Hussaini Hassan was a nomadic cattle herder who moved his livestock to various parts of Nigeria, including Benue and Kwara, in search of greener pastures, but in the last three years, he settled at the Paikon-Kore grazing reserve in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Dr Zayyanu Garba, a former director in the Department of Animal Services, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), told Weekend Trust in 2022 that the Paikon-Kore grazing reserve was created in 1991 by the administration of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd). He directed the then FCT minister, Muhammad Gado Nasko, to allocate some lands and even forests for the project, it was gathered.
With a hectare of land in the reserve, Hassan now grows grass to feed his livestock and appears comfortable with the newfound mixed farming method.
“I am a herder and farmer now. I grow grass with which I feed my livestock here in this grazing reserve. Until now, I didn’t know that grass could be cultivated,” he said.
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Paikon-Kore is a predominantly herders/farmers community. The grazing reserve originally sat on over 8,500 hectares of land that share boundaries with four villages—Paikon-Bassa, Paikon-Kore, Dobi, and Kace, all within the Gwagwalada Area Council.
According to an FCT gazette, there are four grazing reserves in the FCT, namely: Paikon-Kore/Dobi in Gwagwalada Area Council (9500ha); Kawu in Bwari Area Council (9000ha); Karshi in Abuja Municipal Area Council (6000ha) and Rubochi in Kwali Area Council (8985ha).
The leader of the community, Alhaji Suleman Ahmad, said the Paikon-Kore grazing reserve project was run by both public and private companies.
He added, “It has positively impacted on their lives as they now have some social amenities with new sources of income that improve their livelihoods.
“With schools in the grazing reserve, their children now attend schools, albeit with some challenges that hinder the smooth learning process, such as lack of structures and furniture, among others.
“We started after we were trained on how to grow grasses. Although there are few challenges here and there, our production has received a boost with the coming of this project.”
Within the grazing reserve, a Fulani youth leader, Lawal Daura, who also grows the grasses he feeds his animals with, said only few of his animals go outside the reserve to graze.
Project creates value chain
Some of the residents of the grazing reserve, including herders and farmers who spoke with our reporter, said the project had positively impacted on their lives, adding that they now have additional sources of income other than the conventional herding and farming they hitherto depended on.
Hussaini Hassan said the project had brought economic opportunities to them, a development he said had led to improvement in their livelihoods.
“Usually, during dry season when grasses have dried up, livestock production is difficult because to feed your animals you must buy feed, such as cotton cake, bran etc.
“We use the grasses we grow here to produce feed for our livestock. Sometimes we get other crop residues, chop and mix them with molasses to feed the livestock.”
He further said the animals usually devour such feed with ease, adding, “This has reduced our production challenges by 70 to 80 per cent. One important input you need as a herder is grass, and we are producing it here. Our animals don’t go outside now, they remain within the grazing reserve.”
Weekend Trust learnt that the project also created a value chain that led to job opportunities for women and youths.
Idris Musa Maikarfi, a milk aggregator, said the project had significantly impacted his life. He said through milk aggregation (a process of distribution service to collect milk from smallholder farmers and offer cold storage and wholesale to processing facilities) he was able to purchase two motorcycles.
He explained that although there were challenges at the early stage of trying to persuade people to key into the project, the milk distribution job now pays him reasonably.
“I am an aggregator with the companies that process the milk our animals produce.
“I collect milk and supply to two companies. I started this job about three years ago, and through it, I now have two motorcycles, which were given to me on a loan basis.
“Our women no longer have to go to neighbouring towns to sell their milk; they sell it at home. We go to them, buy it and supply to the companies for processing. There are about 30 aggregators.
“Aside this job, I also rear animals and grow grasses. Grass farming, which has now gained acceptance here, is greatly helping us with our livestock production,” Maikarfi explained.
Also benefitting from the project are Fulani women who Hussaini Hassan said were trained in various skills.
He said, “There are classes for mass education, where our women receive education and acquire skills in tailoring and other businesses.”
He said one of the classes was at the milk collection centre, while the other one was at Gangare.
“Our children are also into businesses because of the training offered by companies on how to purify/cleanse the milk, manage animal feed, and all grazing sundries, among other things. The companies do this by engaging us through different groups and associations where they conduct seminars and forums.
“Some operate Point of Sale (POS) businesses while others sell agrochemicals etc. There is development at Paikon-Kore.”
Lawal Daura, another herder, said grass farming had eased his livestock production by more than 50 per cent as he had enough feed for his animals, even during the dry season.
