From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Benue State Chapter, has harped on the need for AgroPastoral farmers to adopt change and world best practices saying open grazing was no longer sustainable.
Secretary of MACBAN in Benue, Ibrahim Galma made this declaration in Makurdi yesterday at a one-day stakeholders engagement launch of AgroPastoral Integration for Peace and Sustainable Development (AIPASD) Project in Benue State implemented by GoGreen Environmental Health Sustainability Initiatives (GoGreen) and NGO.
The meeting was convened under the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) Program, an initiative supported by the UK Government through the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and implemented in partnership with Tetra Tech International Development.
Galma, who acknowledged that open grazing and crop farming cannot exist side by side without a crisis, said there was a need to adapt to change which has come with the climate changes.
He, however, noted that pastoralists need to be trained on the various agro smart practices to enable them transform their activities for better outcomes.
Galma praised the project and pledged that MACBAN will collaborate with the organization to mobilize their people for training with a promise to do everything possible to enable the programme succeed.
Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), China Peters, who lamented the long suffering of farmers in the hands of killer herders said “for the past eight years, no farmer could accessed their farmlands in several communities in the state. He commended GoGreen for the initiative expressing hope that the project would foster the much needed peace in the state
Welcoming participants earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of GoGreen Environmental Health Sustainability Initiatives, (GoGreen), Jackson Ameh, said the workshop is a milestone towards building a more peaceful, resilient and inclusive Benue.
Ameh, who was represented by the Lead Consultant for GoGreen, Dr Timothy Kyume, said the initiative is timely and critical as persistent conflicts between farmers and herders have strained community relationships, disrupted livelihoods and worsened poverty and insecurity.
He assured that “Through AIPASD, we are working to shift the narrative by providing tools, knowledge and platforms for farmers and pastoralists to coexist peacefully, increase productivity through sustainable practices and build mutual trust and economic interdependence.”
Ameh said the meeting was to facilitate alignment with ongoing state development plans and stimulate interagency collaboration but we’re not only amplifying the impact of the project and also embed its sustainability beyond the life of the SPRiNG program.
The DG of Bureau of Livestock Development and Transboundary Animal Diseases and Control, Dr Aondakaa Asambe said insecurity as a result of herdsmen activities has become a national threat, hence the need for sustained peace between AgroPastoralists.
Asambe urged the herders to embrace the federal government breed improvement program for greater output of dairy and milk, cautioning them to ensure that their animals do not encroach on the farms for the peace to be sustainable.
He noted that the federal government has created the Ministry of Livestock Development but left out making the open grazing prohibition law a national legislation.
While he noted that there cannot be peace if the law is not made a national law, Asambe urged Civil Society Organizations to champion an advocacy to the federal government for the President of the federal Republic of Nigeria to transmit an executive bill to the National Assembly for the establishment of the law prohibiting open grazing, adding that such law would serve as a springboard for sustainable peace.
Also speaking, the DG of Bureau for International Cooperation and Development (BICD), Leonard-Angelo Viashima who stated that Governor Hyacinth Alia has opened up Benue state for businesses promised that government would continue to support local NGOs in their quest to attract businesses to the Benue to advance her economy, agriculture and entrepreneurship.
Viashima who appreciated GoGreen and its partners for finding Benue worthy pledged that BICD would provide coordination and ensure that all stakeholders are better informed to contribute their quota to peace and success of the project.
Special Adviser to Governor Hyacinth Alia on Security and Internal Affairs, Chief Joseph Har, spoke on the complicated nature of insecurity in the state and accused unscrupulous politicians, armed herders, illegal miners and other armed groups of fueling insecurity in the state.
He cautioned herders and other groups to end their evil activities in Benue state saying Governor Alia is doing a good job at delivering on his promises and needs to be supported to achieve them. He said “MACBAN makes beautiful statements in public and needs to back those statements by action. MACBAN has pushed Benue to the wall and the peace we seek is not a sign of weakness,” he warned.
Other speakers, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Prof Moses Ogbaji, Commissioner for Power Transport and Renewable Energy, Omale Omale and well as that of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Aondowase Kunde represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Humanitarian and Disaster Management, Mimidoo Kadev and the DG of Peace and Reconciliation Commission, Josephine Habba, all hailed the project and pledged their support to enable it succeed.
GoGreen State Project Coordinator, Theodora Chia, said the SPRiNG program is designed to respond to persistent challenges or violence conflict and climate related pressure’s in Nigeria especially in benue by addressing the root causes of insecurity and enhancing their adaptive capacity of communities to vulnerable environment for a more stable and peaceful nation.
Meanwhile, the programme manager, ThankGod Aromeh said AIPASD Project will be implemented in communities of Makurdi and Guma LGAs of the state to provide support to farmers and herders to transit to AgroPastoraliasm as part of a sustainable livelihood, address farmers-herders conflicts, strengthen communities peace building mechanisms among others.