SUCCESS STORIES
_Muhammad Sabi’u Chiroma- Herder Community (Fass)
It is common knowledge that animals could destroy farms. In the past, when such happens, it leads to confrontation that may escalate and that has been our biggest problem.
_ Dalyop Bitrus – Farmer Community (Kwi)
This conflict has persisted for so long that it has resulted in mass killings, burning of property, and loss of wealth. The conflict between Kwi and Fass has lasted for over 24 years if I recall correctly.
_ Bot Dalyop Adamu – Farmer Community (Ward Head Rinyan)
Most of these farm destruction happen in the evening. The Farmer only discovers the damage in the morning seeing that the farm is already cleared. Majority of the headers don’t tie their cows when the return home which allows them stray to other places.
_ Yusuf Sa’idu – Herder Community (Banghai)
Sure, it has been reported to us that some of our people don’t tie their Cows, we have gone there and confirmed this to be true.
_ Dalyop Bitrus – Farmer Community (Kwi)
There are some crops on farms that were destroyed by cows while there are those cut down by attackers. So, since 2015 we couldn’t cultivate those farmlands again.
_Felicia Bitrus – Farmer Community (Women Leader, Riyan)
Last year, I suffered alot, I cried like I would kill myself because cows destroyed the entire rice farm.
_Haruna Abdullahi- Herder Community (Fass)
Not for the destruction of farms nor any other reason, they attacked and beat my grandson. It was the soldiers that took him to the hospital.
_ Idris Gidado Muhammad -Herder Community (Bangai)
Sometimes, when our cattle are rustled, we automatically accuse the Berom people of theft which escalates to violent confrontations.
_Youth from Rinyan
I have never imagined that one day I would sit with Fulanis’ like this.
_Fulani man from Bangai
Since the crisis began, we have not imagined passing through the Riyan community because the killing was too much.
_Da Joshua D Kwon, Gwom Kwi (Traditional leader of Kwi community)
Whenever they destroy our farms, the delay in coming to assess the level of damage. Our problem is not even the destruction that the perpetrator was caught but the destruction we don’t know who did it.
_Salisu Babawo Fass
Some of the children involved in these acts of destruction are under the influence of illicit substances. We have advised them countless times to stop such abuses, but it has persisted.
_Muhammad Abdullahi Galadiman Hardo – Herder Community
Before this project began, resolving such problems was difficult, and it was hard to settle issues among ourselves without involving state security. So, even when we try settling on our own without involving the security, it escalates. So, majority of our problems were settled by the government security forces.
_Dalyop Bitrus (Kwi)
An organization called YIAVHA, with the approval of the community chief, came with the mission of fostering a relationship between the Berom and Fulani to understand the driving factors of conflict between them.
-Da. Danjuma Dalyop -Farmer community (Rim)
The first time we had a meeting with the Fulanis here in Rim, the Fulanis came here, then it was our turn to visit Mahanga, the Fulani community. When we told people about our plan to visit the community, many doubted whether we would return alive. In fact, I can’t state exactly the last time I visited that place; because it was during my primary school days that we stopped farming there. Until I got to the civil service, I served for 35 years, I never went back to that area.
_Nuhu Gyang-Farmer community (Rinyan)
“When we first went to Bangai, people asked if we really wanted to go to a place occupied by Boko Haram. They said if we returned safely, it would prove there is peace. We came back without any incident and later organized a group of about 35 youths to visit Bangai again. People questioned our decision, but we assured them that, God willing, nothing will happen to us.
_Jacob Choji Pwakim, (Executive Director, YIAVHA)
Though we ourselves thought that it was going to be difficult, we said why not we come in here so that if the farmers and herders use the systems thinking methodology, where we look at the problem holistically. What role is everybody playing
Judith Remson, (Monitoring,Evaluation And Learning Officer YIAVHA)
We had to conduct a Stakeholder engagement meeting where we had various stakeholders from the security, religious leaders, and some of the government agencies work basically in Riyom Local government area to identify some of these conflict prone communities.
Jacob Choji Pwakim, (Executive Director, YIAVHA)
We then agreed to work in Jol, Mahanga, Ngelgagare (also called Jenda), Rim, Kwi, Fass, Banghai and Riyan, all in Riyom. We conducted a desk review first to understand the issues, and then started meeting stakeholders and reaching out to traditional leaders. It was a stage-by-stage process to understand the issues and gain their buy-in, as the success of this Bottom-Up approach depends on the support of these critical stakeholders. We mobilized individuals from each community, both Fulani and Berom, across the eight communities where we are working. We conducted a systems thinking analysis, followed by validation, and then performed a CPA research to create a deeper understanding of the bird view analysis.
_Aliyu Abubakar- Herder community (Fass)
I never dreamed that one day I would be part of an NGO and even be interviewing people instead of being interviewed myself as I was doing. They called me and our chairman, and as we visited communities to conduct interviews, I realized that the process was actually quite simple.
_ Idris Gidado Muhammad- Herder community (Bangai)
When I first heard that an NGO was working to bring both the Berom and Fulani together for joint farming, I thought it was impossible, as it had never been done before.
_Dalyop Bitrus- Farmer community (Kwi)
“Initially, when YIAVHA came to our community, we were the first to participate in their meetings. They understood that previously, they were hosting elites in hotels who don’t actually know the challenges they face at home. While most of those meetings were on-going, you could hear of the outbreak of violence in our villages.
