Reframing Farmer–Herder Conflict in Nigeria: A Multilevel Conceptual Model of Environmental Stress, Institutional Fragility and Social Interaction

Farmer –herder conflict has become one of the most persistent forms of rural insecurity in Nigeria. Although widely studied, existing explanations tend to isolate either environmental pressures, governance failures or identity-based grievances rather than examining how these elements combine to produce conflict. This paper develops a conceptual model that integrates three interacting levels of analysis: environmental stress, institutional fragility and micro-level social interactions. Drawing on regional scholarship from West Africa, the model proposes that conflict emerges when ecological pressures alter resource availability, institutions fail to mediate these pressures effectively, and everyday interactions between farmers and herders become shaped by distrust, boundary violations and competing livelihood claims. The paper argues that farmer–herder conflict is neither a purely ecological outcome nor a purely political one. Instead, it is the product of a dynamic system in which social relations and material conditions continuously shape each other. The conceptual model provides a framework for interpreting current patterns of conflict in Nigeria and offers a foundation for future empirical research and policy design.