Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T21:07:19.748Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The role of cross-border transhumance in influencing resident herders’ cattle husbandry practices and use of genetic resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2020

S. O. Houessou ,
L. H. Dossa Open the ORCID record for L. H. Dossa [Opens in a new window] ,
C. A. Assogba ,
R. V. C. Diogo ,
S. F. U. Vanvanhossou  and
E. Schlecht
S. O. Houessou
Affiliation:
Ecole des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Campus Universitaire d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou03BP 2819, Benin
L. H. Dossa*
Affiliation:
Ecole des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Campus Universitaire d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou03BP 2819, Benin Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, Witzenhausen37213, Germany Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Göttingen, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, Göttingen37075, Germany
C. A. Assogba
Affiliation:
Ecole des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Campus Universitaire d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou03BP 2819, Benin
R. V. C. Diogo
Affiliation:
Département des Sciences et Techniques de Productions Animale et Halieutique, Université de Parakou, Faculté d’Agronomie, Campus Universitaire de Parakou, ParakouBP 123, Benin
S. F. U. Vanvanhossou
Affiliation:
Ecole des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Campus Universitaire d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou03BP 2819, Benin
E. Schlecht
Affiliation:
Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, Witzenhausen37213, Germany Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Göttingen, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, Göttingen37075, Germany
*
†E-mail hippolyte.dossa@fsa.uac.bj
Get access

Abstract

For centuries, the humid West African coastal country of Benin attracts cattle herders from neighboring Sahelian countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Each year, several thousands of cattle are trekked over hundreds of kilometers to Benin following established and non-established transhumance corridors. This cross-border mobility has been shown to play an important role in ensuring the productivity of the transhumant herds through adequate late dry season access to pastoral resources. Yet, its effects on the traditional agro-pastoral production systems that are encountered along the routes in Benin have never been explicitly investigated. Therefore, we collected socio-economic household data, herd characteristics and management data from 104 resident herders and 38 transhumant herders in 2 vegetation zones of Benin. To determine whether or not the proximity to transhumance corridors affects sedentary production systems, characteristics of cattle herds and farmers’ management practices were compared between villages close to (within a 25 km buffer) and far from (outside a 25 km buffer) transhumance corridors within and between vegetation zones using non-parametric statistical tests. Existing relationships between resident and transhumant herders were also identified and characterized. Subsequently, herd characteristics and management practices were compared between resident herders having relationships with transhumant herders and those without. Herd sizes of resident herders living close to transhumance corridors were larger (P < 0.01) than those of their counterparts living far away. Also, proximity to transhumance corridors had positive effects on herd management practices. The relationships between resident and transhumant herders were governed by a variety of interests including encampment/manuring contracts, exploitation of grazing lands and watering points, trading and bartering of cattle. This exchange of cattle is an important driver of change in the breed composition of local herds and represents an opportunity for resident herders to enhance their herds’ productivity through crossbreeding. However, the mere replacement or indiscriminate crossbreeding of local cattle breeds with those kept by transhumant herders threatens the sustainability of the traditional resident herding systems by increasing the risk of genetic erosion and loss of valuable adaptive traits in indigenous animal genetic resources.

Keywords

cattle breedspastoralismsedentary systemsocial networkstransboundary animal mobility
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 14 , Issue 11 , November 2020 , pp. 2378 - 2386
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Animal Consortium

