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R E S E A R C H Open Access
Pastoral livelihoods of the Fulani on the Jos
Plateau of Nigeria
Ayodele O Majekodunmi
1*
, Akinyemi Fajinmi
2
, Charles Dongkum
2
, Alexandra P M Shaw
1
and Susan C Welburn
1
Abstract
The Jos Plateau is an important cattle-producing area in Nigeria, with a high concentration of pastoral Fulani. In recent
decades, pastoralist studies have focused on arid and semi-arid areas, with few based in the sub-humid zones, such as
the Jos Plateau. There have been significant socio-economic and agricultural changes in this area over time which
makes it necessary to assess current pastoral livelihood strategies. A pastoral livelihood analysis of 66 individual
households/herds across 30 villages was conducted, using participatory methods and structured questionnaires.
The majority of pastoral households are in the middle or better off wealth categories and only a few are poor in
terms of livestock holdings. However, the majority are poor in terms of land holdings. Livestock sales remain the
major source of income, but only 30% of households rely on this as their sole source of income. Sale of crops,
milk and off-farm activities contributed income in other households. Comparison with previous livestock productivity
levels on the Jos Plateau shows that natural resource conflict has increased, with negative effects on productivity,
although vulnerability to shocks has decreased over the years. Overall productivity has decreased and calving
rates were particularly low. The pastoral Fulani community is relatively well-off, compared to similar populations
across West Africa. However, the high proportion of wealth concentrated in livestock and large numbers of land-poor
households indicate that there is still a degree of vulnerability to the risks of drought/dry season, disease and conflict in
pastoral livelihoods in the area.
Keywords: Pastoral; Fulani; Sustainable livelihoods; Cattle; Livestock productivity; Nigeria; Jos Plateau
Background
Small-scale livestock production is a major contributor
to the economies of sub-Saharan countries, especially
for the rural populations. It also plays an essential role
in food production, and the protein provided by live-
stock products is an important component of this. There
are 120 million pastoralists worldwide, 50 million of
these in sub-Saharan Africa where they constitute 12%
of the rural population (Rass 2006). The Fulani are the
primary pastoral group in Nigeria with a population of
approximately 15.3 million. The Fulani first settled on
the Jos Plateau around 1910, attracted by the low levels
of disease and abundant grasslands, and are present in
large numbers till today (Blench 2004).
The ability of pastoralists to fulfil their role as food
producers is directly dependent on the viability of their
livelihoods and the factors affecting their livelihood
strategies. The livelihoods of pastoral people depend on
three things: first, access to assets such as land, livestock,
pasture, water, animal health services, community net-
works, markets, credit and education; second, the environ-
ment in which these assets are combined for production
and consumption, specifically the political, organisational
and institutional infrastructure within which they operate,
which affects their ability to use these assets to achieve
positive livelihood outcomes; and third, the dynamic con-
text of risks (human and animal disease, marginalisation,
drought, civil conflict and competition for natural re-
sources) and seasonal and continuous trends that affect
assets and their environment and determine the vulner-
ability of livelihoods (Rass 2006; Eldis.org 2010). Vulner-
ability is a measure of the lack of resilience to risks and
seasonal and long-term trends. Therefore, it is not only an
important feature of poverty but also a potential cause.
* Correspondence: ayo.majekodunmi@ed.ac.uk
1
Division of Pathway Medicine and Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of
Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The
University of Edinburgh, Chancellor’s Building, 49 Little France Crescent,
Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
© 2014 Majekodunmi et al.; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.
Majekodunmi et al. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2014, 4:20
http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/4/1/20
Vulnerability is closely linked to asset ownership - the
more assets people have, the less vulnerable they are. The
greater the erosion of assets, the greater the level of vul-
nerability - poor herders are more likely to end up with an
unviable herd size than wealthier herders, even when they
lose the same relative amount of livestock (Rass 2006).
The literature on pastoral livelihoods and customs fo-
cuses on pastoralists located in the arid/semi-arid zones
but less emphasis on those located in the sub-humid
zones such as the Fulani of the Jos Plateau (Catley
2000). Recent changes in population, land use, socio-
economic climate and tsetse and trypanosomiasis risk
on the Jos Plateau have had significant effects on pas-
toral livelihoods on the Plateau. Little information is
available on the current state of pastoral livelihoods or
the drivers for the epidemiology of trypanosomiasis in
this area. Therefore, a longitudinal research project was
carried out between 2007 and 2008 to provide a compre-
hensive summary of the epidemiology of bovine trypano-
somiasis on the Jos Plateau; determine which social,
economic, ecological and cultural factors influence ani-
mal health and disease control by herders; provide an
overview of current pastoral livelihoods including quan-
titative analysis of animal productivity and profitability
to herders and examine the effects of recent changes in
socio-economic and security factors on pastoral liveli-
hood strategies. Results on the epidemiology of trypano-
somiasis and social factors affecting it have been
published in Majekodunmi et al. (2013a, b). This paper
is concerned with livestock productivity and the current
state of pastoral livelihoods on the Jos Plateau.
Study area
The Jos Plateau (Figure 1) in north central Nigeria
covers an area of 8,000 km
2
at an average altitude of
1,280 m. It consists of younger granite of volcanic origin,
and the terrain is characterised by numerous rocky, flat-
topped hills and crater lakes. The Jos Plateau, formerly
open savannah woodland but now mostly grassland, is a
highly populated, intensively cultivated area. It was
Figure 1 Jos Plateau.
