On the 31st of August 2021, the Adamawa Forum on Farmer-Herder Relations (AFFAHR) held its inaugural meeting at Alheri Royal Hotel, Jimeta-Yola, Adamawa state, Nigeria. I was a major stakeholder at the event, where I shared useful lessons learnt from the Forum on Farmer-Herder Relations in Nigeria (FFARN) with participants. AFFAHR is an off-shoot of Contributing to the Mitigation of Conflict over Natural Resources between Farmer & Herder Communities in Adamawa State (COMITAS). COMITAS is funded by the European Union, while AFFAHR is jointly managed by Search for Common Ground (SFCG), International Office of Migration (IOM) & Mercy Corps.
Some of the participants are:
*Sher Nawaz - Country Director, SFCG
*Amos Nderi - Programme Manager, COMITAS
*Dr. Dayo Oluyemi-Kusa - Conflict Transformation Strategist/FFARN Member
*Nathaniel Awuapila - CEO CORAFID/FFARN Member
*Ms. Toyin Falade - FFARN Member
*Dr. Joseph Gimba - FFARN Member
*Prof. Ibrahim Vahyala - Modibo Adamawa University, Yola
*Chief Philemon Godi - Bachama Traditional Council/Wakili Nuruam
*Prof. Kalep Filli - Modibo Adamawa University, Yola
*Prof. Augustine Ndaghu - Modibo Adamawa University, Yola
*Ismail Modibo - Muslim Council, Adamawa state
*Prof. A. Voh - Adamawa state Livestock Transformation Office (SATO)/NLTP Yola
*DCP Vungmoh Kwaimo - Nigeria Police Force
The duration of the programme is 18 months. It is worthy of note that Adamawa state is one of the domains where the National Livestock Transformation Programme (NLTP) of the Federal Government is being piloted. The implication of this is that the NLTP and AFFAHR are being implemented simultaneously in Adamawa state! For me, that's a good thing because both projects can learn from and complement each other.
The beauty of AFFAHR and NLTP is that they are both multi-stakeholder projects with the ultimate aim of promoting peace in communities. Both projects adopt a bottom-up approach. AFFAHR is already working with the Adamawa state Peace-Grazing Reserve & Social Integration Commission. The Gogoshi and other grazing reserves are being re-visited. Transhumance livestock routes would be assessed.
Issues of disarmament, demobilisation, rehabilitation & re-integration (DDRR) of armed elements in the crisis would be addressed. Compensation for aggrieved parties would also be sorted out. The presence and capacity of security agencies to manage crisis would also be addressed. Would it then be possible to break cattle rustling cartels? Time will tell. What about the re-building of infrastructure?
There is only so much that can be achieved within an 18 month time frame that the AFFAHR project is allotted. But the beauty of the endeavour is that AFFAHR hit the ground running. With the buy-in of the state, LGAs, influential individuals, CSOs/CBOs, academics, practitioners, etc. the sky is not the limit for the AFFAHR project...
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