The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has renewed calls for the establishment of ranches across Nigeria as a lasting solution to the persistent and deadly clashes between farmers and herders.
Speaking at a public forum on Wednesday, Gen. Musa emphasized that addressing the root causes of insecurity in rural communities requires decisive action, particularly in regulating animal movement.
“In order to address insecurity, two things are basic. We must be able to control the movement of animals across the region. In doing that, it is important we create ranches,” Gen. Musa stated.
According to him, ranching would not only provide a structured environment for livestock management but also serve as a critical strategy in preventing violent conflicts between farmers and herders — a longstanding issue affecting food security and regional peace.
The Defence Chief also urged stakeholders to adopt non-violent approaches when dealing with issues of stray livestock damaging farmlands.
“We must learn to stop killing animals crossing into farms. What is done is you arrest the animals, and compensations are made,” he said.
Gen. Musa stressed that resolving these two key issues — unregulated animal movement and retaliatory violence could eliminate more than 65% of the challenges facing Nigerian farmers today.
His remarks come amid renewed concern over growing insecurity in farming regions, and increasing pressure on government at all levels to implement sustainable agricultural and pastoral policies.
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