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historically free of tsetse flies and trypanosomiasis. The ab-
sence of trypanosomiasis and abundant pasture attracted
large numbers of cattle-keeping pastoralists. The area now
holds over a million cattle and plays an important role in
the national/regional cattle industry. However, beginning
in 1982, there have been increasing reports of tsetse flies
and African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) on the Plateau
(Majekodunmi et al. 2013a).
The Plateau shows high ethno-linguistic diversity,
without any of the large-scale political units that charac-
terise Yoruba- or Hausaland. In pre-colonial times, the
Plateau was populated by a great variety of small ethnic
groups living in hamlets with a complex clan organisa-
tion and ritual kingship systems speaking an assortment
of ‘Plateau’languages and a few Chadic languages re-
lated to Hausa. Therefore, no single language or people
were dominant, although the largest ethnic groups were
(and still are) the Birom, Ngas and Tarok (Gunn 1953;
Blench 2004). These tribes lived mostly in the natural
fortresses provided by the hills, and the central plain of
the Plateau was largely uninhabited. However, after the
advent of the British at the turn of the century, hill tribes
were resettled on the central plain. Soon after, the estab-
lishment of the tin mining industry attracted workers
and traders from across the country. In the early nine-
teenth century, low human populations, absence of tse-
tse and mosquitoes and unlimited grassland made the
Jos Plateau one of the most attractive environments for
cattle in northern Nigeria. These favourable conditions
drew Fulani pastoralists from the semi-arid regions who
established themselves across the Plateau. From the
1970s onwards, the Fulani also settled on the lowland
plains. Currently, the Jos Plateau is a highly populated
cosmopolitan area, with inhabitants from across the coun-
try with a significant Muslim/Hausa presence (Fricke 1979;
Awogbade 1983; Blench 2004). Rural areas are mostly
inhabited by farmers of the original Plateau tribes with a
significant minority of settled Fulani herders.
Jos: conflict and civil strife
The population of Jos city is composed of ‘indigenes’
from Plateau tribes (mostly Christians of the Birom,
Anaguta and Afizere tribes), and Hausa-Fulani Muslim
‘settlers’comprise a significant minority along with other
settlers from across the country (Blench 2003). The con-
flict in Jos stems from competition between Muslims
and Christians, ‘settlers’and ‘indigenes’, respectively, for
political power and representation in government. The
Plateau tribes, who are mostly Christians, claim ‘indi-
gene’status and ownership of Jos city as the original in-
habitants of the land. The Jasawa (Hausa Muslims of Jos)
are currently classed as settlers which places them at a dis-
advantage in terms of social, political and economic bene-
fits such as scholarships, places in state schools and
employment in the civil service. The Hausa population in
Jos wish to claim indigeneity in Jos, based on their long-
standing settlement (fourth or fifth generation in some
cases), and demand adequate representation in govern-
ment and politics. This is vehemently opposed by the ‘in-
digenes’who wish to keep these resources for themselves
and feel that the settlers already have enough of an advan-
tage over them in terms of numbers and affluence.
This tension has led to recurring violence in Jos North
Local Government Area (LGA), since 1994. In August of
2001, a Hausa Muslim was appointed as the poverty
eradication coordinator in the area. Tension escalated
until September 2001 when it boiled over into riots that
engulfed the whole city and was replayed in rural areas.
In one week, over a thousand people were killed and
tens of thousands of Muslims (including pastoralists)
fled, never to return (Bawa and Nwogwu 2002). These
were reported as religious riots, and those fomenting vio-
lence on either side were quick to incite their followers on
religious grounds (Human Rights Watch 2001). There had
been relative peace in rural areas of the high Plateau since
the violence of 2001 and 2002. In November of 2008, the
violence was repeated in disputes over the local govern-
ment elections in Jos North. More than 780 people were
killed in the ensuing riots (Higazi 2011). But unlike in
2001, the 2008 riot did not lead to violence in the country-
side. There were also outbreaks of violence in November
2009 to January 2010. In December 2010 to January 2011,
several churches were bombed during midnight mass on
Christmas Eve and widespread riots followed. This time,
the violence did spread into the rural areas on the Plateau
(Higazi 2011; Krause 2011). Most of this violence was di-
rected against Muslims - Hausa and Kanuri residents in
historic tin mining settlements and adjacent Fulani agro-
pastoralist communities - and most were driven out at this
time. After a few months, the Fulani regrouped in certain
areas and there were repeated attacks on Birom villages.
Those affected on both sides lost their homes, farms,
livestock and other assets. This current phase of rural
violence began in January 2010 and has continued
intermittently since then in three of the 17 local gov-
ernment areas in Plateau State: Barkin Ladi, Riyom and
Jos South. The loss of life during this period has been
even greater than that in 2001 to 2002, and the conflict
has become protracted in these areas despite military
interventions (Higazi 2013).
Off the Jos Plateau, the other major centres of conflict
in Plateau State are Langtang and Wase local govern-
ment areas on the lowland plains some 200 km south-
east of Jos. The Tarok people are the indigenous tribe in
this area, but there are substantial settlements of Hausa
farmers and Fulani pastoralists (Blench 2004). The Tarok
have maintained good relations with these settlers for a
long time and are now themselves substantial cattle
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owners, often as a result of sending their sons to be
trained in herding by the Fulani. The Tarok, moreover,
have a long tradition of military service, and many of
their leaders are ex-generals. Apparently, a fight broke
out in Yelwa at the end of June 2002 between Christian
and Muslim residents resulting in the burning of
churches. It quickly spread to other communities in the
area and degenerated into protracted guerrilla warfare
with each side conducting armed reprisal raids on the
other until the end of 2004 (Blench 2004). Cattle rustling
by the Tarok was rife during this period, and of the 1.2
million cattle recorded in Wase LGA, an estimated
500,000 were lost to rustlers (Higazi 2008). In May 2009,
state security forces stormed five villages in Wase LGA
and hundreds of Fulani were forcibly loaded into trucks
and driven ‘back’to Bauchi, Gombe, Katsina and Jigawa
states. Insecurity has discouraged both farming and
herding in many areas with serious effects on livelihoods
and food supply (Blench 2004).
