Miyetti Allah Calls For An End To Open Grazing

Herdsmen association, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), has said open grazing is no longer sustainable in Nigeria.

The Secretary of MACBAN in Benue State, Ibrahim Galma, stated this on Tuesday at a one-day stakeholders’ Engagement/Launch of AgroPastoral Integration for Peace and Sustainable Development (AIPASD) Project.

Naijaonpoint reports that Galma said insecurity, destruction of farms, cattle rustling and climate change showed pastoralists cannot continue with open grazing in Benue State and Nigeria.

Galma assured that MACBAN would support the project to achieve its aim of having peace in Benue state, noting that the association had been part of the project from its pilot stage.

“The position of MACBAN is that we are fully in support of this project from the beginning and we are going to be in this project to the end.

“Now that the project has been expanded within Guma and Makurdi Local Government Areas, LGAs, key stakeholders in the areas should be involved, and we should also have a local committee comprising the Ardos and traditional rulers to help the pastoralists get knowledge of how to live peacefully with farmers.

“We now know quite well that open grazing is not sustainable, not only in Benue state but in Nigeria in general.

“And from all indications, we have come to understand that there is a need for us to adapt to the reality because of the growing population, the challenge of insecurity and the climatic conditions are adversely affecting our rural communities,” he said.

Speaking, the Benue State Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Peter China, lamented that for eight years, most farmers in the state could not access their farms due to the herders crisis.