Pastoralism Development in the Sahel

Pastoralism is one of the dominant economies of the Sahel and is by far the main economy on the fringes of the Sahara, a zone that has recently become very unstable. It is estimated that about 50 million people rely on pastoralism for their only or a main part of their livelihood in Sub-Saharan Africa; about half of them are located in the Sahel and the Saharan fringes, and of these about 70 percent are poor. The insecurity and instability in these areas directly lead to increased poverty of already poor pastoralists by interfering with their mobility. Competition over natural resources, especially land, has become an issue of major concern and cause of conflict between the Sahel’s pastoral and farming populations. Over the last several decades, the World Bank’s activities to develop this region have included improving the livelihoods of pastoralists. The World Bank’s global center on conflict, security, and development (CCSD) was launched in 2011 to strengthen the Bank and other partner’s work on fragile and conflict-affected situations by providing technical support to country teams on strategy, programming design, and operations that are sensitive to fragility, conflict, and violence. This note seeks to offer guidance to international, national, and local decision makers on the drivers of conflict and instability that are most related to pastoral communities, as well as possible measures to reduce violence and enhance stability in the Sahel. This note attempts to bring together two dimensions related to development: pastoral livelihoods resilience and conflict analysis. This note attempts to articulate important questions on the relations between pastoral development and stability and to identify any knowledge gaps for further exploration. The note begins with a background section on both the current state of pastoralism and the state of insecurity in the Sahel. The three sections focus on the factors that can drive pastoralists into conflict and violence or alternatively can bring them to play the role of agents of stability. Finally, the report provides recommendations to national and international policy makers for follow-up actions related to pastoralism and stabilization in the Sahel.