Methods
To determine trypanosomiasis prevalence at 95% confi-
dence, a longitudinal two-stage stratified cluster sam-
pling design was used where randomly selected cattle
were the ultimate sampling unit and villages were clus-
ters. Thirty individual villages were chosen using a
15 km × 20 km grid applied over the study area as shown
in Figure 2. A structured questionnaire, incorporating
various participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques,
was administered to livestock owners who participated
in the trypanosomiasis survey. This allowed us to gather
data for quantitative analysis of animal productivity and
profitability to pastoralists; determine which social, eco-
nomic, ecological and cultural factors influence animal
health and disease control by herders and investigate
knowledge, attitude and practices of animal husbandry
and disease control.
Structured questionnaires are a standard method for
collecting survey data. However, large-scale surveys and
long questionnaires can be biased, unreliable and difficult
to administer and analyse. PRA uses a range of qualitative
sample survey methods to gather information by allowing
local people to share and analyse their knowledge and ex-
periences and to make plans based on this information
(Chambers 1994). It is quicker and more cost-effective
than long-term studies and uses a wide range of multidis-
ciplinary information. It enables on-the-spot assessment
and direct response to actual village-level problems. It also
facilitates collection of standardised field data for use in
more sophisticated databases. These qualitative methods
may be used on their own or alongside more formal quan-
titative methodologies. Structured questionnaires incorp-
orating several PRA techniques were administered to
livestock owners in individual interviews and focus group
discussions focusing on animal husbandry, pastoral liveli-
hoods and the factors affecting them. Household/herd in-
formation was collected from 66 individuals for land
ownership, mortality, herd dynamics and productivity to
allow quantitative analysis of the data.
Households were assigned to wealth groups according to
the categories devised by Famine Early Warning Systems
Network for pastoral households (FEWS 2004) as shown
in Table 1.
Results
Source of income
Livestock sale was the most important source of cash in-
come amongst households, accounting for 52% of pas-
toral income across the study area as shown in Figure 3,
ahead of crops (22%) and milk (12%). In terms of indi-
vidual household income diversity, 30% of households
relied on livestock as their sole source of income as
shown in Figure 4. Forty percent supplemented the in-
come from livestock with crops and 15% with milk.
Fifteen percent gained additional income from off-farm
activities, mostly mining and sale of firewood.
Land holdings
Land ownership was universal, with all households own-
ing a piece of land. The majority of households (61%)
owned 1 to 10 acres (Figure 5). The average amount of
land owned was 17.9 acres, of which 10.9 were used for
cropping while 7 were used for livestock. This illustrates
the general trend of land use primarily for cropping
purposes. Livestock were generally grazed on com-
mons/fallow/unused land and only tethered at night on
land owned by the household.
Crop farming
All households were engaged in crop farming. One hun-
dred percent of households grew maize, 91.7% grew veg-
etables (potatoes, lettuce, carrots, peas, cabbages, etc.)
and 76.4% grew millet (Figure 6). All recipients grew
more than one crop and the average number of crops
grown was four. All but three of the 30 households used
manure from their own cows (91.9%) and commercial
fertilisers to enhance crop yield and quality, but less
than half (40.5%) used herbicides.
Cattle holdings
Herd size was very variable, ranging from 7 cattle to
5,015 cattle. The herd size distribution was bimodal,
with peaks in the range 10 to 20 cattle and 50 to 100
cattle (Figure 7). The average herd size was 253 cattle.
However, when the four outlier herds with >1,000 ani-
mals were removed from the sample, the average herd
size fell to 78 cattle. All households owned livestock
other than cattle, with most of them keeping small
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Figure 2 Study area showing selected villages.
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ruminants and chickens for household consumption
and/or sale and dogs for hunting and/or security.
Herd composition
The age and sex of the sampled animals were recorded.
Since the sampled animals were a good representative
sample of the total herd, this gives an indication of the
total herd composition. The sampled animals consisted
of 74.1% (confidence interval: 73.1% –75.1%) females
and 25.9% (24.9% –26.9%) males.
When considered by age group, 8.3% (7.5% –8.7%) of
the herd were young calves below 6 months old, of
which 3.8% (3.4% –4.2%) were males and 4.5% (4.0% –
4.8%) females. The overlapping confidence intervals in-
dicate that there is no significant difference in sex ratio.
Juveniles aged between 6 months and 2 years of age
accounted for 25.3% (24.2% –26.2%): 12.5% (11.7% –
13.3%) males and 12.8% (12.0% –13.6%) females. The
overlapping confidence intervals indicate that there is no
significant difference in sex ratio. Those above 2 years
old were 66.4% (65.4% –67.6%): 9.6% (8.9% –10.3%)
males and 56.8% (55.6% –57.9%) females (Figure 8).
There is no overlap in confidence intervals, indicating
that there is a significant difference in sex ratio in this
age group. There is no overlap in confidence interval be-
tween the three age groups, indicating a significant dif-
ference in age group composition.