_Yusuf Sa’idu – Herder Community (Bangai)
A few days ago, Ardo and I visited the cow owners at their locations, instructing them to inform us if they see anyone grazing on crops but where they do not tell us but If we receive reports of such acts, all of them will be held responsible and must pay for the damage
_ Salisu Babawo- Member of Peace Committee (Herder community, Fass)
The committee chairman of Kwi always contacts me if there is an issue of farm damage. I then investigated who grazed on that route at the time. If I am able to identify the culprit, we make them pay for the damage. If we cannot identify anyone, we gather all those who used that route to share the cost, as sometimes the young herders hide the culprit among themselves.
_Aliyu Abubakar – Asst. Sec, MACBAN (Herder Community-Fass)
I never imagined that I would jointly farm with the people of Kwi where we will plant together, apply fertilizer together, and even do more. No one had ever proposed such an idea except YIAVHA.
_Bot Dalyop Adamu – Community leader, (Farmer Community, Riyan)
This farm is sponsored by YIAVHA and is a joint effort between the Berom and Fulani people. We planted the crops, applied fertilizer, did weeding and mulch together with our friends the Fulani, with God’s grace, we will harvest it together. The purpose of this joint farming is to foster a relationship between the Berom and Fulani, promoting peaceful coexistence and reducing conflicts.
_ Yusuf Sa’idu – Herder Community (Banghai)
Thanks to the unity you have fostered, we are now free to graze our livestock everywhere. This is one of the farms nearby, and there is another farm over there. We can only express our gratitude to you, as we have nothing else to say. Before your intervention, many of us couldn’t pass through Riyan, but now our children, who previously couldn’t pass through Riyan, are able to do it now. Rinyan people, who never visited our community in Bangai before, are now coming and working with us in the farms, and the farms have not been destroyed as we are awaiting harvest.
Com. Hamza Aminu – Herder Community (Fass)
There was a time when our cows grazed on his father’s farm. The other man and I went there to assess the damage and made a payment. Before then, I called Jonathan and informed him that his brother was among those who stopped our cows. I told him that the cows belonged to us and that we were coming, and he also called them himself to release the cattle.
Jonathan Nyango – Farmer Community (Kwi)
If it weren’t for my acquaintance with him and this program you brought, I wouldn’t have vouched for him regarding the damage done to my uncle’s farm. However, since I know him, I called my father, who is the youth leader, and asked him to instruct them to release the cows, assuring them that Hamza was coming to resolve the issue. They agreed to release the cows.
_Rwang Dasha Musa – Farmer Community (Kwi)
I have never crossed that river, but through YIAVHA, I now go there with my friend Dalyop to collect cow dung. I have made a new friend there who told me I can take as much manure as I want. Although I have never seen him at YIAVHA’s programs, he mentioned that he is so impressed with the peace teachings YIAVHA is giving to the children as he is seeing the positive impact of this intervention on the youth and finds it commendable.
“When our cows are rustled we used to assume that it could have been done by our then rivals, the Berom people. We would normally take immediate action. However, we now realize that some of our own people could also be part of stealing them.
_Haruna Abdullahi- Herder Community (Fass)
We now enjoy peace more than anyone else in this land because our cows graze in the bush and return peacefully.
_Hamza Aminu – Herder Community (Fass)
The unity we have here is that there are people I have never known or met before, and they are young people like me. Through this farm, I now know their names, have their phone numbers, and we always call each other.”
_Adam Khalid- Yiavha Staff
As a young man who has spent more than three years working on peace-building, I have never encountered any approach that includes such a methodology, especially the joint farming between the Berom and Fulani.
Jacob Choji Pwakim, (Executive Director, YIAVHA)
We used this methodology in Jos and observed how it allowed us to harvest low-hanging fruits. We applied it in Angwan Bala Kaze and Damisa, although under a different organization where I was a consultant. Since it proved successful, we decided to address the farmer-herder conflict that has deeply affected communities, resulting in lost lives and wealth. Under this intervention, the people led the process, which is why they made decisions during joint farming activities. On several occasions, they went to the market to purchase what they needed, and they made decisions regarding the farm itself. We only suggested what we believed needed to be done to address the conflict, and they embraced the idea.
Judith Remson, (Monitoring,Evaluation And Learning Officer YIAVHA)
Considering that Riyom Local Government is central and affects other communities experiencing Farmer-Herder conflict, we believe that if Riyom is at peace, other communities can learn from it and implement similar strategies in their own local governments.
Jacob Choji Pwakim, (Executive Director, YIAVHA)
As difficult as the terrain is, we have gone to communities where people worry about our safety. The communities we work in are perceived as very dangerous, with some believing that if you go there, you won’t come out alive. These perceptions are held both by outsiders and by people within the communities towards each other. Therefore, going into these places has not been easy, especially during the rainy season when our vehicles get stuck on the road, and we have to continue our journey by motorcycle. These are the sacrifices involved in this work.
We could have just called for meetings in Jos, Nasarawa, and other places. In those cases, resolutions might not be reached. However, with this Bottom-Up Approach, the average farmer and herder, who would not ordinarily be invited to a meeting in Jos, now attend these meetings. The dialogue has even reached young people who have been accused of harassing each other on the farms due to the history of conflict. We have included them in intergenerational storytelling, helping them establish friendships and understand each other’s perspectives. They are now saying, “Oh, I didn’t know you existed, and I didn’t know the story from your perspective. I now understand it.”
Ours is to see how we can deepen this so that we do not just do an intervention from Knowledge Platform Security and Rule of law for nine (9) Months and after nine months, these communities go back to where they were. to the days of conflict and violence, to see how we can sustain this intervention so that peace can finally be restored where the farmer farms without harassment, the herder grazes without any problem. Then the natural resources which have been the bane of conflict are now being utilized for the common good of the people.
