Introduction

Livelihood contestations and social discrimination characterize farmer-herder relations in Africa. Some literature and policies have portrayed pastoralists as victims, suffering abuse and discrimination in terms of being denied access to some fundamental human rights, including access to resources for livelihood and denial of the right to participate in social events, including politics.1. Efforts to understand these conflicts tend to focus on the causes of the conflict using environmental theories. However, there are limited studies on the effect of social discrimination on social cohesion and democratic development in agropastoral communities.

In Ghana, Fulani pastoralists face alienation in the form of stereotypes, prejudices, and exclusion. For example, during the Operation Cow Leg policies based on joint police-military operations of the government, some indigenes and local media portrayed Fulani pastoralists as ‘armed robbers,’ ‘violent and uncivilized,’ and ‘non-citizens,’ who do not deserve the right to participate in local and national decision making.2.The alienation of pastoralists is not peculiar to Ghana. In Kenya, for instance, the Samburu pastoralists3 and pastoralists in the Laikipia county4 experience similar discrimination in the implementation of community land law reforms, resulting in pastoralists’ loss of secure access to land and other natural resources. This state of affairs undermines pastoralists’ economic base, disempowers them, and excludes them from participating in policy negotiation and land governance. Pastoralists thus lack access to political power and the capacity to articulate grievances.

In the Kenya-Uganda borderlands, the Karamonja and Turkana pastoralists also face similar discrimination in the narrative on insecurities, as they are perceived to be security threats rather than political stakeholders.5.This has created mistrust between pastoralists on the one hand, and the state and neighboring communities on the other hand, thereby marginalizing and weakening their social norms and democratic decision-making. In Ghana, attempts to find lasting solutions to farmer-herder conflicts have been made through the government’s Operation Cow Leg policy. Local groups employ legal and unlawful strategies, including violent military evacuation of cattle and the exclusion and segregation of pastoralists from social and political practices.6 For example, the Kumasi High Court in the Ashanti region of Ghana gave a directive in 2012, mandating security services to expel all unconfined cattle from the Agogo traditional area.7

While most sedentary pastoralists see themselves as Ghanaian citizens by virtue of being born in Ghana,8 which is the basis of citizenship conferred on a person by the Ghanaian constitution, they continue to suffer injustices in their attempt to enjoy rights and privileges bestowed on all Ghanaians by the constitution. In some Ghanaian communities, although it is not explicitly stated, pastoralists are denied the freedom of expression, movement, and the right to vote and be voted for at both local and national levels.9

This study departs from the usual rhetoric on the causes of farmer-herder conflict, focusing on how perceived resource alienation and social discrimination influence farmer-herder peaceful coexistence and democracy in agropastoral communities in Northern Ghana. The essay argues that resource discrimination and social injustices against pastoralists have an adverse impact on the exercise of their democratic rights and undermine social cohesion between pastoralists and host communities.

Description of Area and Data Sources

This paper relied on primary qualitative data from focus group discussions and key informant interviews, and quantitative data sourced through a survey with 460 households from Sissala West and Wa East Districts in the Upper West region and Bawku West and Kassena Nankana West Districts in the Upper East region of Ghana. The quantitative data on perceived alienation were analysed using the perception index. In contrast, a two-sample t-test was used to test for the differences in perceived alienation between farming households and pastoral households. The relationship between perceived alienation and peaceful coexistence and democratic development was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Chi-Square test. The qualitative data were also analysed using content and thematic analysis.

Resources Access Alienation and Farmer-herder Conflict

The results from my fieldwork-based research revealed differing patterns of alienation in access to natural and social resources among pastoral and farming households, but not in terms of physical, financial, and human resources.10 The perceived alienation index revealed that more pastoralists feel isolated from other social groups, alienated in terms of participation in decision making and leadership roles in their communities, compared to farming households. On the other hand, most farmers (87%) and pastoralists (61%) reported that landowners or community chiefs are more willing to offer their lands to Fulani pastoralists than to migrant farmers because the latter provide more land rent than the former. However, farmers still cultivate crops on lands allocated to pastoralists for grazing, which often causes farmer-herder conflicts over crop destruction. The Chi-Square result indicates a significant negative relationship between perceived alienation and farmer-herder peaceful co-existence. Approximately 46.7% and 20.8% of Fulani pastoralists reported experiencing conflict with other community members over alienation of access to land and water, respectively. However, though Fulani pastoralists reported being alienated from participating in decision making, leadership, and community group membership in their communities, these do not necessarily trigger conflict with farmers over their exclusion from decision making, leadership roles, and community social group membership.