Herd productivity
Information on herd size, births, deaths, sales, purchases
and prices was collected from individual members of
focus group discussions using PRA techniques embedded
in a structured questionnaire. Mean values per herd/
household are presented in Table 2. The average pastoral
cattle herd contained 253 cattle, consisting of 21 calves
below 6 months, 64 juveniles between 6 months and
2 years, 143 cows and 25 bulls. In the course of one year,
15 calves would be born (adding 5.8% –the herd) and 2 of
these would die (12.7% calf mortality rate). Sales would
consist of eight adult cattle (3.2% of herd) sold for an aver-
age price of USD 681 each, and three yearlings (1.0% of
herd) would be purchased for an average price of USD
309 each. Nine cattle would die (3.5% of herd) and one
(0.4% of herd) would be slaughtered for ceremonial pur-
poses. Natural herd growth (births to deaths) would be
four cattle (1.6% of herd). Actual herd growth is obtained
by adjusting for net offtake (sales + slaughters) that is for
eight cattle (3.6% of herd) offtaken less three (1.0% of the
herd) purchased, so six (2.6% of the herd). In this descrip-
tion, cattle numbers were rounded to whole numbers, but
percentages reflect the fractions. The actual herd growth,
recorded for the whole cattle population, was negative,
at −1.2% (Table 2).
These herd productivity results were compared to those
collected in 1975 by Pullan and Grindle (1980) to assess
changes over time as shown in Table 2. Prices from 1975
were adjusted for inflation to generate 2008 equivalents
Table 1 Pastoral household wealth grouping criteria (FEWS NET 2004/5)
Wealth group Household size Livestock Area planted
Poor 3 to 5 5 to 10 cows, 10 to 26 shoats 1 to 2 ha with household labour
Middle 7 to 8 15 to 50 cows, 35 to 100 shoats 3 ha with household labour
Better off 8 to 13 50+ cattle, 100+ shoats 5 ha with household labour and hired hands
Figure 3 Sources of pastoral cash revenue across the
study area. Figure 4 Household income diversity.
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(Central Bank of Nigeria 2007). There were no statistically
significant differences between the two data sets.
Wealth grouping
Analysis of households by livestock holdings revealed
that 43.9% of households were ‘better off ’, 50% were in
the ‘middle’group and only 6.1% were ‘poor’(Figure 9).
Analysis by land holdings showed that 37.9% of house-
holds were ‘better off’, 7.6% were in the ‘middle’group
and 54.5% were ‘poor’(Figure 10).
Conflict, competition and migration
Results showed that of the 66 respondents, 44 (67%)
practised transhumance: 4 (6%) only during the dry
season, 10 (15%) only during the wet season and 30
(46%) during both wet and dry seasons. Twenty-two
households did not practise transhumance. The rea-
sons given by respondents for their migration practices
in the dry and wet seasons are shown in Figure 11.
Figure 12 illustrates the seasonal calendar and migra-
tion periods.
Dry season migration is practised by herders in search
of adequate pasture and water: Climatic conditions
mean that there is very little grass or water available dur-
ing the dry season. Pastoral access to these scant re-
sources is further restricted by dry season farming
activities practised by the indigenous populations that
are common on the Jos Plateau and take priority over
cattle grazing. This means that even when grazing and/
or water is available, cattle may not be able to access it
and herders move them to areas with less land pressure.
Rainy season migration is practised for:
a) Accessible grazing and water: Pasture and water
are widely available in the wet season, but uptake
of more commercial and intensive farming
methods and a higher proportion of cash crops
mean that arable farmers increasingly demand
more land and water for irrigation, so herders are
marginalised.
b) Avoidance of farmers' crops: Increasing populations
and land pressure have intensified farmer/pastoralist
Figure 5 Land ownership.
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Figure 6 Crops grown by households.
Figure 7 Cattle holdings.
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conflicts and increased the frequency of animals
trampling crops. In many areas, these issues have
been resolved simply by asking pastoralists to
remove their cows from the village from the time
the crops appear above ground until harvest.
c) Avoidance of tsetse and/or biting flies:Inareas
where flies are a severe nuisance, cattle are moved
to more favourable areas of the Plateau or to
nearby lowlands.
Discussion
Sources of household income
Income diversity is significant, but 30% of households
are still reliant on a single source - livestock sales. Only
16% engaged in off-farm activities, mostly labour-
intensive mining/sale of firewood rather than invest-
ment/trade. This is an indicator that pastoral livelihoods
in this area retain a certain degree of vulnerability as
higher income diversity and diversification into trade
both reduce vulnerability to risks or shocks.
On the Jos Plateau, the proportion of better off
herders is higher than average figures for pastoralists
(10% poor, 10% better off and 80% in the middle group;
FEWS 2004). This indicates that their relative ‘wealth’
and local opportunities (land acquisition, proximity to
towns, good road networks, good market access, high
demand and high price for vegetables) have encouraged
voluntary diversification into growing cash crops in 39%
of households for whom these crops bring in 25% of
their cash income. The fact that the remaining 61% of
households were unable to take advantage of these con-
ditions to diversify into growing cash crops is supported
by the results of the wealth grouping by land holdings
that show that 54.5% of households were ‘land poor’.
Those in this category lack the opportunity of land ac-
quisition and are therefore unable to diversify into
cropping.
Figure 8 Herd composition.
