Environmental change and identity questions in farmer and herder’s eco-violence narratives in the Nigerian Benue Valley

Abstract

Studies exploring the farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria as eco-violence need to explore more the opinions of those affected to account for their lived experiences. This article examines the environmental change and identity questions in the eco-violence narratives of farmers and herders in the Benue Valley of Central Nigeria. Based on interviews, the article shows that their narratives challenged the causal link between climate change and farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria. It suggests that while environmental change contributes to conflicts through pastoralists’ migration, it is not the sole driving factor. The study highlights the role of identity differences, especially indigeneity and religion, in fuelling the conflicts, but differences in identity alone do not necessarily lead to conflict. The perception of identity differences as threats explains the connection between pastoralist migration and the conflict. Government actions can amplify or reduce these conflicts. Exclusive approaches to conflict resolution, such as the anti-open grazing law in Benue State, can further escalate the conflict in specific areas influenced by the perception that ethnic and indigeneity motivations influenced its formulation and enforcement, reinforcing the perception of identity differences as a threat. Thus, the identity question in the narratives is not straightforward and are interacting with other factors (especially the migration of pastoralists, which is a product of environmental change and political factors such as government policy) in different ways. The paper urges political ecologists to examine how pastoralists’ construction of marginalisation from state policies is shaped by the perception of threat from identity differences, particularly indigeneity and ethnicity.