How conflict affects education: Differences between Boko Haram and Farmer-Herder conflicts in Nigeria

We investigate effects of conflict on educational attainment in Nigeria, a country suffering from two types of conflict: the Boko Haram insurgency and violence between farmers and herders. These two conflicts involve different perpetrators having differing goals and selecting different targets. To what extent do the effects from these two types of conflict on education differ? Employing a difference-in-difference technique, we find stronger evidence that conflict between farmers and herders lowers educational attainment, both in terms of magnitude and statistical significance. This is surprising given the ideological drive of Boko Haram to prohibit Western education.