Innovative ways to reduce farmer-herder conflicts

Procasur Corporation*, IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), ILC (International Land Coalition), ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), the Land Portal Foundation and RECONCILE (Resource Conflict Institute) co-organised a week-long Learning Route (LR) in September 2017 about reducing conflicts between crop farmers and livestock keepers. The Value Chain Development Project (VCDP) in Nigeria had requested to learn about how others are reducing farmer-herder conflicts over land use. They travelled to Kenya and Tanzania to learn how land rights are being secured and land-use conflicts reduced through Joint Village Land Use Planning and the Group Ranch system. Those approaches have led to better management of natural resources through peaceful co-existence of herders and crop farmers.

The LR gave 23 participants from the VCDP, Nigerian NGOs and the Country Programme Officer of IFAD Nigeria a chance to visit the Olkiramatian Group Ranch in Kajiado District (Kenya) and a joint land-use planning experience in Kiteto District (Tanzania). They also attended a one-day workshop with the Ujamaa Community Resource Team (UCRT) and other key stakeholders based in Arusha District (Tanzania) to learn about the Group Certificate for Customary Rights of Occupancy and about promoting advocacy on land issues and securing women’s rights to land.

The report “Innovative practices and tools to reduce land use conflicts between farmers and livestock keepers: experiences and learning from Kenya and Tanzania” (2017, 30pp) summarises the main lessons learned by the Nigerian participants and closes with some recommendations on how to secure land rights for different users and to reduce conflicts in land use in Nigeria.

*Procasur Corporation is a global organisation specialised in harvesting and scaling-up local innovations. Its mission is to foster exchange of local knowledge to end rural poverty. By sharing innovations through customised knowledge-management tools and methods, it connects global institutions with local talents, providing the structured learning platforms needed for spreading innovation.

Posted on 27 December 2017 in Pastoral Research & Innovation, Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism & Peacebuilding