Overview

Pastoral and agricultural systems, and pastoral and agricultural livelihoods, are tightly coupled and interdependent in West Africa. However, conflict is on the rise between pastoralists and agriculturalists, particularly in regions where agricultural land is scarce and encroaching on traditional transhumance corridors. This 1-year pilot study will develop key methodologies for mapping the location, status and current utilization of transhumance corridors, and how they relate to changing agricultural land use. Extensive field surveys will be carried out in Mali (along primary transhumance axes in the Nioro-Nara-Diema-Baoule-Kita and Inland Delta regions of the administrative Regions of Koulikoro, Segou and Mopti) as the basis for methodological development, and then use remote sensing to scale to other regions of Mali and the wider Sahel. The pilot project will prepare the way for a longer term study of pastoral livelihoods in the region as impacted by changing climate, demography, agricultural land use and socioeconomic conditions. Working with an interdisciplinary team of Malian and U.S. researchers, educators and non-governmental organizations (NGO) the research will focus on analysis of current and future constraints on pastoral livelihoods, and agricultural-pastoral conflict avoidance, where transhumance corridors and availability of agricultural land, together with access to water and grazing lands, constitute key resources, and key resource-based flash-points. Results from the pilot and the longer term study will provide invaluable information that natural resource managers, policy and decision makers at local, regional and national levels, and directly benefit the region via opportunities for preemptive intervention to reduce and avoid conflict between pastoral and agro-pastoral communities.