Nigeria's changing environment and pastoral nomadism: redistribution of pains and gains

Abstract

Nigeria’s peasant cattle production is based in its semi-arid north. The area’s aridity becomes a major problem to cattle in the dry season. Herds are protected by bringing them down to the southern parts that are usually wetter at such times. Presence of tsetse fly in the south, particularly in the rainy season precludes sustained all year round grazing in the south. This sets the stage for migration back to the north at the onset of rains in the south. A number of social events has been observed that suggest possible change in the way this transhumance is conducted. The Fulani herders from northern Nigeria appear to be staying longer in the south. They are also turning sedentary and pressurizing local resources and farmlands more intensely leading to violent and deadly conflicts with their local farming hosts in the south. On the other hand, some southern farmers now have successful cattle production enterprises based on the tsetse fly prone Fulani cattle breeds. This study seeks to find out if these trends indicate a negatively changed northern environment that is turning more hostile to peasant cattle production and promoting greater pressures on the south. It also seeks to finds out if the trends show a positive change in the environment of southern Nigeria in terms of a changed tsetse fly habitat and decline in its populations. The study is approached through surveys involving the Fulani herdsmen operating in southern Nigeria and their host communities. Results indicate a paradigm shift in understanding of ethnic clashes in Nigeria in the light of environmental change; some positive effects of environmental change; that positive environmental change may lead to negative social impacts. They also show that internal migration in Nigeria is largely environment dependent.