MIGRATION IN WEST AND NORTH AFRICA AND ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN: TRENDS, RISKS, DEVELOPMENT AND GOVERNANCE

Transhumance Tracking Tool – a regional perspective of 10. mobility in West Africa Damien Jusselme1

Abstract: IOM’s Transhumance Tracking Tool is composed of two data collection mechanisms. The first is a “flow registry”, a data collection tool used in the location of key seasonal transhumant movements. The second is an early warning system, a localized alert system that uses large networks of existing key informants to share and receive information related to transhumance events. DATA Insecurity and climate variability have led to shifts in seasonal transhumant movements MIGRATION OBJECTIVES MIGRATION GLOBAL COMPACT FOR COMPACT GLOBAL in West and Central Africa. In particular, the unpredictability of international herder movements due to climate variations, through agricultural lands across the three States composing the Liptako–Gourma (Mali, Burkina Faso and the Niger), have led to recurrent local conflicts, as mobile herds sometimes graze on uncollected crops, thereby diminishing revenues of the sedentary farming communities. Sedentary farming communities also have extended their use of lands beyond the traditional zones agreed to by national agriculture ministries, thereby reducing possible passage corridors that had previously served as safe spaces for transhumant communities.

A transnational political response to the conflicts currently facing the three States along the transhumance corridors is needed. At the same time, a localized approach is essential. Through its transition and recovery programmes, IOM supports a local conflict mitigation approach, and has developed data collection tools aiming at better understanding transhumance and supporting local pre-emptive responses.

In this context, IOM cooperates with the Réseau Billital Maroobé, the regional herders’ federation of pastoralist associations of West and Central Africa, for the roll-out of an early warning “Transhumance Tracking Tool”. This tool is composed of two main data collection tools:

(a) Flow registry: A data collection tool used in key seasonal transhumant movements locations (such as cattle markets and water points). The flow registry measures the volume of movements southward to coastal countries (such as Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Togo) following rainfall, then back northward (for example, to Mali, Burkina Faso, the Niger and Mauritania) during the wet season (Plante et al., 2020). The tool counts the cattle and pastoralists in an attempt to quantify these movements and support early preparedness on key infrastructure, such as markets, transhumant corridors and grazing lands.

1 IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix, Regional Office, Dakar.

127 SECTION 1: KEY MIGRATION TRENDS

(b) Early warning system: A localized alert system that uses large networks of existing key informants to share and receive information related to transhumance events (such as conflicts over water resources or grazing lands, or early or massive pastoralist movements, for example). The system combines information from the flow registry with events data collected by the early warning system to develop and share alerts with the local communities, relevant agriculture ministries and civil society organizations.

Figure 10.1. Example of information product developed in Burkina Faso based on the Flow Registry data collection tool

804 MEN HERDERS WOMEN IN TOTAL 58% 114 5 GIRLS* COUNTRIES 8% 12% This chart presents the results of data collection OF ORIGIN 22% BOYS* exercises conducted in 5 dierent locations *under 18 years of age between September 2019 and January 2020, during the transhumance period linked to the “dry 1% 1% THE season”, which pushes herders from countries in 4% the Sahel (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso) towards the 17% MALI 17% NIGER coastal countries of West Africa (Togo, Benin, Diguel Bangharia Yattako Ghana). This data collection exercise focused on Dori 15% THE NIGER movements towards Togo. 12% Lac Higa Centre-North 2% MALI North 55% BURKINA FASO 3% 13% THE NIGER Boucle du Mouhoun Central Centre Plateau Fada-Ngourma

BURKINA Centre-West Centre-East FASO Hauts-Bassins Centre-South Tindangou Ouro sambo

30% BENIN South-West Cascades 13% GHANA 17% TOGO

Incoming ›ows Outgoing ›ows Transit ›ows Transhumance corridor / Project area Note: This map is for illustration purposes only. Names and boundaries on this map do not imply o“cial Data collection points Region’s capital Regional boundary endorsement or acceptance by IOM.

Flows of pastoralists entering and passing through Burkina Faso Flow of farmers leaving Burkina Faso

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN TRANSIT POINT MAIN DESTINATIONS COUNTRY OF ORIGIN TRANSIT POINT MAIN DESTINATIONS

Mali (17%) Diguel (17%) Bangharia (1%) Mali (2%) Burkina Faso (32%) Yattako (3%) Diguel (1%) Lac Higa (2%) Niger (28%) Lac Higa (15%) Togo(13%) Burkina Faso (55%) Niger (6%) Yattako (4%) Tindangou (10%) Tindangou (17%) Togo (47%) Ouro sambo (30%)

Source: IOM, 2020.

Note: This map is for illustration purposes only. The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the International Organization for Migration.

128 REFERENCES International Organization forInternational Organization Migration(IOM) Plante, C., C. Berger and A. Ba BergerandA. C. Plante, C., 2020 2020 transhumants-1-avril-2020?close=true. burkina-faso-%E2%80%94-tableau-de-bord-de-suivi-des-mouvements- 1 April. Availabletranshumants at Faso –TableauBurkina de bord desuividesmouvements pastoralists-move-sahel-original-climate-adapters World Available athttps://blogs.worldbank.org/dev4peace/ BankBlogs. onthemove Pastoralists intheSahel:originalclimate-adapters. https://migration.iom.int/reports/ . 129