JORAS - Nigerian Journal of Religion and Society

Conflict is certainly an inevitable part of our existence as humans. How we manage and a times resolve such conflicts remain a defining characteristic of human life. One of such conflicts that has bedeviled humanity since creation when the world consists only of a man (Adam), his wife (Eve) and two sons (Cain and Abel) is that of farmer and herder dichotomy. This is the conflict of Cain and Abel the two first born humans in Genesis 4:1-16 which many have come to attribute to the perennial and never ending farmers and herdsmen clash in Nigeria. Biblical scholarship which this research represents, however, argue that these conflicts should be analysed within a broader historical and policy context. More so, this research aims at emphasising that the Cain and Abel narrative by the Deuteronomistic historian has more often than not been (mis)interpreted as a reflection of the traditional conflict between the farmers and the nomads, and its probable bias in favour of the latter is seen as representing a nomadic ideal in Israel. This work gives recommendations on how Farmers and Herdsmen can live peacefully with one another.

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