DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF

Dakoro Livelihood Profiles

Bororo Pastoralists February 20081 The context

Bororo pastoralists are a Fulani group who are to be found across the sahelian ecological band south of the Sahara, from Mauritania and Senegal to western Sudan. In Dakoro District they occupy the main part of the territory which lies to the north of the limits of agriculture and west of the Gadabeji forest reserve. In a flat to slightly undulating landscape, with mainly sandy soils and some fixed dunes, the vegetation is largely a mixture of grassland, sometimes extensive, and tree cover with acacia and other species which tend to be taller than the trees and shrubs in the northern sahel elsewhere. Dakoro District contains some of the most northern-positioned sahelian ecology in the country. The grazing in this area is also used at least seasonally by Touareg pastoralists and by Fulani agro-pastoralists residing to the south. Unlike the Touareg nomads, however, the Bororo practice a transhumant kind of livestock husbandry, with seasonal grazing migration at a limited distance from their home areas. Unlike the Toureg also, the Bororo have very few camels: they are cattle pastoralists par excellence, but with good numbers of sheep and goats too. Although their dwellings are in the main of the portable stick-and-matting kind, households are associated with fixed village areas where some have also established fixed mud-and-wattle houses. The ‘village’ groups of dwellings are scattered in the vicinity of a well. These settlements around wells have existed for anywhere between 60 and 120 years, according to the villagers. Their distant origins are in northern Nigeria, whence they migrated, as did agropastoral Fulani, pushed by territorial pressures emanating fundamentally from population pressure and the conflict between cultivation and pastoralism, expressed inter alia via edicts for pastoral settlement enforced by the Sokoto Emirate before and during the British colonial administration. The Bororo in Dakoro claim variously to have been always essentially pastoralists, even if in the past they may have practised some cultivation. They say that in some were in the past nomads who came into conflict with other groups (Toureg?) and so became semi-sedentary, taking on the restricted movements of transhumance. Others were always transhumant pastoralists, but they fled original areas more to the south (as far as ) because of conflict with encroaching cultivators. Today, in a reasonable rainfall year for pasture, grazing migrations are fairly limited in distance, especially for cattle. During the rainy season, pastures to the north are used in order to conserve for later the grazing around the home areas: destination areas are in the directions of and , but usually not more than 2-5 days’ trek. Watering is available not only from known wells where they are not asked to pay (except at some wells owned by Toureg) but from numerous seasonal ponds. After the harvest period animals are also trekked south, especially the smallstock but also some of the cattle, mainly to the north-centre of Dakoro District, e.g. around Sakabal. Here they do have to pay for watering their stock, at the cost of some 10,000 FCFA per month for a herd of 50 cattle. In a bad year such as 2005, where northern pastures have failed, there is a more concerted movement of most stock south immediately after the harvest period there. Normally they do not go beyond Maradi, but in a catastrophic year such as 1984 they go into Nigeria if they hear of available pastures there, a journey that takes about one month. Original wells several decades old remain in daily use, and communities with or without project help have invested in improving many of them with cement heads and partial lining. However, the system of water extraction remains usually via a skin or special thick plastic sack on the end of a rope pulled by donkeys, oxen or occasionally camels. This profile complements another, describing the Katsinawa Agropastoralists further South in Dakoro who were studied at the same time as the Bororo, and which is referred to in the text, along with profiles of two Hausa groups studied in last year2.

1Field work for this profile was undertaken in February 2008. The information presented refers to the reference year October 2006- September 2007, a generally good year by local standards. Provided there are no fundamental and rapid shifts in the economy, the information in this profile is expected to remain valid for approximately five years (i.e. until 2013). 2 Please see Holt and LeJeune (2007) Report on the Household Economy Survey of Two Livelihood Zones of Tessaoua District, with the accompanying two profiles from September 2007: Tessaoua South Central Livelihood Zone and Tessaoua North Settled Livelihood Zone. These reports are all available from Save the Children (UK).

