Offered Papers Theme B: Grassland and the Environment
Description
Unhealthy competition and conflicts among the diverse users (herders, farmers, fishermen, etc.) of the natural resources (pasture, water, land, etc.) in the Zamfara reserve, Nigeria have undermined the reserve's capacity to serve its intended multi-functional roles. The reserve (3, 650 km2), which was established in 1919 with 4 enclave villages where farmers live and cultivate crops, was meant also to provide pasture and water for Fulani herdsmen. Vast numbers of people are, however, becoming landless or near landless in the reserve. Powerful non-local actors are forcing their way into the reserve area and are extracting resources with no respect to traditional customs and rules. Umar (2004), for example, has shown how politicians and traditional rulers, with the support of the Zamfara state government, have converted over 100 ha of common grazing land in the reserve to private farms. This paper offers a model for co-management of the shrinking natural resources in the reserve, which the paper assumes, may help in maintaining the reserve's multi-functional nature. Co- management is a pluralist approach to managing natural resources, incorporating a variety of partners in a variety of roles, generally to the end goals of environmental conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and the equitable sharing of resource-related benefits and responsibilities (Viswanathan, undated).
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Sustaining the Multi-Functionality of the Zamfara Reserve in Semi-Arid Nigeria: What is the Role of Co-Management?
Unhealthy competition and conflicts among the diverse users (herders, farmers, fishermen, etc.) of the natural resources (pasture, water, land, etc.) in the Zamfara reserve, Nigeria have undermined the reserve's capacity to serve its intended multi-functional roles. The reserve (3, 650 km2), which was established in 1919 with 4 enclave villages where farmers live and cultivate crops, was meant also to provide pasture and water for Fulani herdsmen. Vast numbers of people are, however, becoming landless or near landless in the reserve. Powerful non-local actors are forcing their way into the reserve area and are extracting resources with no respect to traditional customs and rules. Umar (2004), for example, has shown how politicians and traditional rulers, with the support of the Zamfara state government, have converted over 100 ha of common grazing land in the reserve to private farms. This paper offers a model for co-management of the shrinking natural resources in the reserve, which the paper assumes, may help in maintaining the reserve's multi-functional nature. Co- management is a pluralist approach to managing natural resources, incorporating a variety of partners in a variety of roles, generally to the end goals of environmental conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and the equitable sharing of resource-related benefits and responsibilities (Viswanathan, undated).
