**3. Situating the study**

To get to the core of the subject of this study—on how conflict impacts the agriculture economy and general development of Nigeria, and ultimately of Africa the ethnography crafted to experiment the ideological framework engineering it was carried out using the earlier stated methodological tools and experimented in Ukum community of Benue State, Nigeria. **Figures 1** and **2** show the country and main site of the study respectively. Ukum is one of the 23 LGAs of Benue State in Central Nigeria. By virtue of its geographical location, it shares borders with Taraba and Nassarawa States in Northern Nigeria as is shown in **Figure 1**. Like other parts of Benue and sometimes much more, Ukum is heavily engaged in commercial agricultural production and is a major source of supply of both tuber crops, citrus, and a wide range of vegetables to other parts of Nigeria. Ukum is also replete with many markets that operate all week with Zaki-Biam being the largest.

Besides, and in addition to the foregoing, the Ukum community of Benue State was selected for this study for two major reasons: first, it purely represents the main features and heavily agrarian character of almost all the rural communities of Nigeria and Africa where incessant conflict looms amid the stages of agricultural

*Regional Development in Africa*

away for various policy and other reasons.

responsive conflict management toolkit.

economic growth performance to which agriculture was a major contributor to the GDP for the period 1965–1987. This historical fact is in spite of the intervening episodes of fall in output mainly due to drought especially in the Sahel countries of SSA [15] followed by hikes in oil prices and an increasingly adverse effect of international debt during the decade under reference [15]. However, in spite of the aforementioned drop, the contribution of the agriculture sector to the GDP of parts of the region ticked up a little again to 1.3% per annum for the period of 1980–1987, and rose even higher at the end of the decade resulting in an incremental growth rate of 2.1% between 1987 and 1990. Lamentably, these initial trends in growth thanks to the contribution of the region's agriculture sector soon tilted and faded

We argue that among those other reasons, wars and incessant conflicts rampant across Africa often account more than any other for the consistent decline in the contribution of the region's agriculture economy to its overall economic development. While many contemporary social inquirers simply lament the general socioeconomic backwardness of Africa [16], this study rather stands with poised optimism and hope for improvement anchored on investing more in agriculture but only by simultaneously and consistently pushing back on everything associated with conflict as an arch enemy of the former. Thus, whereas there is overwhelming evidence in recent decades that Africa has not enjoyed economic and social progress like other parts of the world are doing, we argue that "Improvements within the sector can unlock the door to social and economic improvement. Indeed, agriculture must be the engine for the economic and social progress" [14] of the African region. We opine that all the efforts African governments and international bodies mount in recent times aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and general development of the region will not fructify in any meaningful degree if they fail to simultaneously craft socioculturally and politically appropriate, sustainable, and

The hallmark of our argument for this study runs thus: whatever stands in the way or swims against the current of agriculture in Africa is the arch enemy of African development. We contend that typical of such social snag in the way of agriculture and of African development is the social phenomenon of incessant intra- and inter-ethnic conflict. Unfortunately, rather than being scanty across the face of the continent, there are many such waves blowing across the region and eroding the development potential of African communities. More telling is the fact that often such conflicts that impede the progress of African communities and sometimes decimate them hide and operate in the hardly noticeable hinterland niches characteristically known for agricultural activities. This lends even greater and more compelling cogency as to why conflict in Africa must be given closer and sustained attention first, by examining its causes and detailed human and socioeconomic costs and, secondly by installing institutional mechanics toward abating it where and when it cannot be completely eradicated. These constitute the core aims of this study, which at the same time stand as its merits, contributions, and

Since it is the case that the type of social phenomenon to be studied determines the study methodology applied, we adopted the analytic tool of political economy as our ideological inspiration and guide for the collection and interpretation of field data in this study. This choice is informed by the conviction that political economy opens a wide leeway for the exploration of factors impacting agricultural

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relevance.