Table 2 Mean productivity parameters per household
herd (with confidence intervals)
1975 2008
Starting stock 126 (19 –232) cattle 253 (62 –443) cattle
Closing stock 141 (16 –267) cattle 249 (60 –440) cattle
% Change in herd +7.8% (−17.0% –+25.6%) −1.2% (−2.8% –+0.3%)
Births 28.5% (4.0% –53.0%) 5.8% (4.0% –7.6%)
Deaths 8.0% (0% –55.3%) 3.5% (2.1% –4.9%)
Sales 10.4% (5.3% –52.6%) 3.2% (2.2% –4.3%)
Purchases 1.2% (0% –2.3%) 1.0% (0.4% –1.7%)
Price bought $769.5 (115.2 –1,423.9) $308.9 (265.0 –352.8)
Price sold $559.1 (188.3 –923.00) $680.9 (609.2 –752.5)
Natural herd
growth
14.7% (8.2% –21.2%) 1.6% (0.4% –2.8%)
Actual offtake 11.7% (2.2% –21.3%) 3.6% (2.4% –4.7%)
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The other main source of income for income-diverse
households was the sale of milk. Milk is the main sub-
sistence product of cattle. There is therefore constant
competition for milk, between human consumption, calf
consumption and sale which may be responsible for the
low percentage of households (28%) gaining income
from the sale of milk. There is evidence elsewhere that
only better off pastoral households consume milk while
poorer households prefer to sell it and buy grain to eat
(Niamir 1982). The low number of households gaining
income from milk is also as expected based on the
wealth grouping results - a higher number of better off
households will reserve their milk for consumption by
humans and calves while only the few poorer households
will sell theirs.
Another important obstacle to diversification into the
dairy trade is market exclusion, for which there are two
reasons. Firstly, the main potential for pastoral dairying
is an informal market serving high urban demand; how-
ever, pastoralists in remote areas simply do not have ac-
cess to this market. Secondly, the entire trade in pastoral
dairy products faces stiff competition from imported
powdered milk and intensive, peri-urban dairy farms.
This competition tends to reduce demand for pastoral
dairy products that are viewed as unhygienic in compari-
son. The lack of demand is a very important constraint
to market access as well as to any prospects for its im-
provement. Demand for pastoral dairy products has
been identified as the limiting factor to market participa-
tion and as an important pre-requisite for interventions
designed to increase market access for pastoralists, e.g.
establishment of milk collection centres and improved
road network (Michael 1987; Little 1989). Since income
from the pastoral dairy trade is controlled by women,
this also has serious implications for gender empower-
ment and household economics.
Wealth grouping
The results showed a discrepancy between wealth group-
ing by land and wealth grouping by livestock holdings.
Grouping by livestock holdings showed that 43.9% of
households were ‘better off’, 50% were in the ‘middle’
group and only 6.1% were ‘poor’. But grouping by land
holdings showed that 37.9% of households were ‘better
off’, 7.6% were in the ‘middle’group and 54.5% were
‘poor’. This shows that although few of the Fulani on the
Jos Plateau are poor in terms of livestock, many are still
land-poor. There is a continuous distribution amongst
wealth groups by livestock holdings, but the distribution
of wealth groups by land was bimodal: households
owned either a lot of land or very little, with few house-
holds in the middle category. This pattern of land own-
ership may be due to the duration of settlement of
different groups of Fulani. Fulani that have been settled
for longer are more likely to be granted permission to
acquire land, but they are also more likely to be
attracted by the advantages of mixed farming than those
who have only recently settled in an area. This distribu-
tion may also be linked to the amount of labour required
to till large pieces of land once acquired. Larger, wealth-
ier households are more likely to have spare hands for
farm labour or spare cash to hire labourers. The majority
of Fulani with large land holdings contract the tilling
and weeding to labourers from the indigenous popula-
tion, but family labour was used for harvesting. There
were no reports of animal traction used by either the
Fulani or indigenes for tilling their land.
The results of wealth grouping by livestock holdings
show that few herders are in the poor (6.1%) group while
the majority are in the middle (50%) and better off
groups (43.9%) on the Jos Plateau compared to average
figures from FEWS NET wealth analysis which showed
10% pastoral households to be poor, 10% –be better off
and 80% in the middle group (FEWS 2004). This is bet-
ter than the national pastoral poverty incidence of 28%
recorded by Rass (2006) for Nigeria (the lowest in West
Africa, compared to 48% in neighbouring Chad and
Niger, which had the highest poverty incidence amongst
pastoralists in West Africa). Despite this comparatively
well-to-do status, most of the study households' wealth
is invested in their livestock. This means that their day-
to-day living standards are lower than would be
Figure 9 Wealth groups by cattle.
Figure 10 Wealth groups by land.
Majekodunmi et al. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2014, 4:20 Page 10 of 16
http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/4/1/20
expected and that their livelihoods are vulnerable to the
risks of disease, droughts and conflict.
Crops
The pastoral Fulani group in the study area have become
agro-pastoralists who own land and grow their own sta-
ples (maize, millet) as well as cash crops (vegetables).
They are even willing to invest cash in agricultural in-
puts such as herbicides and fertiliser. The successful
adaptation to agro-pastoralism has resulted in higher
food security and income diversification for the Fulani
on the Jos Plateau. Typically, pastoralists are highly
dependent on cash purchase of food to satisfy their nu-
tritional need, but the widespread adaptation to agro-
pastoralism reduces this dependency and frees up cash
for other uses. The adaptation to agro-pastoralism and
reduced dependence on food purchase is also an indica-
tion of wealth status. Poorer pastoralists typically
Figure 11 Reasons for seasonal migration.
Figure 12 Seasonal calendar with migration periods. Dry season migration takes place between December and April and on average lasts
three months. Rainy season migration takes place between April and October and on average lasts two months. Dry season destinations are
more varied, half of them being on the eastern side of the Jos Plateau. The destinations vary in distance from a one-day to a three-week trek, but
the average distance is a five-day trek.
