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Agro-pastoral mediation in the Sahel region

NARRATIVE REPORT 1 January to 31 December 2019

Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue 114 rue de Lausanne CH 1202 Geneva Tél : +41 22 908 11 30 www.hdcentre.org

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1. Evaluation of the implementation of the activities of the action and of the results

In the Sahel, agropastoral activities are highly dependent on climate variability. As a result, agropastoralists are constantly looking for strategies to enable them to effectively adapt their production systems to climate change. In recent years, politico-military crises and the occupation of certain areas by violent extremist groups have greatly disrupted traditional animal movements and caused a crisis of confidence between pastoral and agro-pastoral communities sharing the same geographical spaces and resources and have resulted in an increase in violence

By the end of 2019, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) was supporting a network of 961 community mediators spread across 58 border communities in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger in their efforts to resolve conflicts over access to natural resources. This network of mediators resolved 105 micro-conflicts and facilitated the return of 229 head of cattle, two plots of land and two motorcycles to their owners. This work reflects the project's objective to prevent the transformation of micro-conflicts into inter-community conflicts that could be triggered by armed groups operating in the Sahel region.

Denmark and the European Union also fund the agro-pastoral mediation programme implemented by HD with the support of the Netherlands. While this report focuses on the activities carried out in the intervention areas funded by the Netherlands, some references are made to the programme as a whole to facilitate understanding.

2. Results and activities

Having identified the communes of intervention, and finalised the recruitment and training of the project team, HD then conducted the following activities:

Specific objective 1. Structure and support nomadic, semi-nomadic and sedentary mediator networks in order to prevent and manage conflicts related to the exploitation of natural resources.

A.1.1. Conduct of the baseline study1

HD conducted a first baseline study in the following regions: - Burkina Faso: Boucle du Mouhoun, North, East and Sahel region (from 25 March to 19 April 2019) ; - Mali: Mopti, Ségou, Tombouctou, Gao and Ménaka regions (from 28 March to 20 April 2019) ; - Mauritania: Hodh El Chargui (from 10 to 25 April 2019) ; - Niger: Tillabéry and Tahoua region (23 march to 15 April 2019) ; - Chad: Kanem and Lac region (13 to 30 April 2019).

A second baseline study was conducted in the following regions: - Burkina Faso: Sahel and East regions (17 to 27 December 2019) ; - Mali: Mopti, Gao, Ségou, Koulikoro, Kayes and Sikasso regions (from 17 November to 31 Decembre2019) ; - Mauritania: Hodh El Garbi, Assaba and Guidimagha region (from 16 to 31 December 2019) ; - Niger: Tahoua region (from 26 December 2019 to 2 January 2020).

These two studies were conducted in 105 communes (51 in Mali, 13 in Niger, 24 in Burkina Faso, 12 in Mauritania and 5 in Chad) and through individual or group interviews. Interviews, each lasting an average of one day, brought together homogeneous or mixed groups of community representatives (pastoralists, farmers, fishermen, young people and women). A total of 143 collective interviews were

1 Both baseline studies were carried out with cost- sharing with Denmark and the EU

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facilitated (67 in Mali, 23 in Niger, 31 in Burkina Faso, 12 in Mauritania and 10 in Chad) and 1991 individuals were consulted (888 in Mali, 275 in Niger, 445 in Burkina Faso, 263 in Mauritania and 120 in Chad).

The baseline study enabled HD to: a. Identify future community mediators who will form the networks: 1738 community mediators were identified. b. Identify conflicts related to the exploitation of agro-pastoral resources (water points, pastures, salt lands) or theft of livestock. A total of 473 conflicts were identified under the following categories:

Categories of conflicts Fishermen Farmer - Breeders - Breeders - Fishermen - Fishermen - Natural Livestock Countries Farmer Farmers Breeders Farmers - Breeders Fishermen Various ressources* theft Total Burkina Faso 25 36 5 4 1 36 9 5 121 Mali 44 88 27 5 1 36 9 210 Mauritania 9 27 11 11 7 1 66 Niger 7 11 6 2 5 31 Chad 4 15 11 15 45 Total 89 177 49 7 4 2 99 40 6 473 * if all the conflicts mentioned above also concern natural resources, the category natural resources includes conflicts whose protagonists are diverse and cannot be reduced to one of the defined categories.

