Cattle logic and capital logic: the recalcitrance of transhumance in the establishment of private grazing lands in North West Nigeria

Abstract

Livelihoods associated with transhumance cattle production are increasingly decimated and threatened by serious loss of human lives due to increasing competition for resources as driven by cattle logic and capital logic, thus the plan and drive for livestock transformation have been subjected to the recalcitrance of transhumance in Nigeria. This study examined cattle farmers’ willingness and attitude towards the establishment of private grazing lands in Sokoto State Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 457 cattle farmers from 10 Local Government Areas of Sokoto State, from which data were collected through a structured questionnaire and subjected to frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation, Probit regression, and Principal component analysis. The results revealed that cattle farmers have unfavorable attitudes and are unwilling to establish private grazing lands. The determinants of cattle farmers’ willingness and attitude to the establishment of grazing lands overlap and include age (t = 1.97; p < 0.05); marital status (t = -11.35; p < 0.05); educational level (t = -2.73; p < 0.05); credit amount (t = -44.56; p < 0.05); source of credit (t = -5.01; p < 0.05); herd composition (t = -2.20; p < 0.05); attitude (t = 8.82; p < 0.05) and constraints (t = 1.97; p < 0.05). The Principal Component Analysis extracted factors are Factor 1 (Resource utilization), Factor 2 (Environment concerns), Factor 3 (practice suitability), and Factor 4 (cattle productivity) and accounted for 21.59%, 6.93%, 6.20%, 5.35% of the variance respectively; with a cumulative 40.06% variance. These results affirm Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity with a value of X2 = 1991.43, p = 0.00, and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy of 0.835. It is recommended that a clear distinction of logic for curtailing transhumance which is responsible for farmer-herder conflicts be established and limitations of cattle movements defined within their immediate surroundings.