West Africa discuss conflicts between pastoralists and settler/farmer communities

Seven member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including Ghana, are to adopt a common resolution towards addressing the emerging conflicts between pastoralists, mostly Fulanis, and their host communities.

This follows the realisation that these conflicts have become an international phenomenon in the West African sub-region, particularly in the countries the Fulani herdsmen have found as suitable destinations for their activities.

The other countries are Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

Representatives of these countries met recently in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to strategise on a common mechanism to resolve these conflicts which have been recognised as an emerging threat to peace and security in the sub-region.

The two-day Consultative Meeting on Agriculture and Pastoralist Conflicts in West Africa, which opened February 22, was organised by the West African Network for Peace-building (WANEP), with funding from the Finnish Government.

Participants comprised chiefs, agriculturists, security and conflict resolution experts and political leaders.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the Executive Director of WANEP, Mr Emmanuel Bombande, said countries in West Africa could not claim to be unperturbed by the menace of the conflicts due to their threat to internal and external security.

“Not only have these conflicts between pastoralists and farmers become an in-country problem; they have also become a problem between countries,” he noted.

Mr Bombande said the conflicts between farmers and pastoralists had to do with access to natural resources, particularly land and water. He said factors such as population growth and climate change posed a great threat to agriculture and would thus deepen the conflict between pastoralists and farmers as they struggled to gain control over the earth and its resources. He pointed out that it was high time Africa took a serious look at those conflicts because about 60 per cent of its people lived in rural areas and depended largely on agriculture.

“If agriculture fails, Africa will be plunged into crisis. Already, there is increasing rural-urban drift due to the declining interest of the youth in agriculture,” Mr Bombande cautioned.

The Chairperson of WANEP Burkina Faso, Prof Albert Ouadraogo, noted that it was time for Africa to find a lasting and satisfactory solution to those conflicts before allowing them to rise above control. “Through dialogue, we should be able to chart a common agenda towards resolving these conflicts in a manner that will be satisfactory to both sides,” he stated.

It has been noted that the movement of pastoralists from the Sahel to the south of West Africa is largely precipitated by the increasing demand for fresh grazing grounds, as the Sahel has been hit by droughts.
Consequently, the Fulani herdsmen move down south and are attracted to the area by the hospitality of the people and the availability of pasture.

However, the herdsmen have run into troubles with the local people in recent years because of complaints that the cattle herded by the Fulani are destroying crops, while some of the herdsmen are allegedly involved in cattle rustling.

In Ghana, there have also been concerns over environmental degradation and criminal activities by some immigrant pastoralists.

Accra Mail

SADC, ECOWAS to share notes on agricultural policy

A delegation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) arrives in Nigeria for the ECOWAS Commission on Monday, 3rd March 2008 to undertake a study of the ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP).

Regional leaders approved ECOWAP in 2005 as a mechanism for the coordinated development of agriculture in the region. It targets three major areas of intervention with the objective of boosting production, improving food availability, enhancing the competitiveness of regional agriculture, integrating markets for agricultural products and improving access of regional farmers to the international market.

The 14-member SADC is in the process of developing a similar policy for countries in its region. The visit of the four-member delegation will therefore enable the delegation to learn from the ECOWAS experience in the implementation of the policy.

Officials of the ECOWAS Department of Agriculture will brief the delegation, which also includes a consultant from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) that recommended ECOWAP to the SADC during the visit. They will then meet with key officials, including the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas.

During the four-day tour, they will also visit two big farms in Nigeria, including that of the former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

New Liberian

West African states to establish regional pesticide, seed, biosafety regulations

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Ministers of Food and Agriculture recently approved the establishment of a regional committee to oversee the implementation of regulations regarding the production, importation and application of pesticides in West Africa.

... a committee of experts from member states that have ratified the common regulation on pesticides and external experts, was one of the decisions of the one-day meeting of the ministers in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso that discussed ways of boosting agricultural productivity in the region.

ECOWAS said its operations would be centrally coordinated but operate from two zones - the Sahelian and humid zones - that will cater for the agricultural divide of West Africa.

".... the committee will facilitate trade in pesticides among Member States through the enforcement of regionally agreed principles, facilitate farmers` access to quality pesticides in a timely and convenient manner, ensure their judicious use, contribute to the creation of an environment conducive for private sector investment in the pesticides industry and promote private/public partnership," a statement from ECOWAS said.

It said the ministers also agreed on the ECOWAS supplementary act for the harmonisation of rules for pesticides registration in the region as well as the regulation on the harmonisation of rules governing the quality control, certification and marketing of seeds and planting materials.

