Farmers-Herdsmen conflicts: Effect of Resilience Strategy on Arable crop Productivity in the Ogbomoso Agricultural Zone of Oyo State

Over the years, contests over land for crop production and pasture for animals among crop farmers and herders have been a subject of concern. The study therefore examine the effect of resilience on arable crop productivity after farmers-herdsmen conflicts in the Ogbomoso Agricultural Zone of Oyo State. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 270 arable crop farmers, which is about 29.4% of the 919 registered arable crop farmers for the study, using a structured questionnaire to obtain primary data. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics like tables, percentages and inferential statistics such as ordinary least square regression to analyse the effect of resilience strategy to shocks of conflict anticipation cost and arable crop productivity. All analyses were tested at a 5% level of significance. The result of the OLS regression analysis model for the effect of resilience techniques on arable crop productivity indicated that years spent in school (p = 0.97), size of farm (p = 0.006), hired labour after conflict (p = 0.000), transformative index (p = 0.000), absorptive index (p = 0.008) and adaptive index (p = 0.008) were significantly related to arable crop productivity. The transformative, absorptive, and adaptive resilience strategies significantly influenced arable crop productivity after farmers-herdsmen conflicts in the study area. The study concluded that adhere to the rule and regulations of the community serve as a means of preventing conflicts between farmers and herders, Further increasing farm size requires more commitment from the farmer and thus becomes more attached to the farm materially, physically and emotionally. The study recommends that the resilience strategies employed by the respondents should be investigated and adopted by appropriate authorities in order to mitigate the regular conflicts between farmers and herders in Nigeria.