Rethinking the Lake Chad, Herder-Farmer Conflicts and Food Security in Nigeria

Abstract

Climatic change poses threats to human life and livelihood systems. It is a multi-dimensional phenomenon with significant deleterious socio-economic impact. One of the impacted areas of the contemporary climatic change is the Lake Chad in North Eastern Nigeria and Sahel region of West and Central Africa. Reported cases of dislocation of the ecosystem of the Lake Chad environment are on the increase and worsening. The effects have led to perennial conflicts between herders and sedentary farmers, threatens food security as well as overall human security and the security of the Nigerian state. The thrust of this paper is to interrogate the lingering herder-farmer conflicts in the Lake Chad basin, Nigerian government’s responses and the implication for food security in the country. Data for the paper were derived from documentary sources and analyzed using content analysis. The human security approach was adopted as framework of analysis. We argued that in view of government’s weak and uninspiring responses to challenges posed by the shrinking of the Lake Chad and the resultant conflicts between herders and farmers, the government’s avowal to ensuring food sufficiency for its citizens through local production is imperiled. We, therefore, urge a rethink and rejigging of government’s climate response strategy generally and its approach to the resultant violent clashes between herders and farmers.