Food insecurity in Nigeria: an enquiry into the activities of bandits and herdsmen on farmlands

Abstract

The study unveiled the fact that the activities of bandits and Fulani Herdsmen on farmlands have correlation with food insecurity in  Nigeria as these herdsmen who forcefully convert farm lands to grazing fields for their animals, kill farmers and so cause them to abandon their farms. Some farmers have then taken abode in IDPs camps or relocated to urban areas. These have translated to low
agricultural product production. The historical descriptive approach was adopted and the data deployed in the study was obtained from the secondary sources. The structural conflict and the systems theories were used as the framework of the study. While the former guides the understanding of the cause of the conflict that is generating banditry and herdsmen attack - Scarce resources, the latter guides the understanding of the effect - Food insecurity. The study proposed decentralization of the security system by creating State Police and intelligence; overhaul of the security architecture to ensure capacity to counter terrorism and provision of high yielding agricultural seedlings to farmers while herders are constrained to have ranches as a panacea.