Transhumance, corruption and climate change : Un cocktail Molotov

For several years in Benin, transhumance brings together all the signs of a conflict postponed a thousand and one times. There is no season that has not had its deaths and it may not end, if the method of managing this activity does not change. From Revolution to Rupture, transhumance appears to be a phenomenon over which all governments in Benin have failed.

What is it actually about? ? According to Louis Gnaho, Retired Veterinarian, “transhumance is a cyclical and pendulum movement of breeders, due to difficulties in their locality of origin, to meet feeding needs, that is to say,  grazing and watering of livestock ». Pour Marcel Houinato, Teacher-Researcher at the University of Abomey-Calavi, “it’s a breeding system like any other. The breeder leaves his region with his herd where resources are lacking, to go to other localities where these resources are available, while looking back and returning as soon as resources are replenished on its territory”. The transhumance should then take place without a hitch. It only becomes a problem when it is poorly managed. The problem, indicates the Teacher-Researcher, it is much more linked to crossing areas which were not used to receiving a large number of livestock and in addition, the frequentation of these localities by animals at a time when agricultural activities are still in progress.

Agonli : the preferred area for transhumance

cover, Startled, Ouinhi and Zogbodomè are communes in the Zou department, in Benin, very close to the Ouémé valley. This is where the floodplains offer much more opportunity for livestock to feed. That’s why, that every season, the area is invaded by a horde of herds : dix, even fifty thousand head of beef, in search of vain pasture and water. They most often come from Burkina Faso, from Niger, from Mali and Nigeria. For James Bojrènou, this period which goes from mid-December to the end of March, is a trauma for the populations of the district of Tohouè, in the commune of Ouinhi. The person concerned remembers what happened there on 31 January 2013. Under the pretext of punishing the inhabitants of this locality, for chasing them away, the Peulhs burned everything in their path, at the village of Tohouè. Sometimes, you have more oxen than people. When they pass, underlines Florent Hessou, they reduce everything to dust. Or, there is a law that organizes this activity. This is law n°87-013 of 21 September 1987 regulating waste grazing, keeping domestic animals and transhumance. It provides for any foreign herd, entry stations, routes and reception or transhumance areas. It determines the periods of transhumance. The return of breeders and transhumant herds to their country of origin is obligatory.

Transhumance : a nest of corruption

Despite the law and all the measures taken, nothing happens as planned by the law and texts. Selected pieces, “the Peulhs are aware of the damage they cause. When they come, they corrupt all authorities. In 2009, when I became the Mayor of one of the four municipalities concerned by transhumance, the Peulhs came to see me. They brought me four (4) millions. They told me it's my gift. More, they offer me two oxen for the New Year. I was scandalized. And since I didn't take, they came back with two million more, thinking that I refused because I considered the first offer insufficient. This is how they work. I understood the system. So, they corrupt everyone and when they commit crimes,  they are absolved”.

The first authority of the department, at the time of our investigation, recognizes cases of corruption in the ranks of law enforcement, which he also sanctioned, he told us. More, when it came to finding us a Peulh to confirm everything we heard, the authority has got its feet caught in the carpet. “You know the Peulh who guards my oxen, he said to his bodyguard, tell him to come”. This confirms what the Mayor told us. “All the authorities in the Zou department are breeders”. Another Mayor, recognizes that transhumance is “an obligatory cohabitation despite it being a danger for us”.

Whose fault is it ?

To intermediaries first. This is the first contact of the Peulh before its entry into a region. It is the latter who arrange the situation of the Peulh and its herds with local elected officials., land chiefs and any other influential person in the region. By paying for these different services, the Peulh says that he thus acquires for his herds the right to graze everything. So, this period is one of the most difficult in their lives as Valentine says, who thinks it is a real ordeal for women, he is surprised by the reaction of farmers and any other person supposed to be a victim of the blunders of his animals. This is the origin of conflicts and the damage is enormous, on one side or the other. In this West African region where climate changes will increasingly lead to the drying up of certain rivers, rivers, lakes and rivers, what will happen ? This would mean, early departures for breeders and their herds from the Sahel regions and a late return,  or even permanent installation in more humid regions. This would also mean that the populations of the regions crossed, faced with precariousness, will no longer want the Peulhs in their country. Confrontation will be inevitable. And as a manager of the structures of the Ministry of Agriculture says, the Beninese government has a lot to gain by organizing this sector. He proposes the establishment of a project whose role is to produce fodder and install water points in clearly defined areas., in order to settle the Peulh and their herds, against remuneration. It is at this price alone that transhumance will stop leaving behind corpses each time it passes.. This is what I believe.

Survey carried out by Didier Hubert MADAFIME (Vauditou)