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The Observatory of Mobile Livestock Systems (transhumance) in West Africa and the Sahel has just been set up by livestock stakeholders and partners in the region. This is the main conclusion of the high-level consultation on the Observatory of Mobile Livestock Systems held from 2 to 4 September 2021 in Abuja, the capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

On the joint initiative of ECOWAS, CILSS and the African Union Border Programme supported by GIZ, the regional meeting invited more than 40 participants from ECOWAS, UEMOA, CILSS, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture of Nigeria, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria the National Boundary Commission of Nigeria, the Ministry of Animal Production and Fisheries of Kebbi State, the ECOWAS Regional Animal Health Centre, the Sahel and West Africa Club, RBM, APESS, ROPPA, CORET, IOM, CARE, GIZ, AFD, FAO and resource persons.

During 3 days, they analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of regional pastoral information systems that produce data and information carried by technical institutions, NGOs and networks of RPOs. Based on the experiences of existing systems, they defined the outline and organizational architecture of the observatory, which is intended to be a framework for federating and enhancing all initiatives capable of providing data and information to improve the governance of mobile livestock systems. The observatory of mobile livestock systems is envisaged as a multi-stakeholder analysis and coordination mechanism for initiatives to produce quality information to support decision-making. Its technical coordination will be provided by CILSS.

That is why the Deputy Executive Secretary of CILSS, Dr Paul OUEDRAOGO, expressed his satisfaction to see the foundations of the establishment of this tool defined and adopted "to facilitate the collection, processing and especially the dissemination of information to stakeholders and partners at all levels". He reassured all the participants present of "the mobilization of all the skills of CILSS and regional pastoral organizations for the effectiveness of this device which will provide useful information taking into account the regional context and the evolution of national policies oriented towards a controlled transformation of pastoralism ». He thanked the technical and development partners for their constant support to pastoralism before inviting them to continue their support so that the observatory, which will soon be operational, can truly play its role in collecting, processing and disseminating information.

The Observatory's political support will be under the supervision of ECOWAS and UEMOA and will contribute to the implementation of the agricultural policies of these two intergovernmental organizations.

The ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Sékou SANGARE, stressed that the Observatory comes at the right time "to effectively show the contribution of this sector to economic development in the sub-region by providing figures to the States and partners but also to contribute to deconstructing prejudices about mobile livestock farming". He invited all the actors and partners present to federate their energies so that this tool is functional because its existence "does not call into question the existence of other tools and information systems on pastoralism that are functional or being set up by projects, NGOs, RPOs and States".

This regional meeting is part of the implementation of the "Integrated and Secure Livestock and Pastoralism" project (PEPISAO) financed by AFD and coordinated by ECOWAS in collaboration with CILSS, and the African Union Border Programme supported by GIZ.

The stakeholders and partners will continue their reflections to define the mechanisms of data collection, processing and indicators to be reported and to provide the Observatory with a viable economic model based on sovereign financing before meeting again in February 2022 for the first annual meeting of the Observatory of Mobile Livestock Systems in West Africa and the Sahel.

Dowload the Summary of conclusions and recommendations of the High level consultation on the Observatory of mobile livestock systems in the Sahel and West Africa : https://ecowap.ecowas.int/see-document/143