Changes in agricultural and grazing land, and insights for mitigating farmer-herder conflict in West Africa

Increasing conflict between nomadic pastoralists and settled farmers are occurring across West Africa, due to issues of land availability and access. This study is the first detailed investigation of changes in land availability for nomadic pastoralists in Nigeria, where most conflicts occur. The study maps land use changes between cultivated and grazing land in three study areas surrounding Kano, the largest city in savanna Africa. Results indicate that grazing land availability decreased by 150 % and fallow land by almost 300 % in areas close to the city between 1980 and 2014, but at a much lower rate in distant areas despite massive growth in rural population. The lower loss of grazing land is attributed to the presence of grazing reserves in the most distant study area, as well as distance from the city. Spatial metrics analysis showed decreased connectedness between patches of grazing land due to farmland encroachment across traditional migration routes near to the city. Increased connectedness in the distant study area is attributed to the presence of grazing reserves acting as foci, connecting grazing with access to water. Government land policies should focus on creation of new, accessible grazing reserves and routeways away from large urban centres, accompanied by measures for soil and pasture improvement and digital tagging of livestock. Accompanying efforts to intensify agricultural production across Nigeria would deter further agricultural encroachment on grazing land. Since Nigeria's GDP is the highest in Africa, but among the lowest in agricultural intensity, this should be possible.

Automated summary

Increasing conflicts between nomadic pastoralists and settled farmers in West Africa are mainly caused by issues of land availability and access. This study in Nigeria, where most conflicts occur, investigates changes in land availability for nomadic pastoralists. The results show a significant decrease in grazing land availability in areas close to the city, but at a much lower rate in distant areas. The presence of grazing reserves and distance from the city are contributing factors to the lower loss of grazing land. Land policies should focus on creating new grazing reserves away from urban centers and implementing measures for soil and pasture improvement.