Majekodunmi et al. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2014, 4:20 Page 11 of 16
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purchase 70% of their food requirements whereas those
who are better off only purchase 15% of requirements
with 80% being supplied by their own crops (FEWS 2004).
This transition may be due to the breakdown of viable
exchange relations between pastoralists and local farmers,
forcing the Fulani to acquire land and grow their own
food, instead of getting it from farmers in exchange for
dairy products and manure. It may also simply be a nat-
ural income diversification strategy enabled by the long-
term settlement of the Fulani in this area. This is almost
certainly the case in the 23% of households who own large
amounts of land and sell most of their crops for cash.
However, it is likely that the former reason is responsible
for the widespread uptake of arable agriculture observed.
It is interesting to note that the Fulani, along with local
farmers, mostly grow crops that provide little or no resi-
dues (hay and threshed grain heads) for animals to graze.
Herd composition
Herds were composed of 76% females and 24% males.
Further analysis revealed that there were slightly more
female calves aged <6 months and equal numbers of
juveniles aged 6 months to 2 years, but in adult cattle
aged >2 years, the number of females was six times the
number of males. This shows that equal numbers of
male and female calves are born but that a large number
of males exit the herd when they reach the age of two.
The high percentage of adult females in the herd is char-
acteristic of a dairy herd, where the husbandry system is
geared towards maximising milk production and herd
growth. The preponderance of adult females in the herd
is a consistent feature of milk- and herd growth-oriented
extensive cattle production systems throughout Africa
(Pullan 1979; Wagenaar et al. 1986; Agyemang et al.
1997; Roderick et al. 1998) and contrasts with animal
traction-oriented cattle production systems, where num-
bers are similar or males predominate (Ahmedin and
Hugh-Jones 1995; Ocaido et al. 2005). However, in our
study, the proportion of females in the herd, at 74%, is
high as compared to 70% (Roderick et al. 1998), 70%
(Agyemang et al. 1997) and 67% (Wagenaar et al. 1986)
where some 4% –6% of the herd were oxen, probably
used for draught and, in the same area, 71% (Pullan
1979). This does indicate that in the study area, herders
keep very few surplus males, fewer than in 1979 and
fewer than elsewhere in the region. Mature males are
preferentially sold when cash is needed.
Herd productivity
Reproductive efficiency was low but not untypical for
the region. Cows in the region usually have their first
calf at age 4 years and over - with Pullan (1979) finding
a value of 60 months, Agyemang et al. (1997) 50 to
53 months and Wagenaar et al. (1986) 50 months. Thus,
it is estimated that between 38% and 45% of the ob-
served population in our study consisted of breeding
females. This proportion is very similar to that for
other African pastoral systems (Wagenaar et al. 1986;
Agyemang et al. 1997; Roderick et al. 1998). The an-
nual calving rate implied by the herd composition
would thus be between 33% and 42%. This is substantially
lower than the 46% estimated by Pullan (1979). The
optimum calving rate expected in intensive commercial
farming systems is 100%, i.e. one calf per cow per year.
However, results from studies on Fulani herds under simi-
lar traditional management lead us to expect that 50%
calving rate in these circumstances reflects a number of
factors. In these production systems, low calving rates are
usually attributed to the practice of allowing calves to
suckle their dams for very long periods of up to two years.
This is done for two main reasons: first, to provide robust
nutrition for calves, given the uneven availability of pas-
ture, and second, to ensure a constant supply of milk for
sale and household needs. It has also been argued that
calving every other year is sustainable for the cows in ex-
tensive systems, with limited grazing and some transhu-
mance (Hill 1995). Lactation length is a significant factor
in the determination of calving interval because the stress
of lactation delays the onset of oestrus until the calf is
weaned. However, here the impact is particularly marked.
The effects of disease and poor nutrition exacerbate the
situation, so that this means that on average, each cow
produces a calf once every 28 to 36 months. The average
calving interval for White Fulani cows in Nigeria is 13 to
14 months under intensive management (Wheat and
Broadhurst 1968; Wheat et al. 1972; Oyedipe et al. 1982)
and 24 to 27 months under traditional management
(Pullan 1979; Otchere 1983), as against 20 months in Mali's
Niger Delta (Wagenaar et al. 1986) and 22 months in cen-
tral Mali (Wilson 1986) as well as The Gambia (Agyemang
et al. 1997) where it was observed that a subset of cows
calved regularly and others very infrequently. Calf mortality
in the first six months of life is low at 12.7% compared
to expected values of 20% –40% for the first year
(Pullan and Grindle 1980; Wagenaar et al. 1986), but
this is not enough to compensate for the poor repro-
ductive performance.
Mortality was low at 3.5%, much lower than the 16.3%
recorded by Wagenaar et al. (1986) and 8.1% recorded
by Pullan and Grindle (1980). This may be because of
generally lower levels of disease than in the past as well
as increased access of herders to curative drugs.
Sales were equivalent to 3.2% of the herd, again lower
than the 5.6% recorded by Wagenaar et al. (1986) and
10.4% by Pullan and Grindle (1980). This may be be-
cause the Fulani on the Jos Plateau are now all agro-
pastoralists and are less dependent on cash from sale of
Majekodunmi et al. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2014, 4:20 Page 12 of 16
http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/4/1/20
cattle to buy food. However, herds are much larger now,
and more money is realised per sale, even after allowing
for inflation, so selling a smaller percentage of the over-
all herd is sufficient. Purchases of new stock were
equivalent to 1.0% of the herd, comparable to the 1.2%
recorded by Pullan and Grindle (1980).
