2024-08-04 22:10:53
For many years, countries such as Togo and Benin have suspended or banned the cross-border movement of livestock for security reasons, with cattle poaching as one of the sources of terrorism funding in the Sahel. But Ivory Coast and Ghana still allow herdsmen from the Sahel to cross their country, which is controversial within society.
From our correspondent in Ghana,
It is livestock market day in Gunayili, about 600 km from Ghana’s capital, Accra. As every Thursday, more than a thousand bulls and cows arrive from all over Ghana, but also from the Sahel countries, after a truck journey for some herds, or on foot, that is to say about moving, for others.
A cow is about to be sold. A Burkinabè negotiated its price. In this market, he is the go-to between meat sellers from Burkina Faso and Ghanaian buyers. As you said, Banning transhumance will condemn Burkinabe breeders.
« When it rains, the animals come here, they have something to eat. Afterwards, the transhuant herdsmen returned to Burkina Faso. If they do not come to Ghana, they will not be able to survive in Burkina, because there is no food there. “, he assured.
A burden for the population
But, on the market, many Ghanaians are complaining about the constant arrival of transhuant herdsmen in the north of the country. Some settled there to escape violence in the Sahel. Pasture land is shrinking.
Because of this, for Alhaji Iddrisu, the head of the Gunayili market, the arrival of these newcomers has become heavy. ” If the herdsmen don’t enter Ghana anymore, it will not be a problem for us. There is no negative impact on us. There are already many here », he burst out under an apatam tree, in the middle of a herd of cattle.
Read againCentral African Republic: transhumance is at the heart of the conflict between herdsmen and farmers
Law rather than prohibition
This is not the opinion of Sheikh Issa Amartey, the secretary general of the Association of Breeders and Traders of the country. In Tulaku market, in the south of Ghana, near Accra, he is convinced that stopping transhumance is not the right solution: ” If you stop them, you cannot stop them at night and if they stay at night they will spoil the crops. We don’t need to stop them. Instead, let’s find a way to process them. »
He added: ” Togo and Benin say they have stopped the transfer, but I can tell you that animals are taken from Togo to Ghana. Where are they from? » The shepherds, on their part, grumbled taxes are too high on transhumance corridors. So some volunteers avoid these routes which are not enough in view of the growing number of transhumants in Ghana.
To listen in Until close, transhumance in FrenchTranshumance: in the footsteps of the shepherd
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