The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and the South-West Farmers have signed a peace agreement for mutual collaboration between them in the zone.
Underscoring their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is the need for achieving food sustainability and production in Nigeria.
The event followed a day-long conference in Ibadan, where the National Chairman of the Cattle Breeders Association and the South-West Commodity Farmers Organization signed the peace treaty.
Olusegun Dasaolu, Coordinator of the South-West Commodities Farmers Organization, told reporters that the summit was a wake-up call for farmers in the South-West states in terms of finding long-term solutions to some of the difficulties they face.
He stated that the memorandum of understanding represented an agreement between the herders and the South-West to work together to promote food production and sustainability in the South-West region, and hence throughout Nigeria.
Olusegun assured that what would is for both parties to identify genuine herders and farmers within the region for a better farming experience.
He said: “What the memorandum of understanding with cattle breeders translates to is that the farmers in the South-West and the herders have agreed to work together for the unity of farmers and the progress of Agriculture so that conflicts will be resolved amicably amongst the stakeholders.
“And from this moment on, the first step we are going to take is to identify the genuine herders in South-West and who are the genuine farmers and we have agreed to connect better.
“This is going to go a long way in solving food crisis in the sense that farmers will now feel secured to go back to their farms and so Agricultural production will increase and this going assist greatly in the renewed hope of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.”
According to the National Chairman of Miyyeti Allah, Othman Ngelzarma, that the event marked an opportunity to chart a way forward on ensuring the security both Famers and herders in the region.
He believed that farmers and herders in the South-West must collaborate effectively to identify and address any problematic elements within the pastoralist community in the region.
