Obaseki: Edo communities already renting grazing land to herders

Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, says the state government has no business providing grazing lands for pastoralists.

There has been concern over clashes between farmers and herders across the country, especially with regards to open grazing.

In 2019, Obaseki rejected the federal government’s RUGA initiative, saying the Edo government will not offer free land to herders for grazing.

On Thursday, he dismissed reports that the government had shifted its ground regarding the provision of land for grazing.

Addressing journalists after a meeting with Ibrahim Gambari, chief of staff to the president, Obaseki said communities can instead give designated lands to herders for grazing and charge them for it.

He said some communities already have such agreements with herders.

“I said a state government is not in the business of ranching or of providing grazing lands, however, there are communities that have lands, which have, as at today, accommodated herders under some arrangements,” Obaseki said.

“What I suggested was that these communities should look at making lands available where when herdsmen come in, they can grow grass and charge them to herd in specific areas and avoid getting the herdsmen to trespass into other people’s farmlands because that is what causes crisis.

“These are all commercial transactions between either individuals, communities and pastoralists. That is the point we made, that herding cattle is a business and it’s not the state’s responsibility to get into that business.

“They actually do it now because what we found is that in most communities, when the pastoralists come in they usually have an arrangement or an agreement with community leaders before they can graze in those communities. That is what exists today, but in some cases that arrangement breaks down when some very young herders are not able to control their cows and they stray into other people’s farmlands.

“That is the situation in many communities today and we are saying why not formalise it properly by designating areas with water and grass so that when they come, you’ll ask them to go into those areas, charge them whatever you need to charge them, by that we’ll restrict them there so that they will not go and trespass into other people’s farmlands and eat up their crops.”