Giving a breakdown of the kinds of grasses they produce, Sulaiman Ahmad, a herder and farmer in Paikon-Kore said, “I grow Napier and Brachiaria grasses. I do it for business and also to feed my livestock.”
He told this reporter that he also sells the seeds of grasses to other growers who need them, adding, “I sometimes ensile the grasses, other times I store them for haymaking, especially during the dry season.
“I practise rotational grazing, such that as the animals graze up one paddock, I take them to another one in another farm. Because of this development, I can tell you that this has eased our production problems by 70 per cent. It is good to engage in grass farming.”
He advised other livestock farmers to partition their farms into two: grow grasses in one and cultivate grains in the other, explaining, “By doing so you have both grasses for the livestock and grains for consumption.”
Poor infrastructure, lack of water worry residents
Herders and other settlers told Weekend Trust that their children now attend schools to acquire western education despite a few challenges.
Ibrahim Dahiru Usman, a Fulani man and primary school teacher at the LEA Nomadic School, Rugar Iliya, Gwagwalada Area Council, said they had challenges of structures, furniture and other necessary facilities for proper education.
He appealed to the government to intervene, especially as some of the schools were established over 10 years ago and lack structures.
“Some are without chairs, desks and other furniture. There are adequate teachers but without offices. Our children receive education under the tree,” he said.
He also appealed to the government to review the system of teachers’ placement, which he said was under the Nomadic Commission before it was placed under the Local Education Authority (LEA).
“This is affecting us as most of the teachers under the LEA are abdicating their duties. The best way to address this is to have Fulani as teachers. Let the Nomadic Commission be allowed to recruit Fulani teachers for nomadic schools to ensure a smooth teaching and learning process,” he added.
Hussaini Hassan also said, “Some of our schools were established since 2014 but there are no classrooms. In Rugar Isah, one of the many settlements within the reserve, for example, there are over 100 pupils, but the school has no classrooms; likewise in Rugar Buba. The pupils receive their education under a tree.
“Water is also a problem in some parts of this grazing reserve. Some parts don’t have enough water to drink, let alone to give to their animals.
“We also don’t have a clinic. Whenever someone is ill, we take them outside the grazing reserve for treatment. We need the government to do something about it,” Hassan said.
Lawal Daura, the youth leader, further said the only borehole was at the school, which is a long distance from the residential area. He said, “During the dry season, we go to a hill to get water at one source, and it is a distance of about 1.5km from our houses.”
Trouble lurks
Although the ranching project has brought succour to the herders of Paikon-Kore and neighbouring settlements, there could be trouble between them and the farming communities unless the government intervenes.
“Another problem we face is that of encroachment by farmers. It is a grazing reserve but farmers have encroached on some parts of it to a level close to Fulani houses or farms. During the rainy season, we don’t have cattle routes,” Hussaini Hassan said.
He said some farming communities in the area had continued to encroach on the grazing reserve and go as far as giving out lands there. “This creates a problem,” he said, adding that when they were asked to leave, they insisted that there was no cattle route there.
Idris Musa Maikarfi, the milk aggregator, corroborated this claim, saying farms in the reserve were being encroached on by neighbouring farmers. He said a committee had been set up to resolve land disputes.
The secretary of the Ardon Paikon-Kore, Suleiman Ahmad, said two committees were established – one for farmers and another for herders – tasked with delineating grazing routes within the reserve. However, he noted that despite these efforts, the joint committees struggle to settle disputes, often resulting in cases being resolved through the authorities.
“Encroachment is even worse than before, especially this season,” Suleiman added.
He urged the government to repair their earth dams and increase other water sources, such as boreholes in the grazing reserve.
“Our schools need structures. There’s a school with up to 150 pupils but they don’t have classrooms, they study under a tree. Whenever there is rainfall they run to seek shelter inside one Juma’at mosque,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Ahmad said there had been relative peace in the reserve although they faced fears of migration in search of better pasture.
He said that with over 2,000 Fulani households in this grazing reserve, there were also migrant herders who now reside in the reserve.
“The few challenges we experience are when farmers apply chemicals on their farms. It affects our animals, sometimes even leading to their death,” he said.
He said there were instances where children tending animals were beaten up by farmers when the animals accidentally made inroads into farms.
“There was a clash last year, but no life was lost; only injuries were sustained. But there is peace now,” he noted.
Efforts by our reporter for comments from the office of the mandate secretary, Agriculture and Rural Development of the FCTA were not successful as a letter sent and acknowledged was not responded to.
This story was sponsored by Daily Trust Foundation, with support from the Mac Athur Foundation
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