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 1 DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF

Markets

The Bororo live principally by two crucial market transactions which are not always made in the same market-place or season. They need to sell livestock, and they need to buy grain. As shown on the map on the last page of this report, their market network extends from occasional inter-village transactions, through the main local weekly markets in their area to the major markets on the southern main-road axis. Bermo is the biggest local market centre for many Bororo in the overall area. Grain mainly comes into the area via the southern main motor road and Dakoro and Sakabal, but more distant markets to the north as far as on the main Tahoua-Agadez highway are used to sell animals and buy grain during migration, whilst smaller local markets are more heavily used for most of the year (see map). Millet is by far the most purchased grain, but sorghum and cowpeas are also bought. The overwhelming majority of livestock marketed are destined for the meat trade in urban centres, some in Niger (notably Maradi as the nearest regional centre) but mainly in Nigeria, and Jibia is the main border collection centre for onward sales in the cities of both northern and southern Nigeria. This holds good for both cattle and smallstock and even for donkeys (although the main source for these – destined for consumption in southern Nigeria – is Touareg herders further north).

More locally, livestock sales are for both slaughter and to add to the herd or flock, and are made both at local markets and individually at the village. These transactions may be amongst Bororo or between Bororo and farming villagers. In the latter case it is almost always Bororo selling to Hausa, since pastoral as well as well as agropastoral Fulani have many more stock than Hausa households overall, but Hausa are more numerous than Fulani up to the fringes of viable agricultural settlement. Market or individual sales are made not only at these fringes but during the seasonal southward transhumance of Bororo in the dry, post-harvest season (see calendar below). These days livestock exchange is mainly done with cash as the medium, but direct barter for grain is not entirely a thing of the past where it is convenient for both parties – or a mixture of both: a sheep might be transferred to a trader for, say, one sack of grain and 10,000 FCFA. Bororo also sometimes barter milk for grain, but cash typically comes from butter, which is less perishable and can be sold in th weekly markets and beyond. The northward transhumance in the rainy season offers fewer opportunities for market activity since there are no cultivators to demand milk or animals. Whilst milk is the chief addition to the cereal (mainly millet) consumed, it is little sold, and then usually only when the household has at least five milking cows present, and there are nearby customers. Then roughly half of the milk is consumed and half is sold as skimmed milk after butter production. Butter is made from this skimmed part, for 1000-1250 FCFA per litre in the reference year. Most Bororo also sell rather little butter – not more than a litre per week in season, and the money from this and the milk tends to be spent on sugar and condiments. Butter is cheapest late in the mid to late rainy season and most expensive in the dry season. In addition to is use at home in food, a part of the butter is used by both women and men to treat their hair and skin.

The main transactions made are at weekly markets, where herders typically sell smallstock just to be able to buy enough grain and other supplies to see them through the migration. Most market transactions with livestock involve an intermediary who inter alia acts as guarantor between a seller and a trader who do not know each other. The seller will offer the intermediary a little food and tea and some 500-1000 FCFA. When people sell to far-away markets – to get a better price for livestock and maybe also to get cheaper grain - they typically entrust their animals to community delegates in whom they have confidence and who are anyway going to the market for their own business. These are often paid a nominal 1000-2000 FCFA (non obligatory). Thus the chain is: Herder  community delegate  intermediary  purchaser.

Animals are sold in smaller or larger volume all year round, but there are two particular peaks. One is at the time of the harvest amongst the cultivators just to the south, or soon after, when herders who can afford to try to get in a substantial stock of grain at the lowest price in the year, perhaps selling a post milk-stage cow of 6-8 years or a bull of 3-5 years for slaughter. At that time the animals are in good condition from the new grazing, and fetch relatively high prices. Grain tends to be stored in the fixed mud-and-wattle houses owned by wealthier people, or may be stored by arrangement with traders at market centres. Poorer people may sell one or two smallstock at this time if they can, rather than getting credit to buy grain. Another peak time for sales is in May/June, just before the main rains, when supplies are needed for the northward grazing migration, and indeed for the home-based family too as the last stocks run out. This is the worst time of year for terms of trade: animals are in poor condition and grain prices are relatively high. Sales tend to be piecemeal and of smallstock, just to eke out the season with grain purchases every three weeks or so until cash from migrant workers is available, or if not, until the harvest period comes round again. By preference herders naturally sell male animals, notably goats from about 7 months of age, or old females beyond bearing age. A sign of a bad year is when unusual numbers of reproductive females of any type appear on the market.

