Ivory Coast, Mali and Guinea harmonise transhumance
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Aip
Ivory Coast, Mali and Guinea signed a declaration in Odienné aimed at preventing conflicts linked to transhumance and better managing shared resources. It provides, among other measures, for harmonised schedules and regulated access to pasture, according to the Ivorian Press Agency.
Ivory Coast, Mali and Guinea signed the Odienné Declaration of Understanding in Odienné, aimed at strengthening cross-border cooperation and preventing conflicts linked to transhumance in the Wassoulou region, according to the Ivorian Press Agency (AIP). The agreement provides, among other measures, for harmonised transhumance schedules, coordinated vaccination campaigns and the sharing of routes used by herds.
The announced measures also include fair and regulated access to shared natural resources, as well as the creation of a tripartite committee to monitor the commitments. Professional livestock organisations, including the Interprofessional Agricultural Organisation for Ivory Coast’s Large Ruminant Sector, are to take part in this coordination alongside their Malian and Guinean counterparts, according to AIP.
The declaration concludes talks held from 19 to 23 October in Odienné by the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel, with support from ECOWAS, the French Development Agency and the European Union. Discussions covered water, pasture, livestock theft, bush fires and the protection of pastoral areas.
Moussa Assoumane, coordinator of the Integrated and Secure Livestock and Pastoralism Project in West Africa, spoke in favour of dialogue between the three countries. Patrick Christian Kakou, technical adviser to the Ivorian Prime Minister, called for the commitments to be turned into concrete action. The initiative follows calls to prevent conflicts linked to transhumance made in Youndouo on 2 October.
