The Federal Government has joined ministers and experts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to start a three-day summit to find solutions to the devastating farmers/herders conflict, which has killed thousands and displaced many others in West Africa.
The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau, was represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry, M. B Umar at the opening session of the ECOWAS Ministers of Security and Agriculture/Animal Resources on Transhumance Security, held in Abuja on Tuesday. According to the minister, the region must adopt new approach to end the crisis.
“We are all, no doubts, aware of the colossal losses that the subregion has suffered as a result of the recent escalated clashes between these very important sectors of the subregion’s economy. Nigeria, in particular has a very bitter experience of this bad development. This explains why Nigeria is in the forefront at finding a lasting solution to this unfortunate development,” he said.
The Minister, who blamed the exacerbated impact of climate change as one of the contributory factors to the conflict, said ” this has resulted into drought and thus increased animal movement towards pastures and water with grave implications for the delicate balance in the hitherto peaceful coexistence between farmers and herdsmen.”
The Minister suggested that as part of the measures to resolve the conflict, there should be a systematic control of livestock production to ensure appropriate management of animal movement. He also suggested a critical examination of the various regulations on movement of transhumance animal movement and small arms, which will be developed by the ECOWAS Commission.
The Minister also demanded that the subsisting national laws on animal movement control should be aligned with the provisions of ECOWAS Transhumance Regulation on documentation of animal movement within the region.
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Sekou Sangare, in his opening remarks, said that the traditional method of animal husbandry where herders move along with their cattle into farms is no longer suitable for the 21st Century and therefore should be reviewed.
President Muhammadu Buhari and President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean Kassi Brou, will chair the closing session on Thursday.
