Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2009
The development of much-needed grazing reserves and pastures in the Kainji Lake Basin area of Nigeria is being initiated by the Kainji Lake Research Institute with generous support from the States' and Federal Governments. However, there is a continuous overlap of interest which results in conflict among land-users such as the nomadic Fulanis, peasant farmers, and wildlife/forestry conservation authorities. Currently the Kainji Lake Basin is a major ‘food basket’ for agricultural crop production in Nigeria. The Basin is also an attractive big-game tourist centre and a traditional source of dry-season water and green grass for the migratory livestock.
Suggestions are made for a rational resource-management approach within the Basin, with establishment of rangeland reserves. Regular meetings between the representative of the Niger River Basin Development Authority, Kainji Lake National Park, States' Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the local Governments in the Basin area, should go a long way towards eliminating the sources of conflict.