Addressing herders’ crisis

THE World Bank, President Muhammadu Buhari and National Assembly must prioritize strategic investments in farmers-herders to prevent future clashes. This lstrategic investment in farmers-herders will put a stop to clashes across Nigeria. Clashes in Nigeria between farmers and semi-nomadic herders have killed many people since 2016, while thousands more had been made homeless. World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Africa Development Bank loan can put a stop through access to water in the desert farmland to violence between these groups which is on the increase in Nigeria over access to fertile land and water, which is becoming scarce in the face of drought and rapid population growth.  President Buhari must consider farmers-herders clashes in this loan. The 21st century World Bank,IMF and AFDB strategic investment in Nigeria should include pumping water from southern Nigeria to desert farmland in Northern Nigeria and others. The project will stop the clashes between the herders and farmers across West Africa.

By financing the transfer of water project to desert farmlands in northern Nigeria, World Bank can resolve herder-farmer conflict in Nigeria. World Bank,IMF and AFDB could help resolve herder-farmer conflict in Nigeria by embarking on massive construction of water pipelines from southern parts to farmlands in northern Nigeria. This will help resolve some of the herder-farmer clashes in Nigeria. World Bank will play a key role in financing of the water pipelines project. It will help restore peace to herders-farmers clash in Nigeria.

The Federal Government is seeking $6.9 billion (equivalent of N2.53 trillion) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank to mitigate the impact of the ravaging coronavirus pandemic on Nigeria’s economy. This is besides the N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund recently approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed  this in Abuja recently at a press briefing on the government’s fiscal stimulus measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the oil price fiscal shock. IMF savings to be emptied. It was gathered that out of the sum the federal government was planning to get, $3.4bn is Nigeria’s total savings at the IMF, which the government is applying to draw completely through the IMF’s COVID-19 Rapid Credit Facility Window. This drawing will not be tied to any conditionality. However, it is important to clarify that Nigeria does not intend to negotiate or enter into a formal programme with the International Monetary Fund at this time or in the foreseeable future,” the minister said. She said a $2.5bn concessional loan was sought from the World Bank Group and another $1bn concessional loan from the African Development Bank.

The minister stressed that all these funds would be used to support the 2020 budget. She said $1bn from the World Bank loan would go to the states; $1.5bn, to the federal government. The minister did not specify the amount being sought from the Islamic Development Bank. Nigeria has a contribution of $3.4bn and we are entitled up to the whole of $3.4bn. We have in the first instance applied for the maximum amount. In the process, we will negotiate and get the maximum amount or less. This is a provision that the IMF has made for all member countries, you can apply for between 50-100 per cent of your contributions” she said. World Bank, IMF and AFDB must discuss and develop consensus on the different solutions to restore water to farmlands in the desert, including the Inter Basin Water Transfer (IBWT) Project from the Rivers in southern Nigeria to the farmlands in the northern Nigeria. We must pump water from Rivers in southern Nigeria to the farmlands in the northern Nigeria.

Tapping the excess water of the River Niger and Benue and pumping it to the farmlands in the desert north is among the suggestions to solve growing water needs in the desert farmlands in the northern Nigeria. Pumping water from River Niger and Benue to the north is among the options to counter future water shortages in the farmlands in the north. Federal Government should consider building one of the world’s largest pipelines to transport water from the River Niger and Benue to supply water to desert farmlands in the north.

Northern Nigeria needs a network of underground pipelines bringing water from both River Niger and Benue pumped underground through a double pipeline. The project’s eventual goal is to move billion cubic meters of water across the country every year, more than there is in the River. The infrastructure includes some of the longest canals in the world; pipelines that weave underneath riverbeds; a giant aqueduct; and pumping stations powerful enough to fill Olympic-sized pools in minutes. It will be one of the world’s largest water-transfer project, unprecedented both in the volume of water to be transferred and the distance to be traveled—a total of 4,350 kilometers (2,700 miles), about the distance between south and farmlands in the north. Agriculture in the desert north needs long-distance water transfer systems of large scale. Agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of all water withdrawals globally. Irrigated land is more than twice as productive as rain-fed cropland. The Bank helps countries improve water management in agriculture to achieve Sustainable Development Goals on efficient use of water as well as on eliminating hunger. Resolving this apparent quandary requires a thorough reconsideration of how water is managed in the agricultural sector, and how it can be repositioned in the broader context of overall water resources management and water security.

Improving the efficiency of water use in agriculture will also depend on matching off-farm improvements with incentives and technology transfer for on-farm investments in improved soil and water management and improved seeds. Options such as enhanced seeds, low-till, alternate wetting and drying, sustainable rice intensification, and others exist, but require matching improvements in water delivery systems to provide on-demand service, with the use of information technology like soil moisture sensors and satellite evapotranspiration measurement to improve efficiency and productivity of water in agriculture.

A shortage of water and pasture is triggering similar conflicts across West Africa. Formerly fertile land is turning to desert, the result of prolonged drought and changing weather patterns.

No longer able to graze their typical pastures, herders are venturing into the southern part of the region. As they journey south, they encounter swathes of farmland, put in place to feed an ever-growing population. With no other options, the cattle graze on farm crops, sparking clashes between herders and farmers. As resources dwindle, the conflict is becoming more complex, underpinned by ethnic, religious, and political grievances.

The immediate driver of the rising violence is of course the increasing competition for land and water, which are themselves negatively impacted by the effects of climate change and related environmental factors…The violence threatens to tip us over the edge into the realm of catastrophe.” –Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President of Nigeria, in reference to the violence between herders and farmers in the country. Although herder-farmer conflict is an issue throughout West Africa, it has been especially violent in Nigeria in recent years.

There are more than 60 million Number of cattle in West Africa and the Sahel. There has been an increase in clashes over water and pasture throughout the region and the Sahel. 50-75 percent Amount of land in northern Nigeria that is turning to desert, forcing herders to the south. 371 Number of incidents in central Nigeria involving herders and farming communities between 2011 and 2015, compared to 18 incidents between 1997 and 2010.

As the water level and groundwater level drop, more and more people have tried to gather around the water’s shortening periphery. This has led to all sorts of conflict between newly arrived and established land-owners or cattle raisers and peasant farmers. With this shrinking has come many social problems that have started spilling into neighbouring countries

World Bank could help resolve the problem of nomadic herdsmen locally known as the Fulani which have been forced to migrate down south in search of green pasturelands and water resources for their livestock. These nomads have been said to come from Niger, Chad and Mali but their activities have interfered with the agricultural lifestyles of peasant folk and recently, as many as farmers and herdsmen have been killed in an assault by disgruntled local people, complaining that the livestock have wandered into their farms and destroyed their produce. The Fulani themselves have been accused of murdering people, coupled with rape and other cases in southern region.

• Donald writes in via [email protected]

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