Struggles over critical land in the Nigerian Benue Valley: accumulation by dispossession and farmer-herder conflict
Abstract: Conflicts between farmers and pastoralists have had devastating consequences in Nigeria’s Benue Valley. While previous studies have emphasized environmental resource scarcity arising from population growth, environmental degradation, and climate change as the main sources of scarcity engendering conflicts, the social production of scarcity through accumulation by dispossession has received limited attention. This paper fills that gap by investigating the farmer-herder conflicts in the Benue Valley and highlighting how scarcity of critical land is socially produced through capitalist accumulation by dispossession. This scarcity leads to tensions between pastoralists and farmers, underscoring the relevance of accumulation by dispossession in this specific context.