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abiola, FA, Teko-Agbo, A, Biaou, C and Niang, M 2005. Impacts socio-économiques et zoosanitaires de la transhumance. Paper presented at 16e Conference of the regional representation for Africa of the World Organization for Animal Health, 7–10 February, Khartoum, Sudan, pp. 89–103. Retrieved on 15 March 2016 from http://wahis2-devt.oie.int/doc/ged/D3249.PDFGoogle Scholar
Afouda, AS, Kinzo, NE and Djody, GL 2016. Transhumance et conflits d’usage du sol dans le Sud-Bénin: cas de la commune de Zogbodomey. Cahiers du CBRST 9, 22–40.Google Scholar
Akoègninou, A, Van der Burg, WJ and Van Der Masen, LJG 2006. Flore analytique du Bénin. Backhuys Publishers, Wageningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Alkoiret, IT, Awohouedji, DYG, Akossou, AYJ and Bosma, RH 2009. Typologie des systèmes d’élevage bovin de la commune de Gogounou au Nord-Est du Bénin. Annales des Sciences Agronomiques 12, 77–98.Google Scholar
Ange, M, Kinhou, B and Sinsin, B 2014. Transhumance and conflicts management on Agonlin plateau in Zou department (Benin). Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences 4, 132–145. Retrieved on 02 February 2018 from http://www.innspub.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/JBES-Vol4No5-p132-145.pdfGoogle Scholar
Apolloni, A, Nicolas, G, Coste, C, EL Mamy, AB, Yahya, B, EL Arbi, AS, Gueya, MB, Baba, D, Gilbert, M and Lancelot, R 2018. Towards the description of livestock mobility in Sahelian Africa: some results from a survey in Mauritania. PLoS ONE 13, e0191565.Google ScholarPubMed
Ayantunde, AA, Asse, R, Said, MY and Fall, A 2014. Transhumant pastoralism, sustainable management of natural resources and endemic ruminant livestock in the sub-humid zone of West Africa. Environment, Development and Sustainability 16, 1097–1117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azalou, M, Assani, A and Alkoiret, I 2017. Typology of cattle herds in transhumance in the municipality of Djidja in Southern Benin. Haya: The Saudi Journal of Life Sciences 2, 65–72. Retrieved on 02 February 2018 from http://scholarsmepub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/SJLS-2365-72.pdfGoogle Scholar
Bassett, TJ and Turner, MD 2007. Sudden shift or migratory drift? FulBe herd movements to the Sudano-Guinean region of West Africa. Human Ecology 35, 33–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beckley, CS, Shaban, S, Palmer, GH, Hudak, AT, Noh, SM and Futse, JE 2016. Disaggregating tropical disease prevalence by climatic and vegetative zones within tropical West Africa. PLoS ONE 11, e0152560.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boutrais, J 2007. The Fulani and cattle breeds: crossbreeding and heritage strategies. Africa 77, 18–36.Google Scholar
Brottem, L, Turner, MD, Butt, B and Singh, A 2014. Biophysical variability and pastoral rights to resources: West African transhumance revisited. Human Ecology 42, 351–365.Google Scholar
Bukari, KN, Sow, P and Scheffran, J 2018. Cooperation and co-existence between farmers and herders in the midst of violent farmer-herder conflicts in Ghana. African Studies Review 61, 78–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabot, C 2017. Climate change, security risks and conflict reduction in Africa: a case study of farmer–herder conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Burkina Faso 1960–2000. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.Google Scholar
Convers, A, Chaibou, I, Binot, A and Dulieu, D 2007. La gestion de la transhumance dans la zone d’influence du parc régional du W par le programme Ecopas. Une « approche projet » pour l’aménagement de la périphérie du parc. VertigO-la revue électronique en sciences de l’environnement. Retrieved on 15 February 2017, from https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/761Google Scholar
Couacy-Hymann, E, Aplogan, GL, Sangare, O, Compaore, Z, Karimu, J, Awoueme, KA, Seini, A, Martin, V, Valarcher, JF 2006. Étude rétrospective de la fièvre aphteuse en Afrique de l’Ouest de 1970 à 2003. Revue Scientifique et Technique Office International des Epizooties 25, 1013–1024.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dary, SK, James, HS and Mohammed, AS 2017. Triggers of farmer-herder conflicts in Ghana: a non-parametric analysis of stakeholders’ perspectives. Sustainable Agriculture Research 6, 141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, AS, Fournié, G, Kulo, AE, Boukaya, GA, Schelling, E and Bonfoh, B 2013. Potential risk of regional disease spread in West Africa through cross-border cattle trade. PLoS ONE 8, e75570.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DE-Bénin (Direction de l’Elevage du Bénin) 2010. Présentation des zones agro-pastorales du Bénin. Rapport annuel. Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Elevage et de la Pêche, Cotonou, Bénin.Google Scholar
Djohy, G, Edja, AH, Akponikpè, PI, Olokesusi, F and Mahamadou, B 2013. Thwarting social conflicts regarding water resources access in climate change context: cattle pastoralists’ schemes in northern Benin. Journal of Livestock Science 4, 51–59.Google Scholar
