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The Billital Maroobé Network (BMN), which brings together livestock breeders' organisations in the Sahel and West Africa, has conducted a reflection on the future of livestock breeders faced with the interconnected crises of the rural world, including the security crisis. The results of this reflection are intended to feed into decision-making in West Africa and will be shared with us at the conference.
Practical information
When: Tuesday 29 November 2022, 14:00 CET - Tuesday 29 November 2022, 15:30 CET
Where: InfoPoint
Languages: English, French
Organisers: International Partnerships InfoPoint
Description
Pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and more broadly pastoral communities, already feeling left out by public policies, are now facing a security crisis that threatens their future. Security tensions are complex in their origins, but strongly fuelled by unresolved latent rural and pastoral crises, and largely generated by the competitive and conflicting exploitation of natural resources. In the wake of prejudices, stigmatisations and amalgams of all kinds - with the idea that pastoral communities are the main instigators or accomplices of jihadist insurgencies - it is the very future of pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and the pastoral economy that is now threatened in the Sahel and West Africa.
Representing the voice and interests of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists and in collaboration with its partners, the Billital Maroobé Network (BMN) launched a study entitled "Hearing the voice of pastoralists", which aims to be a cry from the heart of pastoralists and pastoral communities in the Sahel and West Africa, anxious to dialogue with public authorities about their future. The study involved 23 administrative regions covering the countries of the central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) and their coastal neighbours (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Togo). The EU contributed technically and financially to the study through the participation of the Sahel and West Africa Club/OECD Secretariat and the technical agencies of the Member States (AFD, SIDA, Danish Refugee Council, SNV). Other partners include the Swiss Cooperation (SDC), Peace Nexus, CARE, IFAD and IOM.
Beyond the testimonies of the actors, the study sows the seeds for a renewed governance, a change of vision and lays the foundations for a new generation of public policies sensitive to pastoralism and other activities that enrich the rural world. The stakes are high politically, socially and strategically, as insecurity could undermine the livelihoods, food and nutrition resilience and very future of millions of people, and pastoral communities in particular. A major threat is posed to pastoralist youth who have lost their bearings and are looking for new professional opportunities (including outside livestock production), rather than joining the terrorist networks that have invaded the countryside.
The study has produced a significant body of knowledge, including analysis and concrete implications for public policy. It sheds light on the factors that aggravate security tensions, notably the failure of governance of access to and exploitation of natural resources in rural territories, exclusion, inequality, etc.; factors that have been at the root of long-standing and unresolved pastoral and rural crises and which today constitute a fertile breeding ground for the expansion of security-related violence. It also points to the exacerbating effect or inadequacy of states' counter-terrorism strategies. Fertile multi-stakeholder dialogues, including with governments, around the implications of the study could help to arrest the spiral of violence in a sustainable way, build resilience and restore hope to pastoral communities in the region.
The conference is one of the steps in these multi-stakeholder dialogues to explore options for addressing the situation. Its main objective is to inform the community of partners in the region about the results and implications of this regional reflection.
The expected outcomes of the Conference are as follows
This thematic summary and Compendium serve to compile the discussions, recommendations and conclusions reached over 4 intensive days of work in thematic ateliers (Streams), plenary, side events and political discussions.
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