Impact Of Herders And Crop Farmers Conflicts On Rural Livelihoods In selected Rural Communities In Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined impact of herders and crop farmers conflicts on rural livelihoods in selected communities in Ogun state, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted and purposive sampling method was used to select two hundred and eighty seven respondents for the study. An adapted instrument “ Herders-Crop Farmers Conflicts and Rural Livelihoods Scale (HCFCRLS)’’ with Cronbach Alpha internal consistency of 0.73 was administered. Data were analysed using descriptive statistical tools and correlation matrix at 0.05 level of significance. Correlation analysis showed that there were negative significant relationship between herders and crop farmers conflicts and productive assets (r= -0.703), productive activities (r= -0.831), income (r= -0.795), social assets (r= -0.804) and capability (r= -0.616) respectively. It also showed that there was a negative significant relationship between herders and crop farmers conflicts and livelihoods (r=-.8635) in the study area. Therefore, the two null hypotheses were rejected at 0.05 level of significance. It was concluded that herders and crop farmers conflicts have caused significant negative impact on the livelihoods of victims. It is recommended that government should regulate herders and crop farmers activities, improve access to ownership of land resources for any agricultural productive activitie