A Critical Analysis of the Relationship Between Climate Change, Land Disputes, and the Patterns of Farmers/Herdsmen’s Conflicts in Nigeria

Relying on the Nigeria Watch database and newspaper reports from August 2014 to April 2018, this study analyses the root causes, patterns, and politicisation of the farmers/herdsmen conflicts in Nigeria. This study critically examines the relationship between climate change, land disputes, and the patterns of farmers/ herdsmen conflicts in Nigeria. Scholars’ attempts to examine the relationship between environmental (in)sustainability and violent conflicts have been largely inconclusive. The recent conflicts between farmers and herdsmen may have taken a different pattern, especially in the North-Central region of Nigeria. Many people have attributed the increase in the conflicts between the two communities (farmers and herdsmen) to several non-environmental factors. The study adopts longitudinal research methods to unearth the connections between climate change, land disputes, and the patterns of the conflicts. It, however, looks at the conflict(s) as a product of environmental influences but escalated by the “vested interests” benefiting from the continued conflicts in the region