Starting August 2018, Acting for Life leads the third component of the Regional Dialogue and Investment Project for Pastoralism and Transhumance in the Sahel and Coastal Countries of West Africa (PREDIP). PREDIP has been developed under the Regional Indicative Programme for West Africa 2014 – 2020 /Priority Sector 3: Resilience, food and nutrition security and natural resources.
This component – Project to Support Livestock Mobility for Better Access to Resources and Markets in West Africa (PAMOBARMA) will be implemented over 50 months, with a budget of 11, 750, 832.00 euros, financed by the European Union (at 85% 10 million euros) and the French Development Agency (AFD).
- The global objective of the action is to protect the mobility of herds and their access to pastoral resources and markets.
- Specific objective 1 is to prepare conditions for access to natural resources and the mobility of herds by strengthening the capabilities of key actors in the sector at the cross-border level.
- Specific objective 2 is to improve the living conditions of agro-pastoral populations by providing fodder supplements, securing livestock corridors, providing market facilities and access to cross-border veterinary posts.
- Specific objective 3 is the consolidation of cross-border mobility by embedding activities at the regional authority level.
These specific objectives will be fulfilled through the achievement of 3 key results:
- Result 1: Agro pastoralist and pastoralist organisations, local authorities and technical services of the State co-develop cross-border pastoral plans using their shared knowledge of the challenges facing agro-pastoralism at the local and cross-border level.
- Result 2: The production and marketing capacities of agro pastoral herders will be improved
- Result 3: Consistent and long-lasting development of the sector is ensured at the level of each strategic cross-border territory.
PAMOBARMA operates in the strategic trans-border zones linking the Sahelian countries to the north of the coastal countries.
Scope
The zone of operation of the Pamobarma project by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) covers the Sissala West, Sissala East, Jirapa, Nadowli, Daffiema-Bussie-Issa and Wa Municipal; all in the Upper West Region. The project also covers the Bole District of the Savannah Region.
Project Deliverables
Some of the main deliverables of the project is the provision of livestock and herder resources and infrastructure. These consist of:
- the creation of at least a 100-kilometer length of livestock corridor in the Upper West and Savannah Régions
- construction of two livestock markets (one in Upper West and one in Savannah Region)
- construction of one isolated loading ramp
- creation of three watering points
- creation of one transit campsites
- creation of two grazing reserves
The locations of these infrastructure are to be jointly decided by CIKOD and the main stakeholders and users of the resources. These locations will also be further discussed with the appropriate government and local institutions for validation and finalization.
Beneficiaries
The primary beneficiaries of the project are:
- transhumant herders and their herds – the project will give them access to feed, water, veterinary/health services, reliable markets, and reduce conflicts with farmers through the creation of designated movement routes called livestock corridors
- transit and host communities will benefit from the reduced conflicts that arise due to the non-existence of well layed-out and designated corridors, which usually cause livestock to move haphazardly thereby destroying crop fields
- residents of transit and host communities will derive benefits for themselves and their herds who will make use of the services, such as the grazing reserves and water points
- municipal/district assemblies – who will collect taxes/revenue from the well constructed markets with formalized management systems in place