The following sections of this report demonstrate how vulnerable the Bororo are to any increase in the market price of millet.

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 2

DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF

Seasonal Calendar

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Item Livestock Cattle Higher milk production Lower milk prodn. Low milk Higher milk prodn Sheep/Goats milk prod

Livestock migration Southwards Northwards

Purchase Fodder

Sale of livestock Higher volume Lower volume Higher volume

Livestock diseases

Livestock vaccination

Employment Exode

Other Staple Food Purchase

Wild Food Collection

Debts / loans Debt Debt Reimburse Illness Respiratory Diseases Malaria Festivities etc 'Hunger Gap'

Season Cold Dry Hot Dry Wet

Rainfall pattern (mm) at Dakoro, 2006 200

100

0 Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 200 Dakoro (Ranche 150 de Fako) 2007 mm 100

50 0

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

Of the three main seasons into which the pastoral year is divided, the cold dry season is the easiest, in the sense that the benefits of the previous rains are most greatly felt, especially the milk availability and the relative cheapness of grain. In the hot dry season it begins to get harder to make ends meet as grain prices rise, and the quality of live diminishes with the fading of milk production and the rise of extreme heat. The ‘hunger gap’ for poorer households continues into the rainy season, when cereal prices are at their highest, but livestock begin to recover thanks to the reappearance of grassland and milk production increases. Most households within this area find May and June difficult months. When grazing land is scarce, households who can afford it need to purchase fodder for their animals to maintain milk production and to keep their livestock healthy. The hunger gap in the pastoral zone is usually over before the equivalent difficult period starts in the agropastoral zone, due to the differences in the determinants of these economies.

In the cool dry season two activities cause hardship to a greater or lesser extent. Households must divide internally as some members take livestock southwards for the longer of the annual far-grazing migrations (usually within a two or three days’ trek from the village) to benefit from fields open for grazing on the stubble (and for manuring by the grazing herds) after the harvest has been stored. This is also when women (especially of the poorer households) leave their families on work migration to other countries, reportedly mainly selling herbal medicines in which Bororo are considered as specialists, but also doing some domestic or field work. Some – but far fewer – men migrate also, and in addition to selling traditional cures they undertake some livestock droving and possibly craft work. The villages have their particular destination countries, dependant on local contacts. For some this might involve heading south into Nigeria, while other women reported travelling as far as Togo, Ghana and Senegal – the last at some 4500 km by road and rail. The women have to leave their young children behind in the care of other household members, and they travel in small groups for company and safety. They usually return home after two

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 3 DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF

three months to give money the household, to be with their children and to catch up on family news; but then after a month or so many head off again for a second trip. Key informants talked about this migration as a tiring, difficult but necessary activity; many said that they would prefer not to go because it is difficult to be away from their children especially when they are very young, but that they “do not have enough cattle” to be able to meet their household needs otherwise. Where there are several adult women in a household they might share the trip and may do only one trip each in the year. The women return from their migration not only with cash but with articles for resale such as soap and clothing. Women from a number of villages who go to Lagos reported that they also bring sacks of dried ‘remains’, i.e. the ‘washed’ and dried staple food leftovers got from houses, to be later cooked with a sauce at home. Before travelling, the women (or sometimes the husband on their behalf) must often borrow money to pay for the transport, and this is reimbursed after their return, in a period coinciding with high livestock sales. It was reported that there were no excessive losses due to livestock diseases during the reference year 2006-7. The most sensitive periods for such diseases are November-December when respiratory diseases are more likely and April-May when the livestock are generally in a relatively poor nutritional state.

