The Impact of Herders/Farmers Migration Contact and the Crisis of Food Security in F.C.T, Nigeria.

Abstract

Impact of herders/farmers migration contact and the crisis of food security is the focus of this article. Extant literature suggests that the struggle for access to and denial from scarce resources, occasioned by climate change, herders/farmers migration contact, environmental degradation, and weak land tenure systems, escalates space ownership and use crises, exacerbate violent clashes heightened fear and restriction that negatively affect access to farm land, farm production and food security across some regions and countries particularly in Africa, especially Nigeria. Although authorities have made attempts to ensure that peace returned to the area and that the internally displaced persons return from camps to their homes and farms, this reality seems not to have yielded meaningful results as most people are yet to return. Hence, this study seeks to assess the impact of herders/farmers migration contact crises on food security in the FCT, Abuja. Drawing from the foregoing, the paper examines the causes of herders/farmers migration crises, it interrogates the impact of herders/farmers migration crises on the availability and affordability of food, identify strategies being deployed by stakeholders to mitigate the impact of herders/farmers migration contact crises and explore alternative strategies to control/eradicate herders/farmers migration crises to ensure food security. Using conflict theory, food security theory and social capital theory, descriptive design combine questionnaire for quantitative data gathering and pie charts as well as frequency distribution tables, Chi-square test combined with descriptive statistical tools (mean and standard deviation) for testing the hypothesis, proffered expected outcome that Herders-farmers’ migration crisis has a negative effect on food security followed by outbreak of herders-farmers migration crisis has a negative impact on the level of food production.