Delegates from some African countries have
ended a four days study tour to Cameroon with focus on innovative practices and
tools to reduce land use conflicts between farmers and pastoralists. The Study
tour that ended last Friday gave the delegates
an opportunity to experience and share ideas with both state and non-state
actors on ways to reduce conflicts which have been on the increase in both
intensity and frequency between pastoralists and other rangeland users.
It is against this backdrop that a group of pastoralists and
rangelands practitioners decided to undertake a study tour of Cameroon to learn
directly from the field and from the protagonists themselves some of the best
practices, innovative tools and approaches implemented in the country which are
achieving interesting results in terms of pastoral land use conflict
prevention, resolution and transformation.
Talking to www.hilltopvoices.com hat the end of the tour, Ibrahim
Hassan working with the Abuja-Nigeria based Confederation of traditional herders
in Africa (CORET) expressed satisfaction with his Cameroon experience
particularly at the farmer-herders crisis is on the rise in his country. “As
you know Nigeria now in terms of conflicts is international particularly
between the farmers and pastoralists. While here in Cameroon I have seen
something I can take home because I have seen where particularly alliance
farming both the farmers and pastoralists see the reason why they should come
together share the farms or the lands within themselves without having any
crisis like in Nigeria. So this one I was a little bit more concern and it will
help in Nigeria to solve this issue of conflict between pastoralists and
farmers by adopting this kind of very wonderful initiative from Cameroon.”
Ibrahim also praised the Mbororo Cultural and DevelopmentAssociation MBOSCUDA as an outstanding pastoralists association for championing
such a relationship. “I can also see the commitment of the pastoralists
association MBOSCUDA and that of the government to see that farmers and
pastoralists live together without conflicts that will result to violence or
destruction of lives and properties. I think if Nigeria can adopt this kind of
initiative it will help a lot in other to mitigate the conflicts that occurs
between the farmers and pastoralists.”
On his part Gidufana Gafufen Program Coordinator Help Foundation
representing Civil Societies Organizations in Tanzania observe that his country
has similar land use conflicts like Cameroon but the alliance farming
initiative has not been seen as a solution in his country. “When I tried asking
farmers why they are attracted to the initiative they said their yields are
better with increase production when they farm on land previously used for
grazing because of the manure. Secondly they said when they take into the
market it also shows and clients like the crops that come from the manure
compared to those farmed with fertilizer. They also talked of the good taste of
the produce coming from the manure farms compared to those where fertilizers
are used.” As to what has been learned he noted the grassroots formation of
pastoralists associations with national and international NGO partnerships just
like proper state and customary laws which help in securing rangelands thus
reducing conflicts.
Fon Nsoh Coordinator
of COMINSUD and Musa Ndamba- Vice National President MBOSCUDA both Cameroonian organizations
that ensured the smooth organization of the tour in Cameroon expressed
satisfaction with the four days activities which took them to the to several
places and offices including the Ministry of Livestock in Yaounde. “We have
exchanged on practices on making rangelands secured and more purposefully for
us in the NW in parcular and Cameroon in General is to have a framework that
can change the dynamics of good management of rangelands and indeed we are
thinking of value change activities and how we can improve on meet production
and also milk because rangeland is not just to have cattle on it but also to
have cattle that improves the lives of people and welfare.”
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