‘UN negotiating $5m to address herders, farmers’ crisis’

By Daniel Agbo
Makurdi

United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr. Edward Kallon, yesterday said the UN system was negotiating $5 million grant for “a pilot project to address the three critical dimensions of the herders and farmers’ crisis of protection, peace-building and the economic dimension.”
Speaking at a one-day workshop on “The Role of the Houses of Assembly in the Implementation/Achievement of the SDGs” organised for the Benue House of Assembly, in Makurdi, he said the anti-open grazing law of the state “will address violence between headers and farmers and work towards agro-pastoral livelihood.”
According to him, the law remains the best step taken to find durable solutions to the crisis.
Kallon, who is also the UNDP Representative, noted that the crisis between herdsmen and farmers required national attention “not to mention its sub- regional dimension.”
“I am glad to be here after the House has passed the progressive Anti-open Grazing Law” to address violence between herders and farmers and work towards sustainable agro-pastoral livelihood.
“I recognise that there is no national consensus on how to deal with this troubling issue and hope that the measures you have taken in Benue state will be the first step in finding a durable solution, taking into account the requirements of a modern society in the 21st Century,” he said.
He said it was also critical to maintain dialogue on the issue that had “cost so much in both many lives and property.”
He suggested establishment of a peace platform to engage all stakeholders as the way forward to the crisis.

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