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ABSTRACT
In Nigeria cattle herdsmen are largely located in the Sahel region which has experienced a significant climate modification thus, becoming less humid over the years. Due to these changes in climate patterns many herdsmen move further south into the savannah and tropical forest belt. The increasing frequency of movement into the southern region has been marred with increasingly violent conflicts between the herders and indigenous farmers. However, there is currently a limited understanding of the role of climate change in driving some of these conflicts. To this end, this study was conducted to examine the role of climate change on the migratory pattern of herdsmen in Nigeria. The main area of focus was the Adamawa – Benue route through Taraba, Plateau and Nassarawa. Climate data was obtained from NiMet whilst incidences of herder-farmer conflicts was obtained from news media archives. The study reveal that rainfall is steadily declining from Adamawa to Benue with a decrease in the length of rainy season. The implication of declining rainfall and length of season up north is that vegetation is only luxuriant for cattle grazing for a shorter period of time thus forcing the cattle herders to more frequently migrate further south for grazing lands with luxuriant vegetation and where water is readily available for their herds to drink. This reality has greatly increased the potential for violent conflicts between nomadic herders from northern Nigeria and sedentary agrarian communities in the central and southern zones. These climate induced migration coupled with familiar problems relating to land and water use, obstruction of traditional migration routes, livestock theft and crop damage tend to trigger these violent confrontations. The study recommends that vegetation belts for cattle grazing should be properly designated to limit farmer-herder frictions and confrontations. The government should also invest more in climate change adaptation measures to limit the attendant effects of the changing climate.
