Pastoralism in the Sahel: Contexts, complexities and curatives : A case study from Niger

There are multiple concerns regarding the sustainability and resilience of pastoral systems in the Sahel. These include demographic pressure, climate change, policy responses to utilisation of natural resources for livestock, increasing difficulty in accessing pastoral zones due to expansion of cultivated land, and deteriorating security conditions. Addressing these concerns is essential to enhancing the resilience of pastoral systems in the region and the livelihood of pastoral and agropastoral households, which is one of the objectives of Pro-ARIDES (Programme Agroalimentaire pour la Résilience Intégrée et le Développement Economique du Sahel). Given the importance of pastoral production systems to food security and livelihood in the project intervention areas in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, and in the Sahel in general, it is necessary to study the current trends in pastoral production systems and how the security challenge has impacted the resilience of the systems, food security and livelihoods of pastoral and agropastoral households. This study first focused on Niger as a case study and will later be extended to the other project target countries, Burkina Faso and Mali. The overall goal of this study was to have a better understanding of the evolution of pastoral production systems in the Sahel in view of the changing security landscape and the relevance of Pro-ARIDES interventions for the pastoralists, with a focus on Niger.This study was conducted in five out of seven intervention ‘communes’ of Pro-ARIDES in the Tahoua region in Niger, namely Bangui, Galma and Sabonguida in Madaoua department, Dogaraoua commune in Malbaza department, and in Tsermaoua in Birni N’Konni department. To address the objectives of this study, data collection was conducted through household survey, focus group discussion and key informant interviews. Key results showed that the herd size of female-headed households was significantly lower than that of male-headed households. The results further showed that sex had a negative impact on food security status in the late dry season, which implies that female-headed households are likely to be in a worse food security situation compared to the male-headed households.Generally, results from this study confirm that the challenge of food security is most critical in late dry and wet seasons for the pastoral and agropastoral households. The dominant livestock production system was extensive, though a significant proportion of the respondents also practiced transhumance. Results of regression analysis showed that commune (location), ethnic group, and cattle herd size had a significant positive effect on the duration of transhumance, whereas area of land cultivated had negative effects. Results further showed that the incidence of conflict over natural resource use was generally low in the study sites. Damage to crops, expansion of crop fields into grazing areas, and livestock routes were the most important causes of conflict. Results also showed that access to services by pastoralists and agropastoralists is still a big challenge. From the results, natural resources are still largely governed by traditional rules (oral or written) and the challenge with this is enforcement. So, strengthening the local conventions is important to improve access by the pastoralists. The most important effects of insecurity on pastoral and agropastoral systems were increased animal theft, reduced livestock mobility, changes in transhumance routes, and changes in grazing itineraries to avoid bandits. Addressing security challenges requires multifaceted measures with strong involvement of local communities in any national government initiatives. In general, the results on various questions on the evolution of pastoral systems and the security challenge tend to be context-specific, which requires customised curative measures. To enhance resilience of pastoral and agropastoral households in the project areas, Pro-ARIDES interventions should be targeted to facilitate access to services, including virtually absent credit, strengthening of the local conventions governing natural resource use and management, capacity building in participatory conflict management, best animal husbandry practices, and training of community animal health workers. Given the context-specificity of many pastoral-related issues from the results of this study, discourse on pastoralism should avoid over-generalisation. In addition, efforts should be made by Pro-ARIDES to tailor interventions to local contexts. Also, similar study should also be conducted in Burkina Faso and Mali, as the local contexts may be different on various pastoral issues when compared to the study sites in Niger.

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