Journal of Rural Development

Lawal Adebowale ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, NG

Abstract

Crop and livestock production constitute main economies of the rural households with most of them cultivating arable crops and rearing small farm animals for both consumption and marketing. It is however chagrin to observe that the small farm animals are conflict-laden owing to their behavioural instincts and free range management system in the rural areas. Interaction with the rural dwellers in the study area through the use of interview guide and field observation showed that the small farm animals infringe on social and economic rights of the rural dwellers in terms of grazing the cultivated farms, feeding on or soiling of agro-produce undergoing processing, littering of the environment with faeces by sheep and goats; scattering of cultivated heaps or mounds in search of food, feeding on emerging seedlings, overturning and soiling of processed foods by local chickens. The ensuing conflicts in this regard often take the form of inter-personal, interfamily and community-to-person conflict. For resolution of the conflicts, statistical test of the study hypotheses showed that restraint of the farm animals from roaming about and siting of farms away from the villages had mutual acceptability among the rural dwellers. It was concluded that the rearing of small farm animals on free range constitute a conflict potential at the micro level of the rural areas; and was recommended that the small farm animal should be kept under intensive or semi-intensive management system.

Keywords

Crop Cultivation, Small Farm Animals, Conflict Ensuing Behaviours, Conflict Action, Communal Resolution Strategies.

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