What COVID-19 movement restrictions mean for nomadic pastoralists in the Sahel
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Better land governance could be a solution to challenges pastoralists face . Ould Ne Salem, a nomadic pastoralist from southeast Mauritania, has been stuck in the country since the outbreak of COVID-19 earlier this year. Like many other nomadic herders in the region, Ould Ne Salem often travels between Mauritania, Senegal and Mali, but he is now facing an almost unprecedented situation: the closure of borders and restrictions on movement due to the pandemic.
In mid-March, borders were closed between Mauritania and all neighbouring countries, as well as between the country's willayas, or regions. For mobile pastoralists, this is a situation fraught with consequences. They are unable to move their livestock and earn money, and it exacerbates their already difficult situation: Mauritania and surrounding countries suffer from recurrent drought, which heavily affects their livelihoods. This combination of human and natural factors has led to a high concentration of livestock in pastoral areas, causing problems of overgrazing and conflicts over agricultural land.
68-year-old Ould Ne Salem says he has not faced a more difficult situation since the great drought of Sahel in 1969. "We have been stranded for almost three months because of the border closure between Mali and Mauritania. We cannot move our livestock, graze our animals or sell them. The animals were hungry, and we had to wait for the rain so that they could finally eat," Ould Ne Salem says.
A crisis within a crisis
Alongside the COVID-19 restrictions and the drought, Ould Ne Salem highlights yet another problem: a growing conflict between pastoralists who do not own land in either of the two countries. Some, desperate due to the lack of food for their animals, help themselves to farmers' fields in the region. This causes irreparable tensions with the local population, which eventually becomes problematic for all nomadic pastoralists.
Ould Ne Salem himself is one of the landless nomadic pastoralists, but he refuses to use natural resources belonging to local farmers. He has witnessed the rise of conflicts, which sometimes results in death and injuries, without being able to do anything to help.
"The crisis has worsened because of pastoralists who take straw and wood without permission, destroying the environment in order to obtain resources," he says.
How can conflict be prevented? READ the whole story following the link above
In mid-March, borders were closed between Mauritania and all neighbouring countries, as well as between the country's willayas, or regions. For mobile pastoralists, this is a situation fraught with consequences. They are unable to move their livestock and earn money, and it exacerbates their already difficult situation: Mauritania and surrounding countries suffer from recurrent drought, which heavily affects their livelihoods. This combination of human and natural factors has led to a high concentration of livestock in pastoral areas, causing problems of overgrazing and conflicts over agricultural land.
68-year-old Ould Ne Salem says he has not faced a more difficult situation since the great drought of Sahel in 1969. "We have been stranded for almost three months because of the border closure between Mali and Mauritania. We cannot move our livestock, graze our animals or sell them. The animals were hungry, and we had to wait for the rain so that they could finally eat," Ould Ne Salem says.
A crisis within a crisis
Alongside the COVID-19 restrictions and the drought, Ould Ne Salem highlights yet another problem: a growing conflict between pastoralists who do not own land in either of the two countries. Some, desperate due to the lack of food for their animals, help themselves to farmers' fields in the region. This causes irreparable tensions with the local population, which eventually becomes problematic for all nomadic pastoralists.
Ould Ne Salem himself is one of the landless nomadic pastoralists, but he refuses to use natural resources belonging to local farmers. He has witnessed the rise of conflicts, which sometimes results in death and injuries, without being able to do anything to help.
"The crisis has worsened because of pastoralists who take straw and wood without permission, destroying the environment in order to obtain resources," he says.
How can conflict be prevented? READ the whole story following the link above
Keywords
Africa
Sahel
pastoralism
pastoral livelihood systems
nomadic pastoralism
human story
pastoral conflicts
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