Volume 1 - Issue 4, November - December 2025

This study examines the escalating farmers–pastoralist conflict and its impact on food security in Kwara State, Nigeria. These escalations highlight increasing violence driven by resource scarcity, climate change, and weak governance. The study aims to assess conflict drivers and quantify how conflict-related factors influence household food security outcomes. The population comprises approximately 120,000 individuals across conflict-prone LGAs, from which a multi-stage sampling technique generated 200 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. Findings show that 56% of households are food secure, 24% moderately secure, and 20% food insecure. The regression model performed strongly (Nagelkerke R² = 0.56; classification accuracy = 82%). Key predictors of food insecurity include total economic loss (OR = 1.03), frequency of crop destruction (OR = 2.32), livestock losses (OR = 1.06), food prices (OR = 1.008), and household size (OR = 1.11). The strongest determinants are exposure to violence (OR = 3.74) and displacement from farmland (OR = 3.16), followed by climate stress (OR =2.05). These results demonstrate that conflict, environmental pressures, and economic disruptions jointly underminehousehold welfare. The study concludes that reducing violence, protecting farmland access, and strengthening climateresilient livelihoods are essential for improving food security. The study therefore recommends that conflictmanagement structures, economic-loss support systems, climate-adaptation strategies, and structured grazing arrangements are to be put in place to circumvent the escalations of these conflicts in Kwara State.