Nomad-Farmer Conflict and Food Security among Arable Crop Farmers in Iwajowa Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The frequent conflict between nomads and farmers has been recently a major challenge in Nigeria, resulting in a huge economic setback which may have serious consequences on food security in Nigeria. There are limited studies linking to food security; hence, this study aims to examine the effect of the nomad–farmer conflict on food security among arable crop farmers in Iwajowa, Oyo State, Nigeria.
 Methods: Primary data was used for the study. A semi-structured questionnaire was employed to collect data from 150 arable crop farmers through a multistage sampling procedure from two wards and three villages, which were randomly selected. The food security index (FSI) and Logit regression model were used for data analysis.
 Results: The result revealed that the majority (74.67%) of the arable crop farmers were affected by the nomad-farmer conflict. Most of the arable crop farmers (54.00%) were food insecure. The factors that predisposed the arable crop farmers to being affected by the conflict were access to water point, land tenure system, bush burning, and years of education at different levels. Being affected by the nomad–farmer conflict caused food insecurity along with age, sex, and household size.
 Conclusion: It was therefore concluded that arable crop farmers in the study area were mostly affected by the nomad-conflicts that influence food insecurity. Policy measures by the government aimed at reducing the conflict between arable crop farmers and nomads should include water supply and increasing farmers’ years of education.