Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG)

In the face of escalating violence and resource competition in Nigeria, the £26m Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) programme works towards fostering a stable, peaceful Nigeria by reducing violence and boosting resilience to climate change. The programme focuses on four focal states – Kaduna, Katsina, Benue and Plateau – and will work in other areas across Nigeria that are affected by or at risk of spillover effects from farmer-herder conflicts and rural banditry.

SPRiNG  aims to enhance institutional conflict management and build public confidence in key institutions while promoting cooperation between farmers and herders through improved agricultural practices and productivity. By integrating ecological considerations and climate change resilience into its initiatives, SPRiNG seeks to foster collaboration on land use and natural resource management, ultimately enhancing livelihoods and restoring ecosystems.

The programme seeks to promote coexistence among diverse communities, strengthen conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms, and combine dialogue and peacebuilding with projects that address the material conditions of conflict to support rural livelihoods and social development. SPRiNG will benefit Nigerian citizens through reduced violence, improved ecological stewardship, and increased resilience to climate change.

Tetra Tech is implementing the SPRiNG programme in partnership with Nextier SPD (Nextier), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD). We will achieve the SPRiNG aims by supporting Nigerian stakeholders to become able to respond to conflict, security, justice and natural resource management challenges in its target areas. We promote partnerships with relevant federal institutions mandated to address conflict issues, particularly focusing on sectors that are relevant to tackling the root causes of conflict.

We are supporting interventions in the following areas:

• State and local-level peace structures to improve conflict early warning, management and response as well as to strengthen security and justice mechanisms.
• Innovative projects to tackle proximate drivers of violence such as drug peddling and abuse, proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), divisive narratives and hate speech, and exclusion of young people.
• Innovative projects as well as methods that have already proven effective to address gender inequalities related to security and justice, conflict prevention, mediation and peacebuilding, and natural resource management.
• Innovative and integrated initiatives to improve or re-establish collaborative behaviour between farmers and pastoralists and agricultural and livestock production.
• Environmental peacebuilding interventions to increase climate resilience and peace outcomes in target areas.
• Research, evidence and learning in addressing farmer-herder conflicts, rural banditry and promoting peace and resilience.