They were given two weeks to leave. With the swiftness of a duiker, some dashed into Ghana’s neighbouring countries while others remained in Ghana and sought refuge in the homes and communities of family and friends.
Those who ran for shelter were the pastoral Fulanis, and what caused them to run was the policy Operation Cow Leg enacted and effected in the 1980s and 90s.
“Large numbers of Fulani herdsmen fled across the borders to Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Togo. Officials of the Animal Health and Production Department [AHPD] of the Ministry of Agriculture who organized the expulsion exercises seized several cattle belonging to Fulani herdsmen after the official deadline had passed” (Tonah 1993, 2002, as cited in Tonah, 2023).
That policy of expulsion by the Government of Ghana to flush out the pastoral Fulanis from the country has since time immemorial been ineffective. And conflicts between Ghanaian local farmers and the pastoral Fulanis across the country, including Agogo, in the Asante Akyim North District of the Asante Region rage on. Nonetheless, Akua Donkor, a presidential candidate in the country’s impending December 7 general election, is campaigning a drastic measure of expelling normadic herders when voted into office (Littvonline, 2023).
Despite the often-bleak picture we see and hear in the media about farmer-herder conflict, Kaderi Noagah Bukari, Papa Sow, and Jürgen Scheffran, in their 2018 paper “Cooperation and Co-Existence Between Farmers and Herders in the Midst of Violent Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Ghana,” argue that all hope is not lost. In some parts of the Northern Region of Ghana, farmers and, for that matter, the indigenes coexist with pastoral Fulanis.
“They cooperate mainly in the use and sharing of resources, particularly land and water usage. There are usually freeholds of land given to Fulani by communities for settlement and farming” (Bukari et al., p. 85).
What this simply suggests is that it is possible to achieve peace between the farmers and herders in Agogo too. In the subsequent lines, I suggest measures that could help bring about this peace.
To begin with, the farmers’ market. I propose the establishment of a “farmers’ market” on the side of the local peasant farmers. This will serve both the indigenes and the herder community, and just as I proposed in my previous article, the herders will this time be issued a special identification card where, when presented at the Farmers’ Market, they get a discount on goods purchased.
I believe that the Farmers’ Market together with the Herders’ Abattoir and Milk Factory will help foster good relations between the two parties.
My point is corroborated by research that found that such trade relations exist between herders and community members in some parts of the Northern Region of Ghana. “Trade relations are well-developed between farmers and herders, who share markets and sell and buy from each other. Women traders in particular have good relations with herders, who purchase basic food items such as salt, sugar, and bread from them, whilst herders or their wives sell milk, eggs, and fowl to market women and community members” (Bukari et al., 2018, p. 86).
Secondly, community sensitization. The local authority in Agogo must organize a community sensitization on the need to embrace peace, respect one another’s opinions, and coexist peacefully. Bearing in mind conflict sensitivity, the venue for such sensitization could be either in a school in their vicinity or at the community center (if any). And if both parties do not speak one language, the organizing authority must provide the services of a translator.
Lastly, media sensitization. Research abounds that the Ghanaian media has not done well enough in its reportage on the conflict, especially the way it portrays the Fulani community, giving them a bad image.
“The Ghanaian media have also not been sympathetic to the presence of the Fulani pastoralists in the country. Negative reports about Fulani herdsmen abound in the media. These reports have given the Fulani a bad image in the country” (Tonah, 2023). In this sense, the media must be sensitized on how not to inflame passions in the conflict.
Conclusively, with these measures implemented in Agogo, peace is greatly assured in the enclave between the farmers and the herders.
REFERENCES:
Bukari, K. N., Sow, P., & Scheffran, J. (2018). Cooperation and Co-existence Between Farmers and Herders in the Midst of Violent Farmer-herder Conflicts in Ghana. African Studies Review, 61(2), 78–102. doi:10.1017/asr.2017.124
Littvonline (2023, March 22), Akua Donkor State of Nation’s Address [Video]. YouTube. https://youtube.com/shorts/kN2R_HWl8ms?feature=shared
Tonah, S. (2023). Farmer-Herder Relations in Ghana. Accra, Ghana: Steve Tonah Yamens Press Limited.