Natural herd growth (often described as potential off-
take) was 1.6% and actual offtake 3.6%. Both figures are
very low, much lower than the 14.7% natural herd
growth and 11.7% actual offtake previously recorded by
Pullan (1980). This points to reduced productivity over
time. The reduction in productivity is probably linked to
increased land pressure and environmental degradation
and its knock-on effects on cattle nutrition and manage-
ment. It may also be linked to the presence of trypano-
somiasis which was absent from the Plateau at the time
of the study by Pullan (Majekodunmi et al. 2013a) which
is primarily a disease of production. Actual offtake was
more than potential offtake, indicating that herders are
unable to meet their need for cash from livestock sales
without reducing the size of their herd. This factor is
probably responsible for closing stock levels (average
herd size of 249) being lower than starting stock (253)
and the −1.2% average change in herd size.
Figures obtained previously from Pullan and Grindle
(1980) were compared to those collected in this survey.
There were no statistically significant differences be-
tween the two data sets. However, there are some appar-
ent changes that can be deduced from the figures:
Mean herd size has increased and is more variable.
This could be due to increased polarisation into
better off versus poor households or to a simple
increase in the number of better off households.
Wealth grouping results support the latter because
although there is a higher proportion of better off
households, there is also a high proportion of
households in the middle category.
Variability in annual change in herd size has
decreased, showing that herd sizes are more stable.
The number of births is less variable, but seems to
be decreasing, pointing to a reduction in cattle
productivity.
Variability in both natural herd growth (potential
offtake) and actual offtake has decreased, pointing to
increased stability. However, actual offtake in this
study is more than potential offtake, which also
indicates reduced productivity and ultimately a
willingness to reduce herd size and compromise
long-term herd growth, if viable breeding females
are sold.
Sale and purchase prices are both less variable. The
price of stock bought is much lower than it was, but on
average, herders earn USD 120 more per animal sold.
When taken together, these factors indicate that the
overall livestock enterprise is more stable but the overall
productivity has also decreased.
Effects of conflict, competition and migration
Results show that 67% of all households practised trans-
humance and that over half of these practised both wet
and dry season migration. Poor availability of resources
is the main driver for dry season migration, being the
reason cited by 71% of respondents, almost twice the
number who cited poor access as the reason for migra-
tion. However, poor access to available resources is the
major driver for wet season migration, being the reason
cited by 48% of respondents, almost four times the num-
ber (13%) who cited lack of resources as the reason for
migration.
It is easy to see how the poor pasture and dwindling
water supplies caused by the long harsh dry season force
herders to move their cattle to areas where the dry sea-
son is shorter and its effects less severe. This is an age-
old feature of pastoral life. Wet season migration is an
unfortunate consequence of natural resource competition
and marginalisation of pastoralists by farming communi-
ties. The issues surrounding lack of access to abundant
pasture and water during the wet season are more in-
volved and require a study of the relationships between
Fulani pastoralists and the indigenous farming peoples.
The most significant feature of rural dynamics in
Nigeria in the twentieth century has been demographic
expansion and the consequent expansion of cultivation
(Blench 2003). Agricultural expansion on the Jos Plateau
has also been fuelled by technological advances: im-
proved seed varieties, irrigation pumps and the introduc-
tion of new crops like maize and potatoes and vegetable
gardening (Blench 2003). Farmers on the Plateau previ-
ously practised rainfed agriculture based on cereals that
grew well on eroded soils and produced high-quality res-
idues for animals. This facilitated a stable system of ex-
change between farmers and pastoralists: grain for dairy
products and crop residues for manure. At this time,
mine ponds and river valleys were of little use to farmers
but were valuable to pastoralists who were given free ac-
cess but not ownership rights. Dry season farming of new
crops - maize, sugarcane and Irish potatoes - was intro-
duced in the 1960s and greatly encouraged by World
Bank-funded agricultural development programmes in the
1970s. Year-round large-scale vegetable gardening also
began in the 1980s, assisted by the appearance of small
petrol irrigation pumps. These are all fertiliser-based crops
that produce no useful crop residues for cattle feed, so the
farmer-pastoralist exchange system has broken down. Ad-
vances in livestock management and disease control over
time have also led to agricultural expansion on the part of
pastoralists. This has led to overstocking and
Majekodunmi et al. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2014, 4:20 Page 13 of 16
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overexploitation of pasture. Very large numbers of cattle
have caused degradation on a massive scale, and sheet and
gully erosion have long been widespread on the Jos Plat-
eau (Pullan 1980; Blench 2004).
Given the increasing land pressure and agricultural ex-
pansion by both parties, previous land use schemes be-
came unsustainable and have broken down. All riverine
plots which previously provided lush pasture and water-
ing points have become extremely valuable to farmers.
Therefore, pastoralists' access rights have been revoked
and they have been effectively excluded from the enjoy-
ment of natural resources that were previously held in
common. Pastoralists have adapted to this increasing
marginalisation by sending their cows off the Plateau for
longer periods each year. There are several important
consequences of the increase in transhumance in re-
sponse to these issues. Management becomes more diffi-
cult as herds are split and increased labour is required
to herd migrating cattle (which are also more vulnerable
to security risks). Cattle suffer poorer health and product-
ivity due to malnutrition, stress and fatigue of trekking, in-
creased morbidity of underlying diseases and increased
contact with disease and disease vectors during transhu-
mance. There are also many long-term, indirect effects of
this climate of recurring violence, marginalisation of pas-
toralists and constant risk of conflict. These factors often
reverse ongoing development processes in pastoral liveli-
hoods - herders are less likely to invest in new assets/
technologies or to practise income diversifications in
such an atmosphere of uncertainty (Mahama et al. 2005;
Majekodunmi et al. 2013b). The outbreaks of urban vio-
lence in Jos and its environs exacerbate the growing nat-
ural resource conflict in the rural areas.
