Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Nigeria is richly endowed with both human and vast natural resources with an estimated population of about 140 million people who need food for their daily survival. The favorable climatic and topographical condition of the North Central States of Benue, Nassarawa, Taraba, and Plateau place them in a good position to provide the much needed food for the entire country. The entire area, particularly Benue, is known as the “food basket of the Nation.” The perceived poverty and food insecurity in Nigeria is not only a result of a cumulative consequences of general failure of agricultural policies and implementation over time, but also a resultant effect of the incessant communal conflicts and clashes mostly between the Fulani herdsmen and their host communities. The thrust of this paper focuses on the challenges this communal clashes portends for Nigeria in terms of food security and the various steps taken by the various governments to curtail these conflicts. This paper therefore proffers approaches to address the downward trends in agricultural production in Nigeria as a result of the various communal conflicts by mirroring the Chinese example, in order to reposition Nigerian agriculture as the pillar and bedrock of her general economic development and to ensure food security for every household in Nigeria. This paper therefore employs a historical, multi-disciplinary, and comparative approach to this study.