AUTHOR=Ojo Emmanuel , Crowder Van , Moore Austen , Isola Olusola 
  
TITLE=Pastoralists as peacebuilders: lived experiences from conflict-affected communities in northern Nigeria
  
JOURNAL=Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice
  
VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2026
  
YEAR=2026
  
URL=https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/journals/pastoralism-research-policy-and-practice/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15770
  
DOI=10.3389/past.2026.15770
  
ISSN=2041-7136
  
ABSTRACT=This study explores the lived experiences of herders in Adamawa State, Nigeria, who participated in peacebuilding interventions implemented by Catholic Relief Services in response to recurrent farmer-herder conflict. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the research centers herders’ voices to examine how they interpret, negotiate, and internalize peacebuilding efforts within their socio-cultural and relational contexts. Data were collected through focus group discussions across Shelleng and Yola South Local Government Areas. Findings indicate that herders perceive peacebuilding not merely as the cessation of violence, but as an ongoing process of restoring dignity, gaining social recognition, and reducing the fear of exclusion. Participants emphasized community dialogues, symbolic inclusion by local leaders, and the rebuilding of intergroup trust as crucial indicators of meaningful peace. Importantly, these narratives reveal how pastoralists challenge dominant, sedentary-oriented intervention models by redefining peace as relational and embedded in everyday agrarian life. By foregrounding the agency of a historically marginalized group, this study contributes to pastoralism and peacebuilding scholarship, underscoring the need for development strategies attuned to the realities of mobile pastoralist communities and the power relations that shape their inclusion and exclusion.