“Agro-pastoral Mediation in the Sahel” regional project

The Sahel region stretches across Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad where livestock is the foundation of survival for traditional pastoralist communities. Their livelihood depends on their ability to move to feed their herds, according to the seasons or the availability of natural resources. In the Sahel region, conflicts over access to natural resources between nomadic and sedentary communities along transhumance routes are increasing. These micro-conflicts feed the emergence of inter-community armed conflicts, which in turn fuel regional insecurity.

Community mediation through traditional dialogue mechanisms

The project “Agro-pastoral Mediation in the Sahel” aims to reduce conflict within and between agro-pastoral communities and along Sahelian transhumance routes through community mediation using traditional dialogue mechanisms. The project is financed by the European Union’s Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) with a budget of EUR 5 million for a period of 3 years. As part of the EUTF’s “Emergency Programme for the Stabilisation of the G5 Sahel Border Areas”, this project falls under the scope of the Sahel Alliance’s response to the G5 Sahel Priority Investment Programme (PIP) and Emergency Development Programme (PDU).

Field expertise at the heart of the intervention

The project is implemented by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) which has valuable experience in agro-pastoral mediation and with traditional dialogue mechanisms in the Sahel, and can rely on its existing networks with national authorities of the G5 countries.

“This project aims to work with the most vulnerable communities. There are many expectations. We want social mediation to be conducted on the ground by actors who know the interlocutors on the ground and who can find endogenous solutions,” stated Eric Pitois, representative of the European Union Delegation in Burkina Faso.¹

¹ Source : Burkina 24 : https://www.burkina24.com/2019/10/23/burkina-lancement-du-projet-mediation-agropastorale/