It should be noted that out of the 473 conflicts, 134 are considered complex by the communities (45 in Mali, 7 in Niger, 36 in Burkina Faso, 25 in Mauritania and 21 in Chad). Either because of the involvement of armed groups, political interests or the influence of actors residing outside the communes of intervention, the community representatives believe that they are not able to resolve these so-called complex conflicts by themselves and have requested support from HD. Finally, the restraint shown by some participants in the baseline study meetings suggests that new conflicts will be mapped as the project is implemented and the participants gain confidence.

c. Identify corridors, major livestock markets and strategic resources in the lean season: country data are included in each country report and will be updated as needed and based on interactions with other actors in the field. This data will be fed into policy dialogue on natural resources management as appropriate. d. Begin the inventory of local natural resources management conventions as well as customs and habits: the country data are included in each of the national reports and will be completed later for a specific publication on the subject in accordance with the objectives of the project. e. Identifying other structures operating in the target municipalities: the summary table, based on the information provided by the local authorities and community representatives, is attached to this start-up report for the use of the Netherlands. HD also exchanged with FAO, Terre des Hommes and Acting for life about possible future collaborations. f. Gather community perceptions on a number of issues of interest to the project: country data are included in each of the national reports and regional values are provided in an annex to each of them. g. Verify the relevance of the communes of intervention.

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The conduct of the two baseline studies resulted in a detailed analysis (one report per country and a synthesis report) available in the annex (see Annexes 1 to 5 for the national reports and 6 for the synthesis).

At the end of the baseline studies, HD defined the final list of intervention communes (see Annex 7) and carried out their mapping (see Annex 8).

A 1.2. Setting up and supporting the structuring of the networks

The networks of community mediators are constituted on a communal basis, meaning a group of two to three communes based on geographical criteria and the existing social and socio-economic relations between them. The networks are composed of community leaders identified during the baseline study and confirmed by the community according to the following steps:

 Designation of leaders from the list identified during the baseline study: according to the 4 inclusion criteria defined by HD (geographical, socio-professional, sociotechnical, gender), the leaders of each commune, with the support of the local authorities, designated 15 leaders out of the 30 pre-identified. The 15 leaders per commune were invited to the workshop to set up the network, consisting of 30 members for networks with two communes and 45 for networks with three communes.  The presentation of the objectives, project activities and the roles of the networks: After their designation, the leaders were invited to a meeting to set up the network. The ceremony started with the presentation of the leaders and the project team presented the project content, the roles and responsibilities of the network and the representatives to the leaders;  The establishment of the network management committee and the appointment of representatives: Based on their experiences from local associations, the leaders presented the positions of the management committee whose positions were allocated by consensus (president, treasurer ...). Depending on the number of communes in the networks, the number of posts was fixed (6 posts for networks composed of 1 to 2 communes and 9 posts for networks composed of 3 communes). After the identification of the posts, always according to the criteria of inclusiveness, each commune appointed three leaders and a representative to represent it at the committee level (This representative serves as the memory of the network and the point of contact for HD, and must therefore know how to write in French, Arabic and another local language.). After this designation, the project team withdrew from the room to let the leaders create the network management committee.

Between the 1st of July and the 31st of December 2019, 30 networks were set up following the procedure above (4 of which financed by the Netherlands).

Nevertheless, in some communes the activities could not take place as planned due to insecurity. The majority of our intervention communes are border communes where the States have little presence, a situation that often pre-existed the security crisis that is currently shaking the Sahel and further increases the level of insecurity in the intervention communes. This is particularly due to regular clashes between the security forces and armed groups, or between certain communities whose conflicts over natural resources have been instrumentalised by armed groups. In this context, HD has been constantly analysing the security situation. Each activity is preceded by an objective analysis of the security situation on five levels:  Level 1: the security situation is calm and does not require any special arrangements to carry out our activities.  Level 2: the area is experiencing security incidents or disruptions but we can take steps to avoid the affected areas or we can rearrange the program of activities to adapt to the level of security on the ground.  Level 3: security incidents or disruptions are such that we are unable to travel to the field. In this case, we can make arrangements for leaders to travel to safer locations.

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 Level 4: the situation is such that even the movement of leaders becomes difficult. Here it is necessary to find out about safe routes and organise detours to facilitate the movement of leaders. Some displacements indeed attract the attention of the security forces and armed groups who often subject leaders to interrogations. To avoid this situation HD tries to organise activities before or after the weekly fair days. The movement of the leaders can this be seen as attendance of the fair.  Level 5: The level of insecurity is such that the team cannot move around the field and the leaders cannot move to safe locations either. Activities are postponed or cancelled.

