A group, under the aegis of Concerned Ron/Kulere People, on Thursday called for the adoption of livestock alimentation practice as a panacea to the frequent herders/farmers clashes in the country. The Ron/Kulere, who are predominantly found in Bokkos LGA of Plateau State, and whose communities in Daffo district were recently attacked by suspected herdsmen, leaving about 30 people dead, over 1, 000 homes destroyed, several people missing and over 10, 000 others displaced, believe that if the alimentation policy is adopted it will drastically reduce clashes between farmers and herders.
Daffo district is a community of nine aboriginal clans of Ron natives and a cluster of latter day migrants including the Fulani ethnic group. Briefing journalists in Jos, the Plateau state capital, spokesman of the group, Makut Macham, said, “After deep reflection and a review of experiences of herders and crop farmers, we have come to a conclusion that livestock alimentation practice is the safest and most effective approach to resolving the attacks of herders on crop farmers in Nigeria.
He continued, “In simple terms, livestock alimentation practice involves a system of keeping animals within a confined space, and providing them with adequate nutritional and medical care without having to expose them to open grazing in the countryside for pasture.
“The proposed alimentation practice seeks to replicate the existing practices in poultry farming for cows, pigs, goats, sheep among others.
“This will require a transformation of the existing cattle paddocks, otherwise known as hoggo in fulfulde or shinge in Hausa, to feedlots.
“The alimentation practice or feedlot system of cattle breeding was successfully employed to resolve Tutsi/Hutu genocide in Rwanda and is also successfully practiced in Ethiopia,” he explained.
According to Macham, the alimentation policy has a strong potential to rouse a symbiosis between livestock herders and crop farmers, as well as spur the emergence of a new economy at the grassroots level.
He maintained that, “In pursuing the livestock alimentation practice, government at every level would need to develop livestock-specific financing scheme and also provide subsidies as is done elsewhere in the world for agriculture. The spokesman said, for the policy to be a success, massive public awareness campaign is required, stressing that their desire “is to end the rampant attacks of herders on farmers in Nigeria, that have characterized our socio-economic system and denied Nigerians the much needed zeal to flourish in their development strides.
“We are not a political group, and therefore call upon the concerned authorities to look into the proposed policy of livestock alimentation without prejudice,” Concerned Ron/Kulere People said.
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