Land Disputes and Agricultural Productivity in Rural Areas of Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

Although the demand for land is boundless and exceeds the supply, and land is regrettably limited in quantity. These frequently rise to fierce competitiveness and access struggles, which frequently result in violent confrontation. Which is the more reason why some of the most significant conflicts have land as a primary reason. The study employed relative deprivation theory and human needs theory as its theoretical foundation. The theory emphasizes the importance of keeping the various segments of the society in check so as to ensure that no part of the society is deprived of the basic necessity of life that will push an individual or group to resort to violence which has the potential to metamorphose into violent conflicts. This study adopted ex-post fact and descriptive survey designs. Ex-post fact is a type of design suitable for an investigation for which the phenomena being investigated has already occurred. Similarly, descriptive survey research design was adopted, oriented towards determining the status of a great phenomenon rather than towards the isolation of causative factor. The Simple Linear Regression Analysis was used for testing of hypothesis. Information was gathered and findings were discussed using primary data which were majorly collated with the aid of questionnaire and interview. The study found that there is significant effect of land disputes on agricultural productivity in Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State. Among other things, it was recommended that to addressing land disputes to improve agricultural productivity, the government of Cross River State, in collaboration with traditional institutions, should establish effective land adjudication and documentation systems to clarify ownership rights and minimize disputes.