Interactions Between Agricultural and Pastoral Activities in the Sahel with Emphasis on Management of Livestock Excreta: A Case Study in Southwestern Niger

Abstract

An investigation conducted in southwestern Niger, Africa, revealed livestock management practices based on the relationship between farmers and sedentary pastoralists to promote efficient use of livestock excreta through corralling in the Sahel region. Transhumance was found to be essential for households residing in an area with a high rate of cropping because they had to remove their herds from cropped fields to a drier region in the rainy season. Corralling, parking herds in harvested fields at night, by the sedentary pastoralists was carried out mainly in fields rented from farmers. Another type of corralling was performed on a contract basis in farmers’ fields, on the condition that the farmers provide food for the pastoralists staying for corralling. About half of the sedentary pastoralists were not engaged in the practice of contract corralling or contracted livestock, suggesting the existence of a loose relationship between the farmers and sedentary pastoralists in terms of corralling and livestock grazing. In half of the households with contract corralling, the practice changed in two consecutive seasons. This implies that contract corralling is a flexible practice to compensate for the shortage of millet production and forage resources. Considering the amount of livestock excreta applied and the percentage of the area corralled, two-thirds of the households had the potential to promote contract corralling for more efficient use of livestock excreta.