Climate Change and Environmental Conflicts in Nigeria: Focus on Farmer-Herder Crisis in Ebonyi State

The challenge of climate change manifests in different forms in different societies. In Nigeria, the hitherto pastoral farmers that lived in Northern Fulani settlements could no longer inhabit their original settlements due to the increasing levels of desertification, insecurity and lack of water for their livestock. They have been thus forced to migrate from their traditional settlements to different parts of the country. This study has the general objective of studying the farmer-herder conflicts in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Specifically, this study focused on how to identify the causes of farmer-herder conflicts in Ebonyi State, account for the impact of the conflicts, and proffer path to sustainable peacebuilding. Currently, there is no published article that discussed farmer-herder conflicts in Ebonyi State within the known academic literature. It traced the environmental factors that have caused the migration of Fulani herdsmen to the state and rooted the crisis on human needs theory. The study used the qualitative methodology in which key informant interviews and telephonic interviews were used to identify the nature of the impact of the crisis in Isu, Ugwulangwu, Izzih and other parts of the state. It found that farmer-herder conflicts in Ebonyi State have led to deaths, fear, legal battles and mass migrations in different parts of the state. The challenges faced by the existence of farmer-herder conflicts include food insecurity within the state. Finally, it recommended security transformation and multi-dimensional peacebuilding within the state in the process of managing the farmer-herder conflicts in the state.