| Project Detail |
This study will identify the different forms of cooperation (conflictual but also positive/beneficial) between transhumant and sedentary herders in Northern Cameroon, assuming that the increasingly frequent conflicts are rooted in the deterioration of material relations between these two groups on village lands. The objective will be to identify ways to improve these relations. CONTEXT In Cameroon, livestock farming accounts for 13% of agricultural GDP and employs nearly a third of the rural population. The far north of the country, in particular, boasts abundant pastoral resources—water and pastures—making the region a magnet for transhumant pastoralists from Niger, Nigeria, and Chad. However, this historic cross-border transhumance has been reshaped by growing insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin, population growth, agricultural densification, climate change, and the development of protected areas. These reconfigurations frequently lead to conflict. Indeed, Northern Cameroon is not only the most populated region in the country, but it is also the poorest. The sedentary population, already facing a lack of access to natural resources and income-generating activities, now finds itself facing a reduction in agricultural and livestock production due to agro-climatic shocks and the densification of land use, making the regeneration of soil fertility more difficult. As a result, the new routes of transhumant herders generate increased competition for agro-pastoral resources and an increase in conflicts of use between transhumant herders and sedentary herders/farmers. However, interactions between these two groups have long been positive in the form of compensation for herds access to fodder resources, as transhumance can be of interest to farmers: fertilization, natural regeneration of perennial plants, etc. It is therefore useful to identify ways of restoring mutually beneficial relationships. GOALS This study will analyze the different forms of interactions – conflictual or positive – between transhumant herders and sedentary herders/farmers, in order to answer the following research question: what is the economic interest of farmers and pastoralists today in concluding arrangements for the transit and parking of herds on village land? This economic prism will make it possible to analyze the evolution of benefits and costs for each group of actors, thus objectifying the material reasons which could have increased the divergences of interest between transhumant and sedentary people on the same land at certain times of the year. This should make it possible to characterize the effects of transhumant livestock farming on the local economy, as well as to identify the levers to prioritize to ensure its viability – economic, social, health and environmental. The project will notably identify the most beneficial types of arrangements, with the aim of promoting positive cooperation between transhumant livestock farmers and other social groups present (sedentary livestock farmers, farmers, hunters, authorities, traders, etc.). These results could then help inform local, or even national, decision-making in the longer term, to manage conflicts and promote arrangements between transhumant and sedentary people. |