Wealth Breakdown

Wealth Group Information Own livestock lent Additional livestock Livestock owned (per 10 household HH size (habbanayé* ) to (habbanayé* received) members) others per household

7-9 or 18-21 3-4 cattle, 10-11 sheep/goats, 2-3 Very Poor 1 cow, 2 goats, 1 ewe members donkeys

9 to 16 5-6 cattle, 14-15 sheep/goats, 2-3 Poor 1 cow, 2 goats, 1 ewe members donkeys

12 to 18 16 cattle, 0-1 traction bull, 43-45 2 cows, 6 female 2-3 cows, 3 goats, 2 Middle members sheep/goats, 3-4 donkeys, 0-1 horse sheep / goats ewes

12-22 30+ cattle, 1 traction bull, 60-70 sheep 4 cows, 8 female Better-off 3 cows, 3 goats, 2 ewes members / goats, 1 camel, 0-1 horse sheep / goats

0% 20% 40% % of households

* ‘Habbanayé’ refers to a common form of loan of animals between households. Usually the household borrows a young female and keeps it until it has produce at least one calf or kid or lamb, of which the household takes ownership. Habbanayé loans can last up to three years; the returned animal may then be loaned to another household. This ‘solidarity’ between rich and poor is a principal way for poor people to build up a flock or herd, or even to remain at all in the pastoral system after drought losses. But this loan system also entails ‘solidarity’ between households which are not poor, so that a household may at the same time be loaning and borrowing stock. The reasons for such arrangements between relatively well-off households are not clear to us, but must include mutual advantage whether in terms of husbandry or in terms of reciprocity and social relations and strengthening of genetic stock. Another common form of loan, ‘dilayé’ entails the loan of a milking animal for a period; in this case ownership of young does not go to the borrower. The domestic unit of analysis for the present survey was based on a man and his wife or wives and children, since this is the basic unit of asset holding, economic operation and consumption. One or two unmarried kin or aged people may also be attached to such a household; but amongst the Very Poor especially there may also perhaps be a married son and family for whom there is not enough livestock available to allow them to set up a separate home (which would require at least a couple of cattle and a handful of smallstock). Women own some livestock as well as men; it is the husband’s responsibility to assure household survival with his stock, but in case of need, whether in a bad year or for a ceremony, the woman’s stock may be sold or slaughtered if she gives her consent. The categorisation of wealth in terms of types and numbers of animals owned, and the proportion of households in each of four wealth categories, as well as the typical household sizes, was made according to villagers’ own judgement. This is an economic statement rather than a statement of social status, which depends also on other factors including kinship and clanship position. Households were defined as the basic economic unit in terms of assets, production, earnings and consumption. The estimate resulting from discussion and ‘proportional piling’ exercises was that some 35-40% of households were Very poor, 20-30% Poor, 20-25% Middle and 10-20% Better Off. It is noticeable that even discounting extremes, there is a wide range of size of typical households in each wealth group. Unlike the situation amongst most agricultural communities, the size of household does not clearly tend to increase with wealth status. Larger households are usually polygamous, but many Poor and even some Very Poor men have more than one wife. One complicating factor in such categorisation is the life cycle of households: a younger household head with his wife or wives (separate female-headed households are rare) may be poorer than an older household head simply by

