Agroforestry as a sustainable means to farmer–grazier conflict mitigation in Cameroon

Farmer–grazier conflicts are a major cause of the stagnated development experienced in rural, peri-urban, and suburban areas across Africa and the developing world, as these conflicts often lead to the loss of crops, livestock, and even human lives, precipitating untold misery and excruciating pover...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agroforestry systems 2020-12, Vol.94 (6), p.2147-2165
Main Authors: Awazi, Nyong Princely, Avana-Tientcheu, Marie-Louise
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Agricultural practices
Agriculture
Agroforestry
Animals
Arable land
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Building materials
Chi-square test
Construction materials
Correlation analysis
Crops
Data analysis
Data collection
Dry season
Farmers
Fences
Fodder
Forestry
Gardens
Gardens & gardening
Grazing
Horses
Life Sciences
Livestock
Parameter estimation
Pasture
Poverty
Rangelands
Regression analysis
Regression models
Rural areas
Statistical analysis
Statistical tests
Suburban areas
Trees
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Summary:Farmer–grazier conflicts are a major cause of the stagnated development experienced in rural, peri-urban, and suburban areas across Africa and the developing world, as these conflicts often lead to the loss of crops, livestock, and even human lives, precipitating untold misery and excruciating poverty. In Cameroon where this study was undertaken, the situation is simply pathetic as farmer–grazier conflicts occur regularly, especially during the dry season when herders move livestock (especially cattle, sheep and horses) from hills to the valleys (transhumance), in search of pasture, destroying farmers’ crops in the process. It is within this framework that this study sought to look at the contribution of agroforestry practices to farmer–grazier conflict mitigation. Data collection methods for the study were household surveys, key informant interviews and direct observations. Data analysis was done through descriptive and inferential statistics, using two main statistical analyses software: Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS 20. Findings revealed that the main cause of farmer–grazier conflicts was limited arable and grazing land (100%), with the main consequences being loss of human lives and crops/livestock (100%). The main agroforestry practices of farmers were home gardens with animals (52%), trees on croplands (60%) and live fences/hedges (52%) while graziers’ agroforestry practices were home gardens with animals (73%), trees on grazing lands (60%) and live fences/hedges (53%). Agroforestry was found to provide many socio-economic and ecosystem benefits to both farmers and graziers like food, fuelwood, fodder, building materials and shade which make farmers and graziers less interdependent. Correlation analysis revealed a strong inverse relationship between the practice of agroforestry and farmer–grazier conflicts ( p  
ISSN:0167-4366
1572-9680
DOI:10.1007/s10457-020-00537-y