Environmental security scholars believe that these
rural conflicts are manifestations of herder-farmer con-
flict based on competition for land and natural re-
sources, fuelled by climate change such as desertification
in the Sahel (Homer-Dixon 1999; Herskovits 2010).
Political ecologists on the other hand argue that social,
cultural and political considerations are more important
than ecological factors in causing these violent conflicts
(Hartmann 2001; Moritz 2010).
Our experience has been that natural resource con-
flicts unrelated to the ethno-religious conflicts previously
described tend to be settled amicably on the Jos Plateau
as reported by respondents. Traditional conflict miti-
gation/resolution mechanisms are active there and
have successfully managed to develop schemes for the
Figure 13 Gashish wet season land use scheme (Google Earth, 2009).
Majekodunmi et al. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2014, 4:20 Page 14 of 16
http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/4/1/20
shared use of key resources. The pastoralists interviewed
described practising increased migration during both
wet and dry seasons to comply with these agreements.
This is reinforced by Blench (2004) who points out that
natural resource conflicts on the Jos Plateau are ‘usually
settled informally and the types of violent clashes char-
acteristic of some other northern states were not char-
acteristic of the Plateau’. He presents resource use
maps as evidence of agreements on natural resource
use between farmers and herders which were still in
use at the time of this study (Figure 13). Higazi (2013)
is of the opinion that ‘the complexity of the rural vio-
lence has tended to be lost on analysts and reporters,
who in seeking to explain what is happening from afar have
over-simplified the conflicts as “farmer-herder clashes”-
there are other important aspects to the violence’.These
include revenge for past attacks, economies of conflict (cat-
tle rustling and armed robbery for gain), resource scarcity,
decreasing interdependence of pastoral and agricultural
economies, cultural/religious differences between herders
and farmers and institutional failures to resolve conflicts as
well as the broader political and historical context (Blench
1984; Huraoult 1998; Moritz 2006; Tonah 2000; Blench
2004; Higazi 2011).
Conclusion
This survey of pastoral livelihoods of Fulani herders is
set against a backdrop of agricultural change and general
insecurity. The survey showed that the majority of pas-
toral households in the study area are better off or in the
middle wealth categories and only a few are poor in
terms of livestock holdings. However, many households
are poor in terms of land holdings. Income diversity is
significant but as many as 30% of households still rely
on one source of cash revenue: livestock sales. Pastoral-
ists are less vulnerable to livestock disease but increas-
ingly vulnerable to the risks of conflict and poor access
to natural resources. Cattle productivity parameters are
more stable, but the overall productivity has decreased
and reproductive rates were particularly low. The amount
of wealth concentrated in livestock, number of land-poor
households and those still reliant on one source of income
suggest that there is still a degree of vulnerability to the
risks of disease, drought/dry season and conflict in pas-
toral livelihoods in the area.
This information gives us an improved understanding
of factors affecting pastoral livelihood strategies and life-
style choices, which is useful for targeting improvements
and interventions and providing a solution to the current
volatile situation. The target is clearly not poverty or live-
stock disease, although there is room for improvement on
both. The target should be to increase productivity and
sustainability and reduce vulnerability. The primary ap-
proach to achieving this is to settle the issues surrounding
security, natural resource use and sustainable nutrition
for cattle. The current extensive production system has
clearly become unsustainable, and the extent to which
Fulani pastoralists can adapt their livelihood strategies
to integrate with prevailing conditions will determine
the viability of their livelihoods in the future.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’contributions
AOM conceived of the study and participated in its design, coordinated the
fieldwork, analysed the data and drafted the manuscript. AF and CD carried out
the data collection and translations in the field. APMS and SCW participated in
the study design and coordination, data analysis and manuscript revision. All
authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Authors’information
AOM is an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, working on the
control of parasitic and zoonotic diseases. AF is a veterinarian at the Nigerian
Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research. CD is principal livestock technologist
with the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research. APMS is a livestock
and health systems economist. SCW is the Director of the Global Health
Academy and Assistant Principal for Global Health at the University of
Edinburgh.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Augustine Igweh, Everestus Yanan, Musa Sule and
the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis in Vom, Nigeria, and The Plateau
State Ministry of Agriculture for their assistance facilitating this project. We
would also like to thank Dr K. Picozzi and Dr M. Thrusfield for their
contributions to the wider project. Our sincere appreciation goes to the
community leaders of the study villages on the Jos Plateau.
Funding
This study was supported by the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council (BBSRC) under the ‘Combating Infectious Diseases in Livestock
for International Development’(CIDLID)scheme(AOM,SCW,APMS);theEuropean
Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement
no. 221948, Integrated Control of Neglected Zoonoses (ICONZ) (SCW, CD, APMS);
the DfID Research Into Use Programme (SCW, APMS) and a European Science
Foundation Senior Investigator(s) award Investigating Networks of Zoonosis
Innovation (INZI) (SCW).
Author details
1
Division of Pathway Medicine and Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of
Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The
University of Edinburgh, Chancellor’s Building, 49 Little France Crescent,
Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK.
2
Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research, P.M.B.
1303, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria.
Received: 16 September 2014 Accepted: 22 October 2014
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doi:10.1186/s13570-014-0020-7
Cite this article as: Majekodunmi et al.:Pastoral livelihoods of the Fulani
on the Jos Plateau of Nigeria. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice
2014 4:20.
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Majekodunmi et al. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2014, 4:20 Page 16 of 16
http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/4/1/20