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 4

DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF virtue of the proportion of very young dependents and/or the fact that herd ownership builds up over time, barring catastrophe. However, our understanding was that the categorisation made essentially on the basis of households expected to continue in the given category, even if losses in bad year may temporarily knock households down to a lower category in terms of livestock held. But the Very Poor showed a special pattern, indicated in the table, in that they either had relatively small households or relatively large ones, with few in-between. This was explained by the fact that a good number of households contained married sons of the household head, as explained above. Give the range of household size, assets are shown in terms of a notional household of 10 people. In this way it is clearer to see the differentiated pattern of assets. These are typical ranges of animal holdings: a few, untypical Better Off households will possess even twice as many animals as shown; and a few, untypical Very Poor households may actually own no more than two or three smallstock to accompany the few animals they keep on loan. Although there is a clear gradation in assets from the Very Poor to the Better Off, there is really a grouping: the Very Poor and Poor together are distinctly below the Middle and Better Off together. It should be emphasised, however, that these figures refer to holdings of animals in the reference year of 2006-07. This was only the second year after the crisis of 2004-05 when a great number of livestock were lost to pasture failure and to the market in response to unprecedentedly high grain prices. In the following sections we see how each wealth group makes a living, with or without substantial stock.

Sources of Food These graphs show where Bororo get their food from, the different sources Sources of the basic food consumed by typical households being valued in terms of the percentage of the household’s calorie requirement covered. Gift/loan means in-kind, i.e. 120% grain or milk handed over directly. The school canteen element means the 100% Gift / Loan contribution that free school meals for children make to the coverage of the School Canteen overall household requirement. 80%

Purchase is mainly of grain but also of Purchase other food from the market. As regards 60% work migration, few people bring back Migration food, as opposed to cash, from work 40% Payment in Kind migration trips; the ‘migration’ element here actually means the contribution of Livestock meals eaten away from home during 20% Products migration. ‘Payment in Kind’ is in grain, and relates to the work done by 0% Bororo men who go south to stay with V Poor Poor Middle Better Off Fulani agropastoralists and work on their fields, sometimes alongside local In this graph, food access is expressed as a percentage of minimum food Hausa casual labour. Finally, the requirements, taken as an average food energy intake of 2100 kcals per person per day. ‘livestock products’ is almost all milk, since butter is not abundantly consumed and what meat is consumed Production and use of milk, contributes very few calories overall. Dakoro Bororo Pastoral Zone 2006-2007 The Bororo are not at all unusual amongst pastoralists in Africa for living largely on purchased grain. This is 7000 something they have done for 6000 generations, although in past times, 5000 'Other' with fewer people and more cattle per capita there would have been overall 4000 Sold higher milk consumption. But as the 3000 Consumed population has grown, the ‘food value’ milk of litres 2000 of livestock has shifted further away 1000 from milk and towards their value in 0 exchange for grain. Therefore in any year, the market terms of trade of V Poor Poor Middle Better off livestock for grain are the single most crucial livelihood calculation for most Bororo.

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 5 DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF

Nevertheless, milk is an important part of the diet, and its great palatability and addition to the quality of diet – one might say to the quality of life - remains part of the point of being a pastoralist. Not surprisingly, the wealthier households with more cattle drink more milk, up to some one-quarter of their overall calorie intake; but all wealth groups drink substantially more milk than their fellows amongst agropastoralists, and even a Very Poor Bororo household drinks about as much milk per capita as a wealthy farming household amongst the Hausa. In the second graph above it can be seen that the Bororo in northern Dakoro, at least, essentially do not sell milk. A limited part of the ‘other’ use is in barter for grain, but the main part is for butter and cheese-making, whilst a third use is in the gift of milk from wealthier to poorer households, especially at times when all the cattle are present and wealthier households cannot consume all the fresh milk – most especially after the rains in October/November, before the southward transhumance, when cattle have been feeding well off the renewed pastures.

Sources of Cash

1200000 Loan The most obvious pattern here is the Agric labour 1000000 very high role of the sale of livestock 800000 Migration and livestock products in the income of the Better Off and Middle households as 600000 Donkey sale contrasted with the high role of Shoat sale migration earnings for the Poor and 400000 especially the Very Poor. Nevertheless, Cattle sale 200000 livestock sales are important for the poorer groups, amounting to 35% of the Milk / butter / 0 total income of the Very Poor and cheese sale V Poor Poor Middle Better around 50% of that of the Poor. In other Off words, although their low possessions of

