Pastoralist Knowledge Hub

The Case of Niger: Making use of the governance of tenure guidelines for a peaceful transhumance


20/12/2022 -

As part of the implementation and adaptation of the Voluntary Guidelines on "Improving the Governance of Pastoral Lands" to the field, FAO has developed a partnership with the Réseau des Organisations Pastorales du Niger (ROPEN) with the aim of using this global tool to prevent and manage conflicts related to the use of pastoral resources in Niger and its neighbouring countries.

At the national level, FAO supported the creation of a National Transhumance Committee (CNT) in Niger, established by a ministerial decree in 2019. The CNT in Niger has a multi-stakeholder composition that includes government representatives, traditional leaders, local authorities and pastoralist organizations.

With CNTs from other Sahelian countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and coastal countries like Côte d'Ivoire and Togo, it aims to organize better and more secure transhumance, as livestock mobility in this region often goes beyond national borders. The Establishment of a CNT in line with the Transhumance regulations between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) encourages each country to establish a CNT to support peaceful cross-border transhumance.

Regional transhumance committees in Niger

In Niger, FAO supported establishing and functioning regional transhumance committees (CRT) in the Dosso and Tahoua regions. In these two regions and four others (Maradi, Agadez, Zinder and Tillabery), the members of the regional transhumance committees benefited from the use of learning material inspired by the VGGT and the technical guide "Improving Governance of Pastoral Lands."

Based on the request from local stakeholders, FAO supported ROPEN and the members of the regional transhumance committees in making this technical guide for developing their own contextualized guide. The result was an illustrated guide to help the local actors find solutions to reduce the growing number of conflicts in cross-border areas:

  

Training on the illustrated guide adapted to Niger, picture by Moussa Tambari Ismail, 2022

Local bilateral agreements

Finally, to foster peaceful transhumance at the grassroots level, FAO supported the founding of local bilateral agreements to protect transhumant pastoralists crossing borders.

After years of negotiation, a bilateral agreement was signed between the governors of the State of Zinder, in Niger, and the neighbouring state of Jigawa, in Nigeria, on August 2022, and another agreement was signed on December 2022 between the State of Dosso, in Niger, and the one of Kébbi, in Nigeria.

These agreements provide for reinforced protection of transhumant pastoralists from Niger to Nigeria from livestock theft and insecurity, joint investment programs supporting pastoralism, and creating a joint body between the two border States. On the other side, pastoralists are required to refrain from cutting trees or letting their livestock graze around agricultural fields by night to preserve the hosting population's livelihoods. An information system aimed at better monitoring transnational transhumance is also foreseen. Administrative and customary authorities, technical executives, herder associations, farmers, civil society and defence and security forces committed themselves to respect this agreement to facilitate peaceful cross-border transhumance.

  

Transboundary meeting with neighbouring Zinder in Niger and Jigawa in Nigeria, 2022