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Farmers in Vaama Kasuay Village, located in Kori Chiefdom, are demanding urgent intervention from local authorities to address the ongoing destruction of their crops by roaming cattle herds. The farmers report significant damage to over 50 farms, severely impacting their livelihoods.
Mohamed Sesay, the sectional youth chairperson for Vaama Section, explained that an agreement was initially reached between the farmers and cattle owners. This agreement required the cattle owners to fence off designated grazing areas to prevent the cattle from straying into farmland. However, Sesay states that the cattle owners have failed to honor this agreement, leading to increased tensions.
“Endless efforts have been made,” Sesay said. “Last year, Chiefdom Speaker Peter Yambasu led the cattle owners to meet with the farmers, promising that the fencing would be completed before June 11th of this year. But from February until now, the situation has only worsened. The cattle are freely roaming and even coming into the village, endangering the lives of our residents.”
The unchecked cattle grazing has not only destroyed plantations but has also endangered the community’s food security. Farmers are now calling on local authorities to hold the cattle owners accountable and enforce the initial agreement to fence off the grazing areas.
“These cows have destroyed our farms time and time again, and we’ve had enough,” said one frustrated farmer who declined to be named. “The promise to fence the grazing areas was made a year ago, yet nothing has been done. We need action from our leaders to protect our crops and our community.”
The Kori Chiefdom administration has acknowledged the conflict and promised to mediate a resolution. However, with the June 11th deadline for fencing now passed, tensions in Vaama Kasuay Village remain high. Farmers continue to demand accountability and immediate action to prevent further destruction of their livelihoods.
It is high time for the government to intervene on this destruction of crops by cattle, and they should enforce strict laws on this issue all over the country. The same as Lokomasama Chiefdom so they use to disturb farmers seriously. The government should enforce laws like”if a cattle owner leaves his/her cattle to destroy the farmer’s crops, hence it is five miles or ten miles away from the rearing field, those cattle must be killed.