Effect of Communal Conflict on Yam Production in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of communal conflict on yam production in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Two-stage random sampling technique was used to select 75 respondents for the study. Primary data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire complemented with an interview schedules. Both descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data collected. The results shows that majority (69.34%) of the farmers were within the age range of 21–50 years with mean age of 43.7 years. Majority (86.67%) of the farmers were males and 90.67% were married in the study area. More so, the mean education and household size of the farmers was 10 years and 12 people, respectively. The major causes of communal conflicts as identified by the respondents include straying of cattle into neighbouring farm (100.00%), destruction of crops (93.33%), over-grazing of land (92.00%) and indiscriminate bush burning (87.84%) ranked 1 st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. However, the result of the regression analysis shows that frequency of communal conflicts was found to be statistically significant at 1% level of probability, thus, had negative effect on yam production. Major constraints faced by farmer were Lack of well-trained extension staff (𝑋 = 2.92) and Problem of farmers/herdsmen (𝑋 = 2.80) ranked 1st and 2nd, respectively, among the constraints. In conclusion, communal conflicts had negative and significant effect on yam production in the study area. It was recommended that, there is need for educational intervention in farmer-herdsmen conflict. This could be achieved by creating better awareness of land use regulations among farmers and herdsmen.