Essay Example on Multi actors and factors In cases of crop destruction Conflicts

Multi actors and factors In cases of crop destruction conflicts can be resolved through avoidance of confrontation in which the farmer completely forgives the herder in cases where the cattle owner is known and has good relations and networks in the community The conflicts are based on the fact that cattle destroy crops of local farmers however the conflict itself occurs as a result of the non payment for the damage caused by the cattle This is explained by Pruitt et al 2004 who said conflict escalation involves various actors and the type of interactions they have during disagreements can lead to violent escalation Many authors have tried to understand the source of these conflicts since it is difficult to determine Moritz 2006 notes that it is often difficult to determine the nature of farmer herder conflicts since the difficulty could be whether these conflicts are about crop destruction natural resources competition or intertwined with other ethnic religious or political conflicts In Ghana the media is a powerful tool to disseminate information through the print and television media This information is captured on news headlines and front of daily newspapers which have major influence on the perception and attitudes of the Ghanaian populace In the minds of the populace a stereotype and prejudice negative attitude is created against Fulani herdsmen in the farmer herdsmen conflicts This has led them to be socially and cognitively categorized 

This situation is not unique to Ghana but to most West African countries including our neighboring country Burkina Faso in a study done by Diallo 2009 he found that local prejudices and stereotypes of Fulani in Burkina Faso have tended to undermine nomadic Fulani and thereby marginalizing them In Ghana most of this information published in the media about Fulani herdsmen are false unfortunately the populace adopt without any evidence This is a classic example of the peripheral route of adoption Despite the prejudice and the stereotype consumers generally have not changed their consumption pattern with respect to beef CHAPTER FOUR According to Hemsworth and Coleman 1998 animal human interactions refer to the degree of relatedness or distance between animals and humans Generally animals are frightened by contacts with people and sudden changes to their social and physical environments they perceived it as a predatory encounter Boissy 1997 unless they are accustomed to human contact of a positive nature however the most predominant reaction of most farm animals to people is out of fear Jones 1997 There is little or no interaction between cattle and human in Ghana The closer example is the only interactions that exist between the herdsmen and the cattle The herdsmen have personal relationship with the cattle they see the cattle as family They are a source of income as well as security against constant threat from society As a source of both wealth and income cattle provide satisfaction in terms of numbers as well as cash value The cash value is important so far as the current consumption needs are concerned By domesticating animals relationship develops between the stockperson and an animal under his care Animals respond to tactile visual olfactory gustatory and auditory stimuli from humans The quality of human animal interaction determines the nature of the interactions Hemsworth and Coleman 1998 Cattles are found in many parts of Ghana in close proximity to human habitation Livelihood options and social interactions greatly facilitate interactions between people and cattle in Ghana 

These include horse riding bull fighting and excursions care farms among others In Ghana cattle human interactions takes the form of the caretaker as those in factory farms are in constant contact with their stockmen This takes the form of feeding veterinary treatment restraint transportation castration dehorning among others However a good amount of such cattle who are raised on free range also contact society but regrettably there a exist a negative interaction since the society sees them as burden since improper care by cattle owners have cause massive destructions to the properties of the people in society Livestock serves as assets or savings for future planned expected needs and perform financial roles in a context where banks are not forth worth to give loans to help to household and serves as credit markets They also serve as insurance because the capital invested in the flock forms a security for meeting future unexpected requirements Financing involves the conversion of part of the flock into nonrefundable income to facilitate households lump filled outlay needs school fees payment The absence or ill functioning of markets for finance and insurance in developing countries especially in rural areas has been widely documented by Binswanger and Rosenzweig 1986 The consequence of the limited existence or absence of finance and insurance institutions is that to cope with the vagaries of life people in rural areas search for alternatives such as owned assets within their sphere of command There have been series of the event regarding attitude towards cattle in Ghana for than decades The issue has to do with herdsmen Fulani destroying lives and properties Most of the herdsmen Fulani do a lot of menace with the cattle myjoyonline com This has created uproar between the indigenes and the herdsmen There are a number of attacks on local farmers and Fulani herders causing deaths and destruction of properties in virtually six regions of Ghana this incidence are on the airwaves and tabloid Agogo in the Ashanti Region and in parts of the Eastern as well as Northern part of Ghana shows higher level of conflict between the herdsmen and the farmers myjoyonline com Generally Fulani pastoralist conflicts with local farmers in 1988 1989 and 1999 2000 led to expulsions of the former by the Ghanaian Government through the security