**2. Study methodology**

#### **Figure 1.**

*Map of Nigeria with the 36 states of the country and showing the location of the study site (the map of Nigeria above was directly adapted from the Web).*

#### **Figure 2.**

*Map of Benue state showing UKUM local government area (LGA) as the study site (the map of Ukum LGA above was directly adapted from the Web).*

production. On the other hand, Ukum of the Tiv world characteristically typifies the tens of hinterland populations where conflicts are incubated and, in fact, frequently occur in Nigeria. Writing about the mainstream economic occupation of the people, an official statement of Ukum LGA states: "In fact, the Local Government is the pivot […] of the Food Basket of the Nation1 for which Benue State is known" [19]. Writing more inclusively about the whole state in relation to the vast human and natural dispositions that conduce to the people's extensive, productive engagement in agriculture, our source continues:

*Benue State is richly endowed with natural resources of different types. The State has vast and fertile land which is worked by an enterprising rural population. Agriculture forms the back-bone of the Benue Benue State economy, engaging more than 70 per cent of the working population. Bush fallowing using simple tools is the dominant system though mechanization and plantation agriculture/agroforestry* 

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observed it.

**Table 1.**

*Agricultural Production Amid Conflict: Implications for Africa's Regional Development*

are farmers. They produce and trade what they eat and wear…" [20]2

**4. Study findings: data representation and analysis**

**4.1 Findings from questionnaires and interviews with farmers**

A/1: Do conflicts bring about significant out-migration in your community?

G/7: Do conflicts enhance the spread of infectious diseases in your community? H/8: Do conflicts bring about increase in the price of food crops in your area? I/9: Do conflicts discourage prospective domestic and foreign agro-investors?

*Tracking the impact of conflict on agriculture and development in Ukum, Nigeria.*

J/10: Is there any direct connection between conflict and rate of poverty in your community?

B/2: Do conflicts bring about high death toll in your community? C/3: Do farmers abandon their farms when conflict looms or occurs? D/4: Do conflicts make for reduction in areas of farmland covered? E/5: Do conflicts go with corresponding fall in output of food crops? F/6: As a farmer, does conflict discourage you from farming activities?

on data from direct and participant observation.

*are gradually creeping in […] Though the farms are generally small and fragmented, ranging from less than one hectare to more than six hectares, total output* 

It is on the same basis of the notorious agrarian industry of the Tiv that some pioneering and outstanding anthropologist of the Tiv world once wrote: "The Tiv

described, the ordinary and occupational life of the Ukums is the art of the production and marketing of agricultural goods, and vice versa. It is also the case, as we shall see later, that Ukum lives its agrarian life sometimes amid tremulous trepidations over possible conflict/war that may ensue usually from their Jukun neighbors. As earlier stated, it is on the basis of this dual features—of deeply agrarian character and of their experience of conflict—that the place was selected as the main and

This section is comprises the representation and analysis of data collected from the field of study and combines findings from the different study techniques applied in the process. First, we represent field data collected from farmers in Ukum, as are displayed in the accompanying tables and charts. This is followed by the representation and analysis of data from questionnaire responses, non-scalable interview responses from Ukum-based investors; and finally, we turn to and focus

Informed by preliminary interactions with farmers from around the Zaki-Biam of Ukum main study site, the questions in **Table 1** were formulated and used to

<sup>2</sup> It is of great importance to note here that the Ukum (and Tivland) of Bohannan's ethnographic experience and time has been very irreversibly transformed from subsistence to cash economy with so many causal linkages and implications this social transformation holds out for this population as our study

. Properly

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86613*

*is generally impressive [19].*

typical site for this study.

<sup>1</sup> See Appendix A as **Figure A1** for "Food Basket of the Nation" symbol and pride of Benue State, Nigeria. We have and reserve our critical caveat over this symbol due to the political asymmetry and above all the core-periphery bipolarity we observed as this symbol represent though hardly spoken of by the indigenes.

*Agricultural Production Amid Conflict: Implications for Africa's Regional Development DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86613*

*are gradually creeping in […] Though the farms are generally small and fragmented, ranging from less than one hectare to more than six hectares, total output is generally impressive [19].*

It is on the same basis of the notorious agrarian industry of the Tiv that some pioneering and outstanding anthropologist of the Tiv world once wrote: "The Tiv are farmers. They produce and trade what they eat and wear…" [20]2 . Properly described, the ordinary and occupational life of the Ukums is the art of the production and marketing of agricultural goods, and vice versa. It is also the case, as we shall see later, that Ukum lives its agrarian life sometimes amid tremulous trepidations over possible conflict/war that may ensue usually from their Jukun neighbors. As earlier stated, it is on the basis of this dual features—of deeply agrarian character and of their experience of conflict—that the place was selected as the main and typical site for this study.
