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DS Reviews of Research in Life Sciences (DS-RLS)

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Volume 1 | Issue 2 | Year 2025 | Article Id: RLS-V1I2P102

Assessing the Impact of Conflict Management Mechanisms on Indigenous Farmer-Fulani Cattle Herdsmen Relations in Asante Akim North District

Seth Agyemang, Dickson Kofi Baah Gyamfi

ReceivedRevisedAcceptedPublished
20 Jul 202522 Aug 202507 Sep 202516 Sep 2025

Citation

Seth Agyemang, Dickson Kofi Baah Gyamfi. “Assessing the Impact of Conflict Management Mechanisms on Indigenous Farmer-Fulani Cattle Herdsmen Relations in Asante Akim North District.” DS Reviews of Research in Life Sciences, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 9-21, 2025.

Abstract

Population and settlement expansion in the Asante Akim North district have compelled indigenous farmers to move further into the interior for new farmlands. The new farming lands are disputed by Fulani cow herdsmen and the crop farmers, resulting in the cost of conflict, regrettable as there are no established systems of conflict management to moderate this incidence in the district. The main objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of conflict management mechanisms in the conflict between indigenous farmers and Fulani cattle herdsmen. Qualitative method design was used in the research. Data were obtained from indigenous farmers using focus group discussions and from key informants using semi-structured interviews. Farmers and key informants concurred that the main factors of conflict in the district are crossing boundaries to ruin farms as well as rape or murder indigenous female farmers. Key informants and farmers explained that there is an ineffective conflict management method to deal with the ongoing conflict in the district. Therefore, the ineffective conflict management measures have deterred most of the farmers in the Asante Akim North district. This is because cattle continue to destroy crops in the district. Ranching ought to be initiated in the district to prevent the conflict between crop farmers and Fulani cattle herders. Further, all the actors and stakeholders must be included in the conflict management process to minimize conflict in the district.

Keywords

Conflict management, Indigenous farmers, Fulani herdsmen, Conflict.

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Assessing the Impact of Conflict Management Mechanisms on Indigenous Farmer-Fulani Cattle Herdsmen Relations in Asante Akim North District