Prof. Ambrose Voh, a Director of Dairy Research Centre, of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, said states governors who oppose allocating land for modern ranching system as a panacea to farmers/herders conflict in Nigeria needs to be sensitized
Voh gave the indication when he presented a paper at a public lecture on dairy development in Nigeria on Wednesday.
He said the refusal of some state governors to allocate land for ranching may not be unconnected with their limited understanding of the advantages of modern ranching which also has the potency to address the lingering crisis between farmers and herders in Nigeria.
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He said lands that are called “grazing reserves” were initially meant for ranching.
“By the way, why are they calling them grazing reserves? They are called grazing reserves because they have been reserved by legislation for grazing.
“They should be made available for the purpose for which they have been set aside for grazing.
“Those grazing land would then be developed and get the grazers to move in, and that would also decrease the clashes that we are having between arable farmers and livestock farmers,” he said.
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He said when lands are allocated for livestock farmers, they will have a place to call their own, where they can freely graze their animals.
The don feared that the diminishing land for the herdsmen to graze, “is largely responsible for the crises that we are having.”
“Instead of roaming about, let them (herders) remain and settle down in one place, we will now move from an extensive system of cattle production to an intensive system”.
In his comments, Prof. Mohammed Abdulazeez, the Vice-Chancellor of ATBU, said the public lecture was timely, since the major topic of discourse in the country was the unending farmers/herders crisis.