The communes that are in this situation (level 5) are:  The 10 communes of the Ménaka region in Mali (Inékar, Inlamawane, Andéramboukane, Tamalet, Anouzgrène, Infoukarétane, Ménaka, Tin-Abaw, Inazol and Tanbankort). The situation deteriorated from September onwards, and by December 2019 the level of insecurity was such that all international organisations suspended their activities. In these communes, HD has been able to conduct the baseline study but has not yet been able to set up the networks.  The commune of Mondoro in the Mopti region of Mali. This commune is under very strong pressure from armed groups, as evidenced by the multiple attacks against the military camp. In addition, inter-community clashes have led the Fulani and Dogon to stop interacting. In these communes, HD has been able to carry out the baseline study but has not yet been able to set up the networks.  The communes of Koutougou, Mansila and Arbinda in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso. These communes are either under siege by armed groups (nobody comes in, nobody goes out) or the majority of the population has moved to find refuge in safer places. In Mansila and Arbinda, HD was able to conduct the baseline study and in the three communes has not yet been able to put the networks in place.

For their part, the functional networks have begun to work on the resolution of micro-conflicts, as evidenced by the minutes signed by the parties at the end of the mediation. However, it should be noted that not all networks have the same degree of functionality and are monitored by HD advisers. From July to December 2019, the networks were able to: - resolve 105 disputes (of which 42 for networks funded by the European Union, 39 for those funded by the Kingdom of Denmark and 24 for those funded by the Netherlands). The majority of the minutes concerns conflicts related to access to natural resources or land, but others concern disputes within households, inheritance and religious issues (imam succession or mosque management); - recover and return 229 heads of livestock (in the 5 countries, 11 of which are in EU-funded municipalities and 218 in those funded by the Kingdom of Denmark, where many networks exist since 2016). This low rate can be explained by the presence of jihadist groups in the area that engage in Zakat levy and cattle theft, making it impossible for the community mediators to achieve their restitution; - recovering and returning two motorcycles and two plots of land.

Below are three examples of micro-conflicts resolved by community mediator networks:

The stubborn farmer on a cattle track in Kantchari (Burkina Faso) It is common for herders and farmers to clash when the demarcation of pastoral areas and animal corridors is too imprecise. In such cases, farmers in search of fertile land extend their activities on pastoral land, which is rich in natural fertilizer provided by livestock, and thus compensate for the impoverishment of the land they are farming. The obstruction that this situation represents for pastoralists' access to natural resources quickly leads to agro-pastoral conflicts. At the start of the agricultural season in June 2019, in the village of Kantchari in Burkina Faso, a farmer had settled on the cattle track used every year by transhumant pastoralists and their herds. As a result, a passing pastor saw his herd driven out of the transhumance corridor traditionally used by his community. After insults and threats, the tone quickly rose between the two parties. Witnesses of the scene then contacted the

June 2020 Page 5 out of 8 01/01/2019-31/12/2019 members of the network of community mediators who intervened to listen to each side and facilitate the reconciliation of their positions. In the end, the two parties finally reached an amicable agreement. The farmer agreed to clear the track and no longer cultivate around it in order to preserve social cohesion.

Brick makers and animals on the banks of the Léré pond (Mali) In the Timbuktu region of northern Mali, ponds are sources of water used by people and animals after the rainy season. Around the Léré pond, men make bricks and bancoes for the construction of their houses and that pastoralists come to water their animals, without any provision having been made to organise access to the ponds. Thus the brick makers, exasperated by the repeated destruction of their bricks by the animals, summoned the owners to the village chief's house, but without any solution being found. In the face of the deteriorating social climate, the network of community mediators intervened to listen to each party and facilitate the reconciliation of their positions. At the end, it was decided by consensus to divide the pond into two parts, each dedicated to one activity. Since then, all the communities have been exploiting the waterhole without conflict.

Equitable sharing of an inheritance in Liwa (Chad) The sharing of inheritance is another classic source of conflict within a community. In the village of Liwa in Chad, in October 2019, an elderly woman died without having a direct heir in the village to whom she could pass her market square and housing land. Several people claimed her inheritance without the village chief and the canton chief being able to find common ground between the parties and the dispute was therefore brought to court. Having learned of the existence of the network of mediators, one party approached it to instead seek an amicable solution. Once the complaint had been withdrawn in court, the network resorted to traditional methods of conflict resolution by consulting the local imams, the canton chief, the representative of the sub-prefect and the village elders. The latter then brought the parties to the conflict together at the village mosque and decided that the sharing of the inheritance would be done in accordance with Islamic law. Each party accepted its share and the signed minutes were forwarded to the judge to inform him of the amicable settlement of the conflict. This story demonstrates the social regulatory role of the network of community mediators, beyond issues of access to natural resources, with the added benefit of helping to reduce the pressure on already overloaded local justice systems.

