It is late August and Illiyasu Atawame is milking his cows at his hut in Jigawar Tsada, a village on the outskirts of Dutse, the Jigawa State capital. The manual routine has been a key part of his practice in the last 40 years.
The Fulani pastoralist moved to the area from Jahun Local Government Area of the state in search of pasture for his livestock. Mr Atawame says life has become difficult for him and other pastoralists.
“It is no longer what it used to be because of shrinking grazing land.
“If you entered the bush with your animals, apart from the fresh grass, you would find groundnut and bean leaves left behind by farmers after harvest of their crops. But farmers nowadays go home with everything. They fight you over corn stalks in the dry season, how much more over their crops in the rainy season.”
Herders like Mr Atawame move their cattle over long distances to seek grazing areas, which sometimes leads to violent clashes between the herders and local farmers…