Promoting peaceful transhumance in West and Central Africa

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CONTEXT

Some regions of West and Central Africa (WCA) are faced with several layers of vulnerability resulting, among others, from weak state presence and capacity, limited access to basic services, struggling economies, slow-onset and rapid impacts of climate change, exponential demographic growth, rising urbanization, and general insecurity due to the presence of communal conflicts and the expansion of Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs). In this context, weak governance systems and growing insecurity leave local populations to compete for dwindling natural resources, thereby placing further strain on social cohesion and undermining peaceful coexistence within and between communities. This is especially the case with respect to transhumance.

Cross-border transhumance is a longstanding traditional pastoral practice in Africa where herders migrate seasonally with their livestock in search of grazing land. In the Sahel and coastal countries of West Africa, a region characterized by long dry seasons, livestock mobility is an important livelihoods adaptation to increase resilience to climatic and economic vulnerabilities and risks. Transhumance is also a highly productive economic activity upon which both mobile and sedentary communities depend for food and income, while also serving as an important driver for regional integration and the strengthening of inter-community ties.

However, this practice has recently come under significant stress, threatening stability across the region. Historically, transhumance has been relatively peaceful, but climate change and environmental stresses have shifted migratory routes and seasonal migrations, resulting in a steady rise in tensions between farmer and herder communities, often linked to mounting competition for scarce natural resources. Faced with increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns, communities are struggling to find suitable pastures or fertile agricultural land. Consequently, pre-existing cleavages have increasingly escalated into violent conflict when transhumant herds encroach onto unharvested fields, or when farmers sow their crops in designated transhumant corridors. Amidst growing communal tensions, there is a clear need for more inclusive and effective governance of shared resources to help maintain and restore social cohesion. Moreover, stronger, more capacitated governance, will also reduce the space for armed groups to capitalize on frustrations among aggrieved communities, which amplifies violence in an already vulnerable region.

Source: International Organization for Migration

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