Farmer-Herder Conflicts and Human Security in North Central Nigeria : Issues and Remedies 

This paper examines the impact of farmer-herder conflicts on human security in Nigeria's North Central region. This is against the spiraling trajectory of the conflicts in the region in recent years. Relying on a rigorous synthesis of primary and secondary data generated via a field study conducted in parts of Benue and Nasarawa states, the paper observes that, amidst other explanations, livelihood struggle is one of the critical drivers of the conflicts. Accordingly, the paper posits that farmer-herder conflicts have engendered dire humanitarian outcomes that negate human security in the focal area. The outcomes include human fatalities and morbidities, forced displacements, loss of livelihoods, family and communal dislocations, food crisis/ insecurity, and vicious incidence of rural violence. The paper submits that any meaningful effort at mitigating the crisis must seek to address its root causes and critical drivers, including regulating farmer-herder relations in such a manner that mutually guarantees their competitive livelihoods and heritage.