Alienation and Democracy Nexus

The study further showed that 42% of Fulani pastoralists interviewed reported not having the Ghanaian national ID card (Ghana Card) compared to only 9% of farming households. Yet, 24% of Fulani pastoralists who did not have Ghanaian national ID cards reported that they could not register for fear of approaching the registration officials and/or allegedly denied registration by the registration officials for being aliens. The refusal of the government authorities to grant Fulani pastoralists the opportunity to register for the Ghanaian national ID card hinders their participation in most leadership roles in Ghana.11 This situation has been exacerbated by the electoral commission of Ghana’s policy, based on the constitution, which recognizes the Ghana Card as the sole national identification required for voter registration.12 This policy excludes most Fulani pastoralists from political participation because they are considered non-Ghanaian or aliens. Specifically, Fulani pastoralists are denied the right to participate in both local and national elections either as candidates or voters, because they are perceived as aliens who cannot acquire a national identity.  Since they do not have national ID cards, they are not eligible to acquire voter cards to exercise their franchise in electing their leaders. Finally, though 58% of indigenous farmers interviewed reported that they will support Fulani pastoralists who wish to take leadership roles in their communities, 78% of Fulani pastoralists reported that they do not express interest in vying for leadership roles in their communities because indigenes think they are aliens and will not allow themselves to be led by aliens, especially those considered to be non-Ghanaian citizens.

Conclusion

The empirical evidence supports the existence of social discrimination and alienation of Fulani pastoralists in access to land, water, and political rights among perceived alien pastoralists, which significantly undermines both peaceful co-existence and democratic development in Ghana’s agropastoral communities. The evidence shows that while competition over natural resources triggers farmer–herder conflicts, the systematic exclusion of Fulani pastoralists from national identification systems, decision-making, and leadership roles entrenches their marginalization as “aliens.” Such institutionalized alienation erodes social cohesion, weakens trust between pastoralists and sedentary farmers, and deprives the entire pastoral community of the capacity to exercise fundamental citizenship rights. By highlighting how resource alienation and discriminatory state policies and actions of individuals intersect with questions of belongingness and participation, this study underscores the urgent need for inclusive governance frameworks that recognize pastoralists not as security threats but as legitimate stakeholders and participants in local and national democratic processes.

Endnotes

  1. Richetta, C., and T. Wegenast. 2025. “Access Denied: Land Alienation and Pastoral Conflicts.”Journal of Peace Research 62, no. 3: 643–659.
  2. Bukar, K. N., and N. Schareika. 2015. “Stereotypes, Prejudices and Exclusion of Fulani Pastoralists in Ghana.”Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 5, no. 20: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-015-0043-8.
  3. Hassan, R., I. Nathan, and K. Kanyinga. 2022. “Will Community Rights Secure Pastoralists’ Access to Land? The Community Land Act in Kenya and Its Implications for Samburu Pastoralists.”Journal of Peasant Studies 50, no. 5: 1735–1756.
  4. Hassan, R. 2023. “Land Reforms and Pastoralists’ Land Access: Implementing Community Land Law in Kenya.” PhD diss., Institute of Development Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Nairobi.
  5. Conciliation Resources and the Institute of Development Studies, eds. 2024.Peace and Security for Pastoralist Communities in African Borderlands. Accord Insight  London: Conciliation Resources.
  6. Tonah, S., ed. 2023.Farmer-Herder Relations in Ghana: Studies in Cooperation, Conflict and Exclusion. Accra: Yamens Publishers Ltd.
  7. 2017. “Violent Shepherds: The Ugly Story of Clashes Between Nomadic Herdsmen and Farmers.” November 14, 2017.
  8. Olaniyan, A., M. Francis, and U. Okeke-Uzodike. 2015. “The Cattle Are ‘Ghanaians,’ but the Herders Are Strangers: Farmer-Herder Conflicts, Expulsion Policy, and Pastoralist Question in Agogo, Ghana.”African Studies Quarterly 15, no. 2.
  9. Graphic Online. 2023. “Constitutional Instrument on the Voter Registration: Leaving Some Behind?” March 18, 2023.
  10. Alhassan, S. I., L. Yussif, M. A. Sayibu, and S. W. Sayibu. 2025. “Response to the Effect of Drought Spell on Livelihoods of Agro-Pastoralists in Northern Ghana.”Agricultural Science 7, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.30560/as.v7n1p133.
  11. Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative. 2019. “Ghana: NR Fulanis Cry Over Ghana Card Denial.”Daily Guide Network, November 4, 2019.
  12. GBC Ghana. 2023. “EC Justifies Use of Ghana Card as Sole Document to Acquire Voters’ ID.” February 28, 2023.