The graph above shows the average cash income earned from typical livestock tell us that they are not proper sources in the reference year for typical households in each wealth group. pastoralists, they definitely are profitably locked into the pastoral system. Indeed, if that were not the case it is unlikely that most of them would be 100% Loan there: the roughly 40% of households Agric labour who are Middle and Better Off could 80% not fundamentally support the 37% who Migration are Very Poor, not to mention additional 60% Donkey sale numbers from the 25% of Poor – that is, beyond the animals they lend them 40% Shoat sale under habbanayé and the cash loans they make to them. Cattle sale 20% By the same token, however, it seems Milk / butter / clear that the condition for the poorer cheese sale 0% households to make a profit out of the V Poor Poor Middle Better Off pastoral system is that they must get one

The graph above shows the proportions of cash income from the different half to two-thirds of their earned income sources for each wealth group from elsewhere (including the cash to repay the loans from year to year). And in the case of this group of Bororo, apart from a little paid work done by the Very Poor on the fields of agropastoralists to the south, ‘elsewhere’ can mean very far away: a main destination of seasonal work migration is the Senegal capital Dakar (see the Seasonal Calendar section above). It can be seen that the cash income of the Better Off is typically about double that of the Very Poor, whilst in between, the Middle earn about 50% more than the Poor. This is on a household basis. If we adjust for comparative household sizes, the differentials are reduced: on a per capita basis the Better Off earn two-thirds more than the Very Poor, and the Middle earn about 30% more than the Poor. Considering the differential in livestock holdings. Where the Better Off own ten times more livestock than the Very Poor and the Middle some three times more than the Poor, their income differentials are perhaps surprisingly low. However, it is commonly observed that for these pastoralists, especially the wealthier, cash income is generated only on the basis of need: people tend to retain their capital, savings and security ‘on the hoof’, only selling or slaughtering the number of animals necessary for food and material life and social obligations. In a bad year when grain prices are high, they are likely to have to sell more animals; in advantageous years, fewer. Thus a pastoralist’s comparative wealth is not properly reflected in what he earns or

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 6

DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF spends. A farmer is much more likely to maximise cash income from his assets, especially in maximising the harvest and the sale of any surplus grain as well as cash crops Although farmers do also keep capital/savings ‘on the hoof’, Better Off Hausa farmers also tend to invest in trading. Better Off Bororo tend not to (except in the sense that some individuals make a profit from mediating livestock sales or collecting livestock from others to sell to traders). This is one penalty for being far from the major commercial activity of the south, much of it connected with the Nigerian market. Expenditure Patterns Perhaps like the cash income totals, the 1200000 Credit / Transport expenditure pattern surprises by the lack of acute differentiation, given the disparities in Gifts absolute wealth as measured by livestock 1000000 Tax holdings. Is this illusory? Clearly the Better Off, with far more of their calories coming Clothing from milk than is the case with the poorer 800000 groups, spend proportionately less than these Health, education on cereals, although they spend more in Production absolute terms partly because they have 600000 equipment somewhat larger households (16 for the Livestock inputs Better Off, 13 for the Very Poor). The Water (livestock) difference would be more if we took account 400000 of the relative importance of migrant Household equipment workers’ meals ‘saved’. But if we put Soap / Make-up together the three basic material household 200000 expenditures on cereals, on other foods such Salt, Stimulants, as beans, and on condiments and stimulants, Spices Other foods then it is striking that they amount to between 0 about 55% and 65% of expenditure amongst V Poor Poor Middle Better Cereals all the groups. On the other hand, in absolute Off terms the Better Off spend twice what the 100% Credit / Transport Very Poor spend, and evidently eat more and better; yet there is in this picture some hint of Gifts people living the same fundamental lifestyle: Tax wealth in livestock is not generally converted 80% into big houses or other basic assets. Clothing Health, education The most acute differences are amongst the 60% other items of expenditure, and not Production equipment surprisingly there is a great difference in Livestock inputs expenditure on livestock inputs. These are for fodder, veterinary drugs etc., and we may 40% Water (livestock) include the water costs as they are principally Household equipment also for livestock. Also, the Middle and Better Off spend far more on clothes than the 20% Soap / Make-up other groups, given that every group has Salt, Stimulants, migrant workers who can bring back cheaper Spices clothes from Dakar, Nigeria or elsewhere. Other foods The transport picture contains complexities, 0% because in major part it concerns the outlay Cereals V Poor Poor Middle Better for migrant worker’s journeys and the Off associated credit and repayments – journeys The graph provides a breakdown by wealth group of the proportions of up to some 9000 km return by road and rail of cash expenditure according to category. in the case of Dakar.

