Implication of Fulani Herdsmen Farmer’s Crisis on Food Security in Ikole Local Government Area Ekiti State Nigeria

Crop farmers and Cattle herders" conflicts have remained the most prevailing recourse conflict in Ikole local government area Ekiti State. Social and economic factors
continue to inflame violent conflicts. The study objectives were. narrowed down to investigating the cause of Fulani herdsmen and farmer's conflict and the effect on
food security. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collections were used.
The respondents were drawn using purposive, multi stage and snowball sampling methods in the four selected Villages. Information was elicited using structured
questionnaire. The quantitative data collected were subjected to both descriptive (frequency count and percentage) and inferential (T. test) statistical analysis while the qualitative data were analyzed in a thematic form. The study concludes that crop farmers and cattle herders' conflict instigate a loss of livelihoods to both groups and contributes to low agricultural output production. Therefore, it is in the interest of the State to address the genuine needs of the cattle herders for availability of grazing land, resolve the recurring conflicts in the agricultural sector that provides employment to reasonable portion of the country's population. The study finally recommends that farmers should adopt intensive cultivation by using improved seeds and farm inputs.