A.1.3. Training of community mediators

The training of the members of the different networks is planned for the first half of 2020. They could not take place at the end of 2019 as initially planned. Once the report of the first baseline study was available, the five launching meetings of the project took place during the last quarter of 2019. This resulted in the postponement of the training sessions as well as the first cross-border meetings and the first meetings between communities and authorities in each of the 21 administrative regions of intervention. Instead, HD took the opportunity to : (1) identify with the communities the development needs that they consider to be priorities to be shared with the development partners and other structures financed by the European Union. This with the aim of contributing to the creation of synergies between the mediation and development efforts; (2) conduct a second baseline study and thus extend the total number of communes involved in the intervention to 129 at the beginning of 2020, following the Danish and Dutch funding received by HD. This will allow the training to be held when all the networks of mediators are set up and will strengthen the impact of the dialogue between authorities and communities, whose representativeness will increase.

A.1.4. Distribution of tools in support of the mediators

When the first networks were set up, HD disseminated templates for the minutes of conciliation or non- conciliation between parties in conflict that mediators use in the conduct of their mediations. Other tools will be prepared or distributed during the first training in early 2020. Three main tools are currently being prepared:

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- Community mediators phone directory : the names and contact information of 988 leaders were collected during the establishment of the first 30 networks. The directory is currently being compiled and will soon be printed and distributed during the training sessions. For the networks to be set up in 2020, the directories will follow at a later date ; - The image box for a peaceful transhumance is being finalized and will be printed and distributed during the training sessions; - The list of markings distinguishing herds of the different communities: the markings included in the list will be identified at the beginning of 2020 in order to group them together in a list of animal markings, then distribute them to the communities.

Specific objective 2: Accompany the networks in conflict mediation when the issues at stake surpass the capacity of community mediators.

A.2.1. Mediation for a pacified management of disputed natural resources Baseline studies have made it possible to identify the so-called strategic natural resources, meaning resources that are valuable in a given area to meet the needs of communities and whose use is regularly a source of tension or conflict between users. During the first local meetings per administrative region in 2020 between communities and authorities, a list of first strategic resources for which HD will undertake or support mediation in support of networks will be drawn up. These mediations will aim to update, formalise in writing or establish officially recognised local agreements for the use of strategic resources.

Specific objective 3: Facilitate the access of nomadic communities to pastoral resources during the transhumance period in order to prevent conflicts with sedentary communities.

A.3.1. Dissemination of legislations through messages on the radio and a “picture box”

This activity has been postponed to 2020 in order to wait until all the networks are in place and contribute to the production of the radio spots.

A.3.2. Support for the identification, marking of boundaries and peaceful management of passageways for animals by the communities

The baseline study identified the needs in terms of the materialisation of corridors. 34 were identified as priorities in the communes of: - Burkina Faso: Thiou and Kain in the North region; Seytanga and Flagountou in the Sahel region; Bartiébougou in the East region; Doumbala and Barani in the Boucle du Mouhoun region; - Mali: Dilly, Guiré, Koronga, Guéniébé, Dogofry (Nara), Nara rural, Baniré Koré, Diarra, Gogui in the region of Koulikoro; - Mauritania: Adell Bagrou and Fassala in the region of Hodh El Chargui; - Niger: Dorgol, Gorouol, Bankilaré, Torodi and Say in the Tillabéry region; - Chad: Liwa in the Lac region; Ziguey, Ntiona, Nokou and Rig-Rig in the North Kanem region.

HD is preparing to obtain authorisations from the relevant authorities before mobilising them and the communities to clearly demarcate the corridors to be marked. This will be subject to mediation since this will involve farmers releasing plots. These preparatory mediations and the marking out of corridors will begin in 2020.

HD has also identified the communities’ priority development needs, to be shared with other development partners in order to create better synergies between mediation and development efforts. On average, HD has collected two development needs per commune, the management of which would make it possible to prevent or manage conflicts over access to natural resources. HD was careful to focus

June 2020 Page 7 out of 8 01/01/2019-31/12/2019 expectations on a limited list of needs, indicating that it would be shared with its various partners, without any guarantee that this could be achieved. This was to avoid creating false hopes and to ensure that confidence in HD, and therefore our credibility, would not be undermined if development projects did not materialise. The current list of needs is available in Annex 9 and has been shared with relevant partners.

Specific objective 4: Facilitate the dialogue between communities and authorities in order to pacify the management of natural resources as well as the issue of cattle theft.

A.4.1. Facilitation of the dialogue at the local level to feed the national level

The start of the local dialogue, via meetings between communities and authorities in each of the 21 administrative regions of intervention, is planned for the first half of 2020. It could not take place at the end of 2019 as initially planned. Indeed, once the report of the first baseline study was available, the five meetings to launch the project took place during the last quarter of 2019. This resulted in the postponement of the training sessions and the first cross-border and local meetings. HD took the opportunity to identify with the communities the development needs, as outlined above.

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