In a bid to end recurring farmers-herders clashes and ensure food security in the state, the Ekiti state government has inaugurated a mediation committee for the two stakeholders in the agriculture sectors.

The Operational Mediation Committees in the 16 Local Government Areas of the state comprising the traditional rulers, Police, herders, farmers and Directors of Agriculture were inaugurated at an event in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Wednesday.

The event organized by Livestock Productivity And Resilience Support Project, L-PRES, is a World Bank project executed across 20 Nigerian States in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and Ekiti State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, tagged: “Conflict, Dialogue And Resolution to Promote Peaceful Co-Existence in Ekiti State.”

Speaking, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade stated that the move is geared towards eradicating the farmers-herders crisis in the state.

According to him, the mediation team will be spread across the 16 LGAs of the state to ensure that there is no interference in the activities of the farmers and herders towards ensuring food security.

The commissioner said, “What we are doing is to activate the mediation team in each local government so that the issue of farmers-herders crisis can be eradicated from our farming system.

“The concept is that we want security in our farmsteads. We don’t want a crisis. What we are doing is to sensitize our people on how we can easily prevent the activities of two major actors – the farmers and herders to ensure that there is no interference in the activities of each and every one of them.

“The structure is the mediation team that comprises the traditional rulers, the police, the Directors of Agric in each local government and every other person. They are building blocks to ensure that there is peace and prosperity in our farms. It is one of the areas to ensure we have food security in Ekiti State.”

The Permanent Secretary in the Ekiti State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Olugbenga Odesanmi urged the committee members to be champions of conflict management at their LGAs to end food insecurity in the State.

“Your nomination and training for the operational mediation for farmers and herders in your various LGAs to manage and prevent incessant clashes and damages to our food systems is a herculean task that will be accomplished through your cooperation and connectivity to improve productivity, commercialization and resilience of targeted four (4) livestock production systems which are dairy/beef, poultry, sheep/goat and piggery.

“Let us ensure that we connect to the objectives of the training and ensure we domesticate all of the principles, strategies and methods of Operational Mediation, Dispute Resolutions and Conflict Management in our various domains in order to chat a new course for our dear state in fighting against our common enemy called hunger and shortage.”

Highlights of the training session is the technical sessions on various topics by resource persons including; “Understanding Farmers-Herders Encounters in Nigeria: Past and Present, “Coping with Herder Migration: Safety Strategies”, “Alternative Dispute Resolution Strategies For Farmers-Herders Conflict”, “Transforming Livestock Investments And Productivity in Ekiti State.”