The Minsters said the comprehensive regulation would ensure access to quality seed to West African farmers; facilitate local production of quality seeds as well as intra-regional trading.
"A liberalised market for seeds suitable for the region will also help contribute to improved food security and the capacity of regional farmers to compete in the global environment."

The ministers also adopted a five-year action plan for the development of biotechnology and biosafety in the region to enable regional agriculture to benefit from new agricultural technologies.

AngolaPress

Market information by ICT trend comes to Togo

A 'Center for Commercial and Agricultural Information' (PICA) for the collection and the publication of price lists via the Internet has been launched in Togo. It will enable farmers and traders to more easily interact over prices and the availability of products.

The center is equipped with computer and Internet facilities. The information is featured on a web page with a strong integration of data and mobile technology. The center will allow producers and trader to consult in real time over prices in the ECOWAS region.

Farmers will also consult over business opportunities in the area -the availability of products and stocks, making it easier to conclude commercial transactions with partners from West Africa and beyond. The platform is also equipped with a system that makes it possible to send SMS messages.

The center will also equip farmers with packages to receive free information on mobile phones on the prices of 400 agricultural commodities in the West African countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Togo.

Dété Yachina, the webmaster of www.tradenet.biz explained that in people will know at home or in their fields how much a product costs and where to get it if not available in one's country.

The project is supported by the regional network of information systems of market and agricultural trade in West Africa (MISTOWA). Its aims are to increase regional agricultural trade and food security by improving and linking the existing regional efforts to generate, disseminate, and make commercial use of market information.

allafrica.com

ECOWAS agrees on biotechnology plan for West Africa

Ministers from the Economic Community of West African States have agreed to use biotechnology to increase food production in their region. The agreement was reached at the third ECOWAS ministerial meeting on biotechnology and bio-safety, held in Accra, Ghana.

For four days, experts and ECOWAS ministers of agriculture, environment, science and technology discussed the issues surrounding the use of biotechnology in farming. Though it has been shown to increase agricultural production, some fear it could harm the environment. It also requires expensive research.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the ministers came down strongly in support of using biotechnology. They said it will make the farming sector more productive and competitive, and ensure sustainable management of natural resources. But they also stressed that safety measures should be put in place, both at the national and regional levels, as part of the implementation process.

Marcel Nwalozie from the African Council for Agriculture Research and Development, an umbrella organization that co-ordinates agricultural research for west and central Africa, said, "There is no technology that has no risk, and we have to put in place safety mechanisms. We are thinking of a regional approach, given the fact that this technology is expensive, but we know we need it," he added.

The agriculture sector in West Africa faces severe weather conditions and inadequate infrastructure, including poor transportation and storage facilities. Some say those issues needed to be addressed instead of adopting modern biotechnology. But Ernest Debrah, Ghana's minister of agriculture, says a comprehensive approach is being used. "We are doing so many things concurrently, so it is not a question of ignoring the basics. We are addressing the free flow of goods and services, and common agriculture policy. What is so important is that we are now doing all these things as a sub-region."

But the communiqué is only the first step. It is now up to ECOWAS heads of state to implement it.

VOA

Ghana, Mali, Senegal receive World Bank agricultural loans

The World Bank is to lend a total US$45 million for the first phase of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) in three : Ghana, Mali and Senegal. The funds will be divided equally among the three countries. The funds are to generate and disseminate improved agricultural technology in these countries’ top priority areas,as identified by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research CORAF(WECARD/CORAF). The three countries have committed to provide part of the credit proceeds, a total of US$3 million, to CORAF to help coordinate the regional project.

The West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) will generate and disseminate improved technologies in the participating countries focusing on roots and tubers in Ghana, rice in Mali and cereals in Senegal.

“The WAAPP will mainly focus on making agriculture more productive and sustainable and promote regional integration initiatives in the agricultural sector. It reflects the Bank’s commitment to Africa’s regional cooperation in agriculture, and will be one of the Bank’s key contributions to the implementation of broadly supported agricultural strategies Africa-wide,” said Mark Tomlinson.

The food and cash crops whose production the WAAPP sets out to boost provide the greatest contribution to the region’s agricultural growth and to producers’ incomes. Sustained productivity is critical if the region is to significantly raise agricultural yields and reduce poverty.

"The region’s consumers, particularly those affected by extreme poverty, are the ultimate beneficiaries of the WAAPP. Agricultural producers and agribusinesses, as users of the improved technology, are the primary beneficiaries of the program,” said Ismael Ouedraogo, the World Bank team leader of the Project.

The WAAPP is a sub-regional program shared by all fifteen member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.