Land use conflicts: An impediment to improved agrifood value chain management as perceived by crop farmers in southeast Nigeria

This research work examined the effects of land use conflicts on agrifood value chain management in South-East, Nigeria. A total of 300 farmers were purposively selected from conflict-affected communities in South-east Nigeria. A questionnaire was used in collecting data, and analysis of the data was done using percentages, means, and standard deviation. Results showed that the agrifood value chain enterprises include the following: input supply (63%), producers (93.3%), distribution (52.32%), retailers (80%), service providers (58%), and consumers (86.6%). Land conflicts affect the various value chain stages by reducing food availability (M= 3.42), increasingthe cost of input (M=3.52), reducing input quality (M= 3.05), leading to lower yields (M=3.28), leading to soil degradation (M= 2.58), and increasing crop losses (M=3.46) in the production stage. In the harvesting /processing or packaging stage, conflict makes harvesting difficult (M= 3.03), leads to post- harvest losses (M=3.56), disrupts supply chain (M= 3.10), delay in supply to market (M=3.15), reduce market access (M= 3.19), increase price of goods (M=3.31), leads to food shortages (M=2.68), loss of income (M= 2.87) for marketing and distribution.On the consumption stage, conflicts affect food availability (M= 2.83), lower food demand (M= 2.64), leading to depletion of food stock (M= 2.58), disruption of the whole production circle (M=2.94).The challenges facing the farmers included climate change variability, market volatility, and poor infrastructure, among others. To reduce land conflicts in the area, the following were suggested: strengthen the land tenure system, careful land use planning, and conflict resolution, among others.