Insecure land rights, extreme weather, rising population and increasing livestock numbers are some factors that cause conflicts in pastoral areas of the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.

A better understanding of mobile pastoralism is key to preventing conflict. This is the main conclusion of the six panellists who spoke at the side event “Pastoralism, conflict, land and food security in Africa in the face of climate change” organized by FAO Pastoralist Knowledge Hub on October 21st in Rome during the 43^rd meeting of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS43).

The panel consisted of representatives of FAO, the World Bank Group and two pastoralist organizations, Coalition of Pastoralist Civil Society Organisations (COPACSO) and Réseau Billital Maroobé (RBM).

“Conflict is multifaceted but is mainly driven by pastoralists’ lack of access and control of natural resources,” said Benjamin Mutambukah, coordinator of COPACSO. Pastoralists rely on their mobility to make the best use of the scarce resources of drylands. Blocked migration corridors and denied access to grazing land or water points create tensions and foster conflict.

Historically pastoral areas have often been thought of as empty and unproductive, and have been subject to attempts to fence them off and settle the pastoralists who live there. But recent research indicates that extensive pastoralist systems are more productive than intensive alternatives in the drylands.

Many pastoral areas have been left out of the development agenda. Interventions mostly respond to humanitarian emergencies rather than to support pastoral development, stated Dodo Bouraima, permanent secretary of RBM, one of the largest networks of pastoralist organizations in Western Africa. Many pastoralist communities feel neglected, do not trust governments, and refuse to collaborate with them.

Basic services such as education, health facilities, public and financial services are not well developed in pastoral areas: providing them is difficult in remote areas with a low population density. Even when services are available, they may not be adapted to the mobile lifestyle of pastoralist communities.

Conflicts in pastoral areas differ greatly depending on the region, causes and actors involved. Massimo Castiello, deputy director of FAO Uganda, delinked conflicts that take place geographically in pastoralist areas from those that arise from pastoralist livelihood. A robust analysis of the conflict context is essential for the design of any intervention.

One initiative that international development agencies can take is to incorporate conflict sensitivity into their programme design and implementation. Catalina Quintero from the World Bank Group explained that the new world bank programme “Pastoralism and Stability in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa (PASSHA)” follows this approach and aims to include a conflict resolution component in the large multi-million programmes “Regional Sahel Pastoralism Support Project (PRAPS)” in West Africa and its East African equivalent “Regional Pastoral Livelihoods Resilience Project (RPLRP)”.

“Resilience is high on FAO’s agenda,” said Dominique Burgeon, Strategic Programme Leader of FAO’s Strategic Programme on Resilience. “Resilient pastoral systems can cope with factors such as climate change and contribute to stability and security. FAO’s programmes help build resilient livelihoods and food systems by building capacities through, for example, pastoralist field schools, and by responding to emergencies with veterinary services, restocking and feed provision. These are important interventions to support social cohesion, stability, and sustainable peace in pastoral areas.”