The Backstory Matters: Reducing Anti-Herder Bias Among Displaced Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria

August 26-27, 2025| Accra, Ghana

OLUWABUNMI ADEJUMO| Obafemi Awolowo University/ Associate Professor

• OLWABUNMI ADEJUMO, Associate Professor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife
• UCHENNA EFOBI, Research Associate, University of Kent, Kent
• JIYOUNG KIM, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
• DANIEL POSNER, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles

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TEAM MEMBERS

What we will be discussing:

• Do farmers displaced by farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria update their views about herders when informed about the circumstances outside of the herders’ control?

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• Specifically, do their views update when informed about climate change that forced the herders to leave their traditional grazing areas and encroach on the farmers’ lands?

The study speaks to the potential for information provision to foster social cohesion in the aftermath of displacement triggered by climate change

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Previous studies from behavioral literature shows:

• social contracts, negotiation, and social expenditure improve intergroup relations (Hewstone 2006; Scacco & Warren, 2018)

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• Support for policies to address social relations in conflict settings (Jensen & Oster, 2009; La Ferrara et al., 2012; Banerjee et al., 2019; Grady et al., 2021)

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But, gaps remain in the literature on:

• Response of victims of violence to factual information affecting out-group members
• The behavioural impact on social cohesion when the in-group is exposed to factual information about the out-group

MOTIVATION & BACKGROUND

Contribution to Knowledge

• Adds to the evidence base in social and behavioral sciences
• Evaluates methods to improve intergroup relations

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• Innovative methods:
• Uses audio-visual content to demonstrate how climate change is related to conflict
• Assesses reactions

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• Validates the hypothesis:
• Information exposure matters for improving behaviour- social cohesion

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Timely -- the Government of Nigeria plans to:

• Enact the National Livestock Transformation
• Plan to address climate-induced migration
• Prevent resource competition-related conflicts

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CAPTION OR PHOTO CREDIT: RIGHT HERE

SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS

This study aims to:

1. Evaluate the impact of audio-visual exposure to the climate-induced migration narrative on social cohesion among victims of farmer-herder conflict in Nigerian IDP camps.

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• Examine the impact on perceptions of the needs of outgroup members (herders)

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• Measure key indicators of social cohesion:
• intergroup trust
• perceived agency
• stereotyping
• support for conflict resolution policies

STUDY OBJECTIVES

• Randomized the exposure of the displaced farmers to a video depicting the devastating impact of climate change on the traditional grazing lands of the herders, whose arrival in the farmers lands led to the farmers’ displacement
• Approved by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and worked with the State version-SEMA- in the focal State

DESCRIPTION OF INTERVENTION

Climate Change:

• Extreme weather conditions

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• Impact:
• Desertification
• Flooding
• Extinction
• Famine

Political Psychology:

• Cognitive Appraisal Theory
• Information
• Emotion
• Action
• Neural Process Theory
• Enthusiasm
• Anxiety
• Aversion

Conflict:

• Migration
• Competition
• Aggression

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• Social Cohesion
• Peacebuilding

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Theory of Change:

• In Benue State, Nigeria: in IDP camps where herder-farmer conflicts occur
• Adult victims of the herder-farmer conflict were randomly sampled from IDP camps

TARGET POPULATION & SAMPLE

Across 8 IDP Camps:

2,392 residents

Treatment (watched video):

1,206 residents

Control (watched placebo video):

1,186 residents

METHODOLOGY: QUANTITATIVE

CAPTION OR PHOTO CREDIT: RIGHT HERE

RCT Field Survey

• Field Survey (pre-treatment) with treatment and control groups
• Treatment administered to ~1200 residents of IDPs
• Follow-up (post-treatment): with both treatment and control groups

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• Follow-up phone survey

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Outcomes of Interest

• Empathy/compassion scale for herders
• Social distance measure
• Stereotype assessment/endorsement/extent of negative stereotyping
• Trust-based assessment
• Perceived agency versus perceived constraint
• Views on justice, property rights, and intergroup relations
• Policy preferences/support

METHODOLOGY: QUALITATIVE

CAPTION OR PHOTO CREDIT: RIGHT HERE

• Focus Group Discussions with:

• Farmers (in Benue State) on their:

• Experiences
• Perception of government support
• Reasons for herders’ migration
• Perception of climate change

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• Herders (in Plateau State) on:

• Communities for grazing
• Decision to migrate with cattle from their homeland
• Conflict with farmers

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• Strong effects of exposure to the treatment video on all the outcomes of social cohesion
• Farmers exposed to the treatment video are:
• More compassionate about the herders’ plight and express more leniency toward herders whose cattle trespass on their property and cause damage
• Report greater comfort sharing resources and spaces (e.g. water or space in their home with a herder, visiting a market if herders are present)
• Report more comfort with intergroup marriages
• Hold fewer negative stereotypes about herders
• Report greater mutual trust: herders will honor an agreement / repay a small
• Express greater support for policies that might improve herders’ livelihoods

RESULTS: THE INTERVENTION IMPROVED SOCIAL COHESION

• Estimated effect sizes on these outcomes are not substantively very large
• Average sentiment toward herders is still negative, even among those exposed to the treatment video.
• Exposure to the treatment video showed consistent indications of the power of visual information on climate-induced migration

NUANCES IN RESULTS

RESULTS CONTINUED

POLICY TAKEAWAYS & RECOMMENDATIONS

• Information priming can be a tool to map and inform public opinion for peaceful coexistence in conflict zones

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• Explore low-cost approaches such as edutainment to improve and encourage peacebuilding

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• Adopt a scaled approach to enlighten farmers and herders alike on the challenges of climate change

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• Carefully promote the need for adjustments in resource ownership, distribution, and utilization for economic activities among farmers and herders

Let’s keep

in touch.

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

adejumobum@ oauife.edu.ng; jumobum@gmail.com