The conflicts between farmers and herders in North-East Nigeria and other Sahel regions are rooted in a
range of factors, including desertification, the impacts of climate change, insufficient rainfall, and the shrinking
availability of suitable land for both farming and transhumance activities, among other contributing factors.
The situation is further escalated by rapid population growth and the consequential demand for food, shelter
and security for both humans and livestock. The increased demand further intensifies the competition for the
already limited natural resources. The resulting competition over natural resources often leads to incidents
such as crop destruction, farm damage, and water pollution, which often escalate into violent confrontations
between farming and herding communities.
The Transhumance Tracking Tool (TTT) as a component of the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM),
with the support of community key informants, operationalized the Early Warning System in the selected 9
Local Government Area (LGA) in the adjoining states of Adamawa and Taraba to collect alerts that are
related to farmer-herder conflicts in the two states.
A total of 316 alerts were recorded in March 2024. Among these, 283 alerts (90%) were classified as events,
while 33 (10%) related to movements. All alerts in Demsa, Lamurde, Girei, and Shelleng LGAs in Adamawa
state were event-related. In Numan LGA, event alerts accounted for 96 per cent of reported alerts, while 4
per cent were movement alerts. Similarly, in Mayo-belwa LGA, event alerts comprised 95 per cent of alerts,
while movement alerts constituted 5 per cent. In Guyuk LGA, 80 per cent of alerts were event-related, with
the remaining 20 per cent credited to movement alerts. In Taraba state, Zing LGA reported 67 per cent of
event-related alerts and 33 per cent are movement-related of cattle. Additionally, Lau LGA reported 67 per
cent movement-related alerts and 33 per cent are event-related. Disaggregated ward-level data indicates that
Kodompti and Demsa wards in Numan LGA and Demsa LGA of Adamawa state reported the highest
percentage of events, each comprising 8 per cent of the total alerts.
The alerts reported across all LGAs suggested a population displacement rate of 2 per cent, with 22 per cent
of instances of alerts resulting in casualties or injuries.
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