Drivers and Socio-Economic Implications of Farmer-Grazier Conflicts in the Ndu Subdivision, North West Region-Cameroon

A key global factor that has neutralized the prospects of agricultural production most especially in developing countries is the incidence of farmer-grazier conflict that has become a new reality in Ndu Sub-Division. This study examines the drivers and socio-economic implications of farmer-grazier conflicts in Ndu Sub-Division. It was an investigatory and interrogatory study that adopted the mixed research design, involving the qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Primary data were sought from 300 farmers (food crop farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists) using questionnaires, interview guides, field observations and interrogations; complemented by secondary data extracted from published related articles, magazines and databases. Quantitative data were analyzed using inferential statistical techniques, while qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive techniques. The results showed that a majority (64%) practice crop production, 30% are into pastoralism while 6% practice mixed farming. More so, farmer-grazier conflicts have been fluctuating over the years with about half (40%) occurrence in the months of August-October and march-April (30%) which are characterized by intense agricultural activities, while 30% occur randomly across other months. The struggled to amass land by farmers, resource scarcity, and land tenure besides crop destruction by animals are the main drivers of these conflicts. The socio-economic implications of these conflicts center on falling agricultural production, poverty, forceful migration and interruption of social cohesiveness. The work concludes that agriculture remains a panacea and a springboard to the population in Ndu Sub-Division, and recommends that objective and holistic measures such as the intensification of alliance farming system, land use planning and effective conflict resolution platforms be design to defuse conflicts and revamp staple agricultural activities in this Sub-Division