Abstract

Cattle rustling or stealing of cattle has grown in dimension and viciousness particularly in the Northern part of Nigeria. Benue State is categorized as one of the flash points. This scenario made it apt to undertake the study of its effect on the income of farmers in Benue State, Nigeria. The study used a multi-stage sampling procedure in the selection of 108 farmers in the three (3) Senatorial Districts of Benue State. The farmers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire instrument. Data gathered were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result shows that the mean age was 38.74 and SD 7.655 , the mean number of years spent on education is 9.25 and SD 4.762, while the mean farming experience and herd size was (14.61 and 17.79) respectively. The mean annual income stood at N 556203.70. Majority (75%) of farmers? cattle were rustled. Age and number of cattle owned are significant (p<0.01) with positive influence on income whereas paid security is significant (p<0.05) and has negative influence on income. Many (55.1%) of the farmers viewed that unemployment is the bane for involvement in cattle rustling. Cattle rustling have become a phenomenon that is rampant in the study area and neighbouring States. To this effect, efforts should be made to provide increased security at areas of flashpoints and to improve the wellbeing of the farmers.

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