Wealth, household heterogeneity and livelihood diversification of Fulani pastoralists in the Kachia Grazing Reserve, northern Nigeria, during a period of social transition

Abstract

BackgroundA mixed methods study was undertaken in the Kachia Grazing Reserve of northern Nigeria. Surveys in March, June and October 2011 included focus group discussions, key informant and in-depth household interviews, concerning livelihood practices, animal health, ownership, and productivity. In May 2011, 249 Fulani families fleeing post-election violence entered the reserve with their livestock, increasing the number of households by one third.ResultsDespite being settled within a grazing reserve, over half of households sent all their cattle away on seasonal transhumance and another third sent some away. Cattle accounted for 96% of total tropical livestock units (TLU), of which 26% were cattle kept permanently outside the reserve. While all households cited livestock as their main source of income, 90% grew crops and 55% derived income from off-farm activities. A multiple correspondence analysis showed that for each extra member of a household its TLU value increased by 2.0 [95% CI, 1.4–2.7], while for each additional marriage its TLU increased by 15.7 [95% CI, 7.1–24.3]. A strong association was also observed between small herds, small households with only one wife, alongside marked geographical wealth differences within the reserve. New immigrant families had larger household sizes (33) and livestock holdings (122 TLU) than old settlers (22 people and 67 TLU). Prior to the mass immigration, the distribution of TLU per person was unimodal: 41% of households were classified as ‘poor’ and 27% as ‘medium’, whereas post-immigration it was bi-modal, with 26% classified as ‘very poor’ and 28% as ‘medium’.ConclusionsWhile cattle remain the principal source of Fulani income and wealth, the inhabitants of Kachia Grazing Reserve have diversified their livelihood strategies to respond to changing circumstances and stress, especially the limited availability of grazing within the reserve and political insecurity outside, resulting in continued transhumance, the maintenance of smaller livestock holdings and pushing households into poverty.

Patterns of passage into protected areas: Drivers and outcomes of Fulani immigration, settlement and integration into the Kachia Grazing Reserve, northwest Nigeria

“…This study complements a larger mixed methods study on zoonotic disease and pastoral livelihoods in KGR (Ducrotoy 2015, Ducrotoy et al 2016and Ducrotoy et al 2017. Several rounds of data collection were undertaken as part of this study, including a complete household census in 2011, focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) undertaken from March to October 2011.…”

“…Households were defined as ruga, consisting of a man, his wife or wives, unmarried children and dependents, as this was the unit of interest for the government. In this study, the term household corresponds to a ruga, as distinct from a wuro, which refers to the extended household or multiple ruga (Ducrotoy et al 2017).…”

“…Established residents purported to keep smaller herds as a consequence of the limited carrying capacity and grazing resources in the KGR. Owners of larger herds routinely split these into multiple sub-herds, some of which are kept by relatives on holdings outside of the KGR (Ducrotoy et al 2016;Ducrotoy et al 2017). The ratio of sheep to goats maintained also supports this proposition -sheep are associated with nomadic life, while goats are more important to settled agro-pastoralists as they cannot be herded along with cattle.…”

“…Incoming families are reluctant to seek out the Project Officer as a fee is payable for a settlement permit that must be renewed annually. Instead, they seek approval from the District Head and farm as much land as they want, limited only by labour availability (Ducrotoy et al 2017).…”

“…The KGR is subdivided into six administrative blocks, which show slight variation in ecological and demographic characteristics (Ducrotoy et al 2017) (Figure 1). The commercial hub of the KGR is referred to as Tampol, which was coined from the word 'tarpaulin'.…”