The U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, in partnership with a coalition of international and local partners, have successfully concluded a community-driven conflict mitigation intervention to restore peaceful coexistence among farmers and herders in vulnerable communities of Nigeria.
This was contained in a statement by the US Embassy in Nigeria
The initiative is known as Engaging Local Actors to Promote Peaceful Coexistence, ELAPC, among Farmers and Herders in Taraba State It will focus on ten communities across four local government areas (LGAs) in Taraba State where violent conflict has fractured relationships along with ethnic, political, and religious backgrounds.
ELAPC has brought together more than 3,600 representatives of farmers and herders, Muslims and Christians, women and youth, as well as people living with disability, to identify and address the drivers of the conflict and adopt inclusive strategies to reduce a culture of violence in the communities in the last two years.
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The initiative has also engaged 600 members of Christian and Muslim women’s groups to mediate on divisive issues between farmers and herders such as encroachment onto farmland and destruction of crops, to help reach amicable, non-violent resolutions and settlements.
This intervention resulted in an overall reduction in the reported frequency of violence in the ten partner communities, peaceful planting and harvest seasons, and introduction of cultural activities shared between herder and farmer youths.
Editor Paul Akhagbemhe