FAO 2012. La transhumance transfrontalière en Afrique de l’Ouest, proposition de plan d’action. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Report. FAO, Rome, Italy. Retrieved on 5 January 2018 from http://www.inter-reseaux.org/IMG/pdf/Transhumance_Transfrontalier_en_AO_Rapport_FAO.pdfGoogle Scholar
Holechek, JL, Cibils, AF, Bengaly, K and Kinyamario, JI 2017. Human population growth, African pastoralism, and rangelands: a perspective. Rangeland Ecology & Management 70, 273–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houessou, SO, Dossa, LH, Diogo, RVC, Houinato, M, Buerkert, A and Schlecht, E 2019. Change and continuity in traditional cattle farming systems of West African Coast countries: a case study from Benin. Agricultural systems 168, 112–122.Google Scholar
INSAE (Institut National de la Statistique et de l’Analyse Economique) 2016. RGPH4: Principaux indicateurs socio-démographiques et économiques. Direction des Etudes Démographiques, Ministère du Développement, de l’Analyse Economique et de la Prospective, Cotonou, République du Bénin.Google Scholar
Jabbar, MA and Diedhiou, ML 2003. Does breed matter to cattle farmers and buyers?: evidence from West Africa. Ecological Economics 45, 461–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitchell, E, Turner, MD and McPeak, JG 2014. Mapping of pastoral corridors: practices and politics in eastern Senegal. Pastoralism 4, 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krätli, S and Schareika, N 2010. Living off uncertainty. The intelligent animal production of dryland pastoralists. European Journal of Development Research 22, 605–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leroy, G, Baumung, R, Boettcher, P, Scherf, B and Hoffmann, I 2016. Review: sustainability of crossbreeding in developing countries; definitely not like crossing a meadow. Animal 10, 262–273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mirkena, T, Duguma, G, Haile, A, Tibbo, M, Okeyo, AM, Wurzinger, M and Sölkner, J 2010. Genetics of adaptation in domestic farm animals: a review. Livestock Science 132, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Motta, P, Porphyre, T, Hamman, SM, Morgan, KL, Ngwa, VN, Tanya, VN, Raizman, E, Handel, IG and Bronsvoort, BM 2018. Cattle transhumance and agropastoral nomadic herding practices in Central Cameroon. BMC Veterinary Research 14, 214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oloukoi, J 2013. Scénario socio-économique et écologique des changements de l’occupation des terres au Bénin. VertigO- la revue électronique en sciences de l’environnement 13. Retrieved on 15 February 2017 from https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/13267Google Scholar
Orékan, VA 2007. Implémentation du modèle local CLUE-s aux transformations spatiales dans le Centre Bénin aux moyens de données socio-économiques et de télédétection. PhD thesis, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.Google Scholar
Quarles Van Ufford, PEJ 1999. Trade and traders: the making of the cattle market in Benin. PhD thesis, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Roschinsky, R, Kluszczynska, M, Sölkner, J, Puskur, R and Wurzinger, M 2015. Smallholder experiences with dairy cattle crossbreeding in the tropics: from introduction to impact. Animal 9, 150–157.Google Scholar
Schönegg, G, Martel, P, Sano, B, Noufou, S and Zeh, M 2006. Les conflits liés à la transhumance transfrontalière entre le Niger, le Burkina Faso et le Bénin. DED, Fachreferat für Ländliche Entwicklung, Wasserwirtschaft und Ressourcennutzung, pp. 79. Retrieved on 12 February 2014 from https://www.peaceresources.net/files/docs/publications/DEDexpert_Transhumanzstudie.pdfGoogle Scholar
Sinsin, B and Kampmann, D 2010. Biodiversity atlas of West Africa, volume I. Cotonou & Frankfurt/Main, Benin. Retrieved on 19 September 2018 from https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/47671163/CI_Atlas_complete.pdfGoogle Scholar
Soeters, S, Weesie, R and Zoomers, A 2017. Agricultural investments and farmer-Fulani pastoralist conflict in West African drylands: a northern Ghanaian case study. Sustainability 9, 2063.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tisdell, C 2003. Socioeconomic causes of loss of animal genetic diversity: analysis and assessment. Ecological Economics 45, 365–376.Google Scholar
Turner, MD, McPeak, JG and Ayantunde, A 2014. The role of livestock mobility in the livelihood strategies of rural peoples in semi-arid West Africa. Human Ecology 42, 231–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, MD, McPeak, JG, Gillin, K, Kitchell, E and Kimambo, N 2016. Reconciling flexibility and tenure security for pastoral resources: the geography of transhumance networks in eastern Senegal. Human Ecology 44, 199–215.Google Scholar
Zampaligré, N, Dossa, LH and Schlecht, E 2013. Climate change and variability: perception and adaptation strategies of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists across different zones of Burkina Faso. Regional Environmental Change 14, 769–783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar