Effect of Demographic Characteristics on Conflicts Management in Jigawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analysed the effect of demographic characteristics on conflict management in Jigawa State. Multi-stage sampling procedure consisting of purposive, snow ball sampling method, cluster sampling and random sampling were used in selecting 75 crop farmers, 75 sedentary pastoralists and 79 migratory pastoralists who were interviewed using Structured Questionnaire. The analytical tools used include descriptive statistics, logistics regression. The study revealed that farmers believed court verdict (53.3%) and intervention by low enforcement agents (40.0%) were the strategies of conflict resolution. The sedentary pastoralists generally believed that  intervention by traditional leaders (52.0%) and local community crop farmers/herders intervention (42.7%) were the strategies of conflict resolution, while the migratory pastoralists opined that intervention by traditional leaders (50.6%) and payment of  compensation to victims (49.4%) are the strategies of conflict resolution. The result further revealed that 57.3% of farmers, 65.3% of the sedentary pastoralists and 50.6% of the migratory pastoralists agreed that extension agents play vital roles in conflicts prevention and management. Results of logistic regression for the farmers showed that marital status (0.007), household size (0.100) and nature of the farms (0.010) were statistically significant, while for the sedentary pastoralists’ age (0.010), herd size (0.093) and awareness about grazing reserves (0.097) were significant, and for the migratory pastoralists herd size (0.074), herding experience (0.063) and membership of association (0.100) were statistically significant. However, the demographic characteristics associated with conflict should be properly managed by the appropriate institutions involving in conflict resolutions, similarly  government should train and empowers extension agents in discharging their duties, and this will help in effective conflict prevention and management.

Keywords: Conflict, demographic characteristics, farmers, sedentary and migratory pastoralists