Conflict in the time of Covid-19

In this brief, the programme Supporting Pastoralism and Agriculture in Recurrent and Protracted Crises (SPARC) speaks to farmers and pastoralists in conflict-affected drylands of Nigeria to gauge how Covid-19, and lockdown measures, have affected their social relationships.

How have Covid-19 and lockdown measures affected the social relationships of farmers and pastoralists in the conflict-affected Nigerian states of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Kogi and Plateau? What, if any, changes in social cohesion and conflict have these farmers and pastoralists had to deal with against the backdrop of pandemic control measures and the other shocks they routinely face?

These were among the questions that SPARC asked farmers and herders in Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Kogi and Plateau to gain some insight into their experiences of social cohesion and conflict since April 2020.

This brief highlights how the activities of armed and vigilante groups changed during the pandemic; farmer and pastoralist perceptions of government pandemic response measures and aid, and how pandemic measures impacted social relationships within agro-pastoral and pastoral communities.

This brief is part of a three-part SPARC learning project to understand how farmers, herders and those living in conflict-affected areas in South Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia are coping with and adapting to multiple shocks and stressors. The first part of the project highlights research on people’s lives, livelihoods and wellbeing.

This brief reports on research from the second part, which captures people’s experiences of social cohesion, conflict and conflict mediation, and situates these within broader security contexts gathered from government, research and non-governmental organisation (NGO) reports and media sources.

Key messages

Farmers and pastoralists largely reported that Covid-19 did not create new social, inter-ethnic or inter-group tensions. Where conflict was taking place, it had existed before the pandemic and was not perceived to have increased or decreased specifically due to pandemic measures;
Farmers and herders stated that longstanding feelings of land tenure disadvantage and ethnic tension, and/or conflict mediation efforts, were more important in shaping conflict than the shock (e.g. Covid-19) itself.

These interim findings provide valuable insight for policymakers, donors and aid actors seeking to reduce conflict risk, including how:

Governmental organisations, government and donors can more successfully reduce conflict risk regardless of shock by understanding background conflict contexts and supporting livelihoods, land tenure clarification and conflict mediation;
Aid actors need steady approaches to conflict mediation that work to address longstanding concerns and bolster local mediation efforts, not reactive approaches.

Authors: Leigh Mayhew, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Gbenga Olatunji, Alex Humphrey, Hadiza Esma'eel, Msugh Atser, Oluwafemi Olajide, Salma Aliyu, Shadrach Gideon