The proposed establishment of ranches under Nigeria’s Livestock Transformation Plan could deepen land conflicts and further displace indigenous communities in North Central Nigeria, Wilfred Uji, a professor, has warned.
Uji, in a paper titled “The Political-Economy of Livestock Transformation and Ranching,” and obtained by BusinessDay, said the debate over livestock transformation had moved to the centre of public and media engagement, requiring a critical examination of its historical and political-economic implications.
He argued that livestock transformation in several countries had historically been associated with land acquisition, displacement of indigenous populations and the emergence of powerful land-owning classes.
“Livestock transformation is capital intensive and private sector driven,” he said, adding that in several countries, commercial agricultural revolutions were preceded by land conquest and the emergence of a land gentry class.
“Land appropriation, displacement and disarticulation of indigenous population has always been central and pivotal in all commercial agricultural revolutions and livestock transformation across the world,” he said.
