The coordinator of Plateau State National Human Rights Commission at the opening of the first Middle Belt Regional Peace Architecture Dialogue at Jos in December 2019 ANNUAL REPORT: SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 – AUGUST 31, 2020 Transforming Farmer-Herder Conflicts and Promoting Freedom of Religions and Belief in Nigeria’s Middle Belt SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 Contract Number: 6002993 Funding Period: September 1, 2018 – August 31, 2020 Sher Nawaz Abou El Mahassine Fassi-Fifri Nigeria Country Director West Africa Regional Director Search for Common Ground Search for Common Ground House # 11, 6th Avenue, Dakar, Senegal Gwarinpa, Abuja, Nigeria [email protected] [email protected] Transforming Farmer-Herder Conflicts Annual Report: September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2020 Table of Contents ANNUAL REPORT: SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 – AUGUST 31, 2020 ........................................................................ 1 Transforming Farmer-Herder Conflicts and Promoting Freedom of Religions and Belief in Nigeria’s Middle Belt ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 ................................................................................................................................ 1 Scope of Work Summary .......................................................................................................................... 3 1. Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................... 5 2. Context Update ....................................................................................................................................... 10 3. Activities Contributing to Objective 1 ..................................................................................................... 13 4. Activities Contributing to Objective 2 ..................................................................................................... 20 5. Activities Contributing to Objective 3 ..................................................................................................... 31 6. M&E Activities ......................................................................................................................................... 35 7. Sustainability ........................................................................................................................................... 39 8. Output Tracker ........................................................................................................................................ 42 Annex A: Story of Impact ............................................................................................................................ 45 Annex B: Media Fellows monthly report .................................................................................................... 52 .................................................................................................................................................................... 63 Annex C: Communique from Middle Belt Regional Peace Architecture Dialogue ..................................... 63 Annex D: ...................................................................................................................................................... 64 Search for Common Ground | NIGERIA 2 Transforming Farmer-Herder Conflicts Annual Report: September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2020 Scope of Work Summary Search for Common Ground (Search) began implementing the 24-month project entitled “Transforming Farmer-Herder Conflicts and Promoting Freedom of Religions and Belief in Nigeria’s Middle Belt” on September 1, 2018, with support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The project was designed to address the escalation in the violence and the loss of human lives and property as a result of farmers-herders conflicts in Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue states. Search believes that if key governmental institutions, security forces, civil society organizations, and critical community actors come together as partners with shared skills and knowledge regarding the implications of impunity, accountability, rule of law, and current responses to farmer-herder conflicts, then they will build a strong collaboration that can effectively identify and implement initiatives to address the causes, drivers, and consequences of farmer-herder conflicts, combat impunity, and strengthen the rule of law and accountability measures for the prevention of violence and protection of human lives, and the rights and dignity of people. The overall goal to contribute to preventing violence and the destruction of lives and properties resulting from protracted violent conflicts between farmers and herders while combating impunity and promoting the freedom of religions and belief in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. The overall goal is supported by three specific objectives and three expected results, which guide the project’s activities: ● Objective 1: To increase collaboration between farmer and herder communities to develop joint, effective, sustainable local mechanisms for early warning response, dispute management, and violence prevention and mitigation at the community level; o Expected Result 1.1: Farmer and herder communities expand ownership over a sustained and scaled peace and community security architecture and early warning system that includes law enforcement, government, civil society actors, traditional and religious leaders for prevention of violence and address the causes, drivers, and consequences of farmer-herder conflicts. o Expected Result 1.2: Farmer and herder communities improved engagement and collaboration with policymaker’s state and federal level on effective response to prevent violence, promote freedom of religion and belief, enhance the rule of law, and address the causes, drivers, and consequences of violent farmer-herder conflicts. ● Objective 2: To mobilize religious leaders and policymakers to jointly counter violent rhetoric through positive public messages of religious pluralism and respect of human rights; and Search for Common Ground | NIGERIA 3 Transforming Farmer-Herder Conflicts Annual Report: September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2020 o Expected Result 2.1: Civil society actors and community actors engage government actors to address impunity and strengthen accountability measures for effective response in preventing and mitigating violent farmer-herder conflicts. o Expected Result 2.2: Relevant federal government and focal state governments have improved and comprehensive approach to prevent violence and impunity, enhance accountability by responders to protect the rights of both farmers and herders. ● Objective 3: To enhance public understanding of the farmer-herder conflicts by promoting conflict sensitive contents and countering hate speech, stereotypes, biases, and negative narratives that fuel violence. o Expected Result 3.1: Increased availability of objective, neutral, and conflict sensitive analysis and information related to farmer-herder issues, including the herder community’s perspective of the conflict, for the public. o Expected Result 3.2: Improved capacity of the media to provide coverage on addressing impunity, enhancing accountability and the rule of law in addressing the causes, drivers, and consequences of farmer-herder conflict in the focal states. Search for Common Ground | NIGERIA 4 Transforming Farmer-Herder Conflicts Annual Report: September 1, 2019 – August 31, 2020 1. Executive Summary Search’s intervention in the second year of the project “Transforming the farmer and herder conflicts and promoting freedom of religion and beliefs in Nigeria’s middle belt has continued to create remarkable impacts in Nigeria’s Middle Belt specifically in the three Project states (Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa) with support the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This report captures the impacts and outcomes of the period covering September 1st 2019 to 31st August 2020. The activities under the three objectives of the project were implemented in the three target states of Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau and eight flashpoint or high-risk Local Government Areas (LGAs), namely Guma and Otukpo in Benue state, Doma and Keana in Nasarawa state, and Barkin- Ladi, Riyom, Jos North and Jos South in Plateau state. These activities have deepened the peace and improved relationships between and among stakeholders in the region. Community members have braced securing their environment among themselves and in collaboration with relevant and respective government actors in order to reduce violence as well as restore peace. With the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, Search experienced some disruptions in already planned physical activities on the project as a result of the restriction of movements and gatherings across the Country. As a result, Search’s team conducted an assessment with its stakeholders to determine the best platform to continue implementation of Project activities despite the pandemic which led to implementation of virtual State Peace Architecture Dialogue meetings while Search team continued to give technical support to the Community Security Architecture Dialogues (CSADs) in their various communities and Local Government Areas (LGAs). In the second year of this project, Search convened 29 Community Security Architecture Dialogues (CSADs) which provided the space for conflict