Analysis of perceived causes of conflicts among yam farmers in cross river state nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the causes of conflicts among yam farmers in Cross River State. The major objectives of the study were to; identify the socio-economic characteristics of yam farmers in the study area, identify the type of conflicts prevalent in the study area and assessed the causes of conflicts among yam farmers in the study area. A well structured questionnaire was used to elicit data from respondents. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to obtain information for the study. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse data obtained from respondents. The results of the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents revealed that a large number of the respondents had formal education, were married (58.0%), were aged between 20 to 40 years (49.0%), had household size 1-7 (75.0%) and were mostly farmers (60.0%). It was equally observed that conflicts were of many types across the zone namely; intergroup conflicts (͞X-2.04), family conflict (͞X=2.02), communal conflicts (͞X-2.05) and Tribal conflicts (͞X-1.99) among many others.  The  main  causes of conflict  among  yam farmers  were;  land  encroachment  (͞X=2.83),  Disagreement  among  family  members  on  land issues  (͞X=2.75),  straying  of  cattle  into  yam  farms  (͞X=2.66)  and  land  disagreement  among traditional  authorities  (͞X=2.62)  among  very  many  others.  The study recommend that land boundaries should be properly delineated and garsseted from time to time by traditional rulers in conjunction with the government of the day. This will help curb some cases of land conflicts in the study area.