Falaba District, 23 September 2022 —Ibrahim Sorie Sesay is a cattle herder and at the same time a crop farmer. He is the current Chairman of the Falaba District Council (FDC) in Sierra Leone’s Northern Province.

In Falaba, each chiefdom and towns have committees of stakeholders; “whenever there is a conflict between crop farmers and cattle herders, the chief dispatch committee members evaluate the situation and engage the parties involved to broker peace,” according to Ibrahim, praising the support of the FDC officials and the community.

“There have been several incidences of transhumance-related confrontation between crop farmers and cattle herders in Falaba Districts. This is more intense during the dry season as some cattle sometimes cross the border on both sides, straying into farmlands in search of food and water,” says Ibrahim.

Transhumance movement of Cattle in Falaba District. Photo : IOM 2022/Alfred Fornah

Recent years and months have witnessed increased conflicts involving cattle herders and crop farmers in Falaba District in Sierra Leone and the Faranah, the next prefecture across the border with Guinea. Tensions arise whenever cattle eat up cultivated farmlands or destroy crops. Cases of retaliation have also been reported involving, for instance, stealing or killing livestock.

Climate-induced movements of cattle increasingly amplify community tensions, as climate change introduces weather variations impacting traditional transhumance patterns and putting additional pressure on the harvest. These tensions are occasionally exacerbated by fractured communication within and between key stakeholders due to limited means of communication across the region, as network coverage and communications channels are scarce.

Although conflicts have been persistent, violence has de-escalated over the recent period. In large part, this is attributed to the growing acknowledgment of the need to de-escalate and prevent conflict dynamics, including practices such as the destruction of crops.

“These issues are becoming increasingly critical and require coordinated efforts across stakeholders to inform, discuss and prevent potential conflicts. Through a regional intervention bringing together IOM Guinea and Sierra Leone teams, we are working to collect data and deliver community-oriented solutions, together with World Food Programme and Talking Drum Studio, to prevent tensions and strengthen social cohesion across border areas” said Ludvik Girard, IOM Sierra Leone Head of Programmes.        

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Programme (WFP), and local NGO Talking Drum Studio (TDS) are joining forces to implement a cross-border intervention funded by The Peace Building Fund, which aims at enhancing peaceful co-existence between cattle herders and crop farmers in Falaba District and the Faranaya Prefecture in Guinea.

National Project Officer, Data and Reporting at IOM Sierra Leone with the Falaba District Council Chief Administrator and his Deputy. Photo : IOM 2022/Alfred Fornah.

IOM activities include border management support and targeted efforts to establish data-collection mechanisms to inform transhumance patterns and facilitate critical policy and strategic decision-making.

In Sierra Leone, IOM is supporting the Falaba District Council (FDC) for the establishment of a data and migration unit to facilitate understanding of migration patterns related to transhumance and support capacities to prevent conflict across Falaba.  

“Importantly, the establishment of the data unit foremost is to enhance community ownership and community proactive intervention. We are hoping that, as a result of these efforts, more information will be collected and shared for the council to be informed in a timely manner” said Dr. Emmanuel Kallon, National Project Officer, Data and Reporting at IOM Sierra Leone.  

IOM Engaged the Falaba District Council for the set up of a data &migration unit to facilitate understanding of migration patterns related to transhumance across Falaba. Photo : IOM 2022/Alfred Fornah.

In Faranah on the Guinean side, data is regularly collected by community agents with the IOM Transhumance Tracking Tool (TTT) operational in three of the sub-prefectures of Faranah.

The TTT collects key data on transhumance, to provide information related to the internal and transhumance movements along the corridors observed in Falaba District and Faranah prefecture. Collecting information is key to facilitating early warning and conflict prevention mechanisms.

The intervention will also allow finalizing the construction and refurbishment of several border posts, including KoinduKura in Falaba District in Sierra Leone and Heremakonon in the Faranaya prefecture on the Guinean side. These posts facilitate the orderly movements of people and goods across the border.  

“The establishment of the Migration data Unit at the District Council is timely and would be relevant to address information gaps relating to transhumance conflict in the district.  And also the construction of reliable, sustainable border infrastructures at Koindukura will not only enhance border security in this area but it is as well important for economic development” said Mr. Ibrahim Sorie Sesay, Chairman of the Falaba District Council.

This article was written by Alfred Fornah.

Communications and Public Relations Assistant at IOM Sierra Leone 

Email: afornah@iom.int   

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