Finally, the Better Off and Middle spend two to three times more than the Poor and Very poor on education and health. Part of the difference education expenditure is the capacity to meet the cost of sending a child to board at a district town in order to attend secondary school. On the other hand, the primary school canteen system at village level, introduced by NGOs and taken on by the Education Ministry, must have the effect of encouraging poorer people to send children to school, as well as contributing a bit to covering the overall household food requirement, as seen in the first graph in this Profile.

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 7 DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF

Hazards

The main hazards facing the pastoralists are: - Rain failure leading to a lack of nearby and or far-grazing pastures for the dry season. Bad years occur every three years or so; severe drought is much rarer. - Animal diseases: a perennial problem, but there are years when epidemic disease is experiences, leading to higher livestock losses and lower than usual milk production. - Market events, especially grain price hikes, and a glut of animals on the market leading to poor prices for those sold. - Animal thefts (Bororo often point to the Touareg): these are one reason why they do not keep camels, high value animals which are normally left to browse unattended and thus are particularly vulnerable and prone to theft. - Bush fires, which can threaten human as well as animal lives, and destroy grasses and browse. - Heavy influx of herds from elsewhere, south or north, especially when conditions elsewhere are comparatively unfavourable.

When faced with these problems, people respond in a number of ways, as seen in the following table of seasonal performance over the five recent years as judged by villagers. As is common in the sahelian ecology, rainfall and therefore pasture performance is quite localised, so that the only absolute agreement on the quality of a year amongst the different villages was the crisis year of 2004-05.

Year Seasonal Event Response Performance 2006-2007 3-5 Good grazing (except in 1 location + Purchased animal fodder, bran. Migrated overgrazing by transhumant herders in towards the north (for 1 location), another) migration (apparently worthwhile for some) 2005-2006 3-5 Good rainfall, abundant grazing Food aid and livestock reconstitution (Oxfam) 2004-2005 1 Drought, lack of pasture, livestock deaths, Migration, purchase of food and animal destocking due to high cereal prices. fodder, sale of livestock, external assistance (Oxfam) 2003-2004 Differed by Good to middling pasture but grazing in Sale of livestock to purchase food, location the North was bad thus herds from Agadez migration etc. 2-3 and Tahoua came further south: competing 4-5 with local herds. Basic foods expensive, flooding in 1 location which caused loss of grazing and livestock. 2002-2003 1-5 Very variable – differed from one location Variable as above to another

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 8

DRAFT OXFAM – SCUK – ACF

Markets

The diagram below shows the markets frequented by the pastoral HEA study villages, Dakoro:

◘ AKADANE ◘ TAMAYA ◙ ABOUHAYA

◘ ◙ ABALAK ○ Intalac

○ B. Bugajeo

○ Kiro ◙ BERMO GOUGO ○ Innifi U ○ Zawa

○ Guirka ○ Furdou

◙ KOMBAKI

◙ SAKABAL

◙ DAKORO ◙ AJE KORIA ◙ KORNAKA

◙ SAMON MACHI

© MARADI

© JIBIA (NIGERIA)

Key: ◙ Regular Market ○ village/settlement studied ◘ Market frequented during transhumance ← Trade Route, normal year … Trade Route, bad year © Large commercial centre

Niger Profile Dakoro Bororo Pastoral final page 9