Herder and farmer relations
Concordis works with herders and farmers to ensure the livestock migration can take place safely and to mutual economic benefit. This is possible when the routes and timing are pre-negotiated and when agreed mechanisms are in place to manage tensions before they escalate into violence.
Many herders move their livestock hundreds of miles each year, spending the wet season in the Sahel, then moving to more fertile grazing further south for the dry season. This ancient way of life often takes them across international borders and can bring them into conflict with settled farmers.
If disputes are not well managed, they can escalate into violence. Tensions are heightened due to:
The complex political context, with recent history of war and associated grievances
High prevalence of firearms and other weapons
Fear caused by widespread insecurity, including cattle rustling, crop destruction, house-burning and violence against womenand children
Difficult relationships between neighbouring countries, leading to poor cross-border coordination
Lack of trust in local security and justice, prompting people to look to armed groups for protection, or to take justice into their own hands with reprisal attacks, leading and cycles of tit-for-tat violence
Seasonal livestock migration can be mutually beneficial when herders and farmers are able to…
Meet before the migration starts to plan the timing, route and access to water
Concordis supports herder and farmer communities in a number of ways. These include:
Training, equipping local people to be peacemakers in their own communities;
Consultations, getting out of the cities into areas where conflict is fought and felt, giving voice to people excluded from decisions that affect them
Development of Advisory Groups, bringing together a representative sample of women, men and young people, so keeping our work accountable to and owned by all the people we’ve consulted;
Migration conferences, providing a safe place for those involved in or affected by seasonal livestock migration to plan the routes and timing, avoiding sources of conflict and identifying opportunities for mutual benefit.
Research, helping women and men from all sides of the conflict identify the root causes of the conflicts that divide them.
2. Agree a conflict resolution mechanism to resolve tensions over crop damage or cattle rustling quickly, before they escalate to violence.
3. Trade in goods and services, generating sustainable livelihoods