SECURING PASTORALISM IN EAST AND WEST AFRICA FUTURE SCENARIO PLANNING WITH WODAABE PASTORALISTS IN NIGER (June-July 2008)

IIED project code: 511

FINAL REPORT Saverio Krtli

October 2008 1 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

INTRODUCTION The WoDaaBe are organised along agnatic clans (sing. lenyol), further segmented into sub groups (sing. taarde). Over time, a taarde can grow into a lenyol. All current clans in Niger were generated in this way from two initial clans: the Degerewol and the Alijam. This broad distinction still applies and is manifest, for example, in the different ways of earmarking the cattle. Administratively, the WoDaaBe are organised into ten groupements nomades, five for the Degerewol and five for the Alijam, with chefs de groupement (lamibe, sing. laamido) and chefs de tribu (ardobe, sing ardo). Since the mid 1980s, many WoDaaBe have been organised into associations pastorales and collectives, the latter grouping the pastoral associations within a region. This form of association has seen a revival over the last five years, particularly in the region of Tahoua/Agadez. These notes summarise meetings and interviews with WoDaaBe pastoralists in Niger, from the regions of Tchin Tabaraden (Tahoua) and Bermo (Maradi). A brief set of interviews was also held with Peul agro-pastoralists in the village of Eguidi (Maradi).

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2. METHODOLOGY

The main goal of my trip to Niger was to carry out a technical survey for a documentary on the WoDaaBe pastoral system (under IIED project code 840), possibly to be filmed in 2009. Such a goal determined both the itinerary of my trip (as I had to work with specific households) and its timing (as the documentary is supposed to focus on the transition between dry and rainy season). The activities described in this report were meant as an additional task, running parallel but secondary to this main goal.

Itinerary At the time of the trip (May-July 2008) mobility of foreigners within Niger was de facto limited by the state of military alert following armed conflict in the north and scattered episodes of banditry. Information from contacts in Niamey and the Niger diplomatic representation issuing my VISA discouraged travelling north of the 15th parallel. This excluded reaching the bush of Tchin Tabaraden, as the most straightforward programme for the technical survey demanded. I left the UK with plans for working either in Tchin Tabaraden or in the area of Dakoro, should a closer look at the difficulties, once in Niger, confirm this state of affairs. In fact travelling within the Tchin Tabaraden council turned out to be possible, and I ended up visiting both locations. For the entire period of my trip I was accompanied by Abdoulaye Denji, a BoDaaDo (sing. of WoDaaBe) of the Gojankoen clan (Degerewol) who was my research assistant during the twenty months of fieldwork for my PhD, and who is now playing a key role in the activities in preparation for the documentary. Tchin Tabaraden/Tahoua The sensitive institutional environment in the area of Tchin Tabaraden made it preferable to keep a low profile, avoiding calling a wide gathering of people. In this location I had informal one-to-one meetings with some elders, the Chef de
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Groupement and the local Conseiller (the first and only BoDaaDo elected as a member of the Tchin Tabaraden Town Council). An informal meeting, with the Chef de Groupement and a few community members, was also held in the locality of Intusa, the most recent of seven small WoDaaBe settlements created within the Council of Tchin Tabaraden over the last five years. In the area of my technical survey (100 kilometres north of Tchin Tabaraden), unusually abundant dry pasture made the transition from dry to wet season relatively smooth. The herders were not in a hurry to reach areas with green pasture. After filming a first storm not big enough to bring on the new grass, we were potentially facing another couple of weeks of waiting, before the herds were set on the move. Thus we left the bush of Tchin Tabaraden, stopped in town to carry out a few interviews and then travelled south-east, to Dakoro/Bermo, hoping to find the season a bit more advanced over there. At this point the work for the technical survey was almost complete, leaving the remaining few weeks in Niger mainly for the activities around the Future Scenario Planning project. Bermo/Maradi In Bermo, we met with the local Chef de Groupement (the laamido Oumarou bii Barade) and organised a small meeting of elders (at the laamidos home) in order to test the interest around the Future Scenario Planning and, possibly, to run the exercise during a larger gathering at a later stage. A positive response from this preliminary meeting led to a much larger gathering five days later. Back to Maradi, we travelled some 80 km south to the village of Eguidi, on one of the transhumance corridors, in order to talk about mobility with the local Peul agro-pastoralists and the herders coming from Nigeria. The latter had not yet started to arrive but we held a few small interviews with people from the local community. For the activities in Bermo/Maradi I relied on the help of a facilitator, Abdoulaye Hassane, a French and English speaking Peul introduced to me by Mansour Moutari (GARP).

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The preliminary meeting The preliminary meeting, with ten elders (two ardobe), was held in the house of the laamido in Bermo. I introduced myself as being part of an international network of research institutes and independent scholars working on pastoral development. I made clear that I was not bringing money or a project, and had no links with either the government of Niger or foreign development agencies. I described the FSP framework and said that I was interested to start a discussion about the drivers of change and possible futures, with special attention to mobility. A critical part of the meeting consisted in passing over information about the renewed interest and on going change of direction in pastoral development at the international level. In particular I explained how (at an international level) it is now understood that mobility is key to pastoral production in the Sahelian conditions. This confirmed that the herders have been right all along, whilst those who have seen mobility as an obstacle to production have been wrong. This information made a strong impression, helping to position me and setting up the tone of discussion during a larger gathering a few days later. As I wanted to talk about mobility, and mobility has been for decades a one-way argument a far as development was concerned, I felt it was better to qualify my position up front, letting the participants know that I was not there to talk them into sedentarisation or to be reassured about their intention to settle. I think that my initial sign-posting also gave me some room to trust, as relatively genuine, the references to on going settling processes made later in the course of the discussion. The meeting raised a lot of interest. The participants decided to call a larger gathering. It was decided to hold it in the bush, in a location relatively easy to reach by the herders converging on Bermo for the weekly market (on Monday). A few options were discussed over the following days until the Purel well was chosen, some 11 km out of town.

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The meeting at the Purel well The gathering took place by a tree, about a kilometre from the well, under an improvised shelter of blankets. Some forty two elders were present, including the laamido and fourteen ardobe. While the facilitator and I animated the discussion, from a few meters away Abdoulaye Denji filmed the entire event. The meeting started at half past ten, with a temperature of about 42C. The introduction repeated the format used for the preliminary meeting, with the statements about myself and the information about the current understanding of pastoral mobility in international settings. We agreed on organising the meeting around the following three exercises: ! reflecting on past patterns of change; ! reflecting on current patterns of mobility; ! analysing the drivers and directions of change. This format proved only partially successful. All three exercises prompted a wealth of interventions and some lively discussion, but the last two were probably too ambitious for the afternoon session, slowed down by digestion and interrupted by prayers. All the material on tape was logged and translated from Fulfulde into English. This translation is on paper, synchronised with the footage and ready to be used for subtitling. The next section of this report provides a synthesis of the arguments emerging from this body of data and presents the transcription of the most relevant material captured on tape.

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To summarise, the activities conducted with regard to the Future Scenario Planning project consisted of:
!

!
!

! !

the organisation and running of a small meeting at the WoDaaBe settlement of Intusa (Tchin Tabaraden), the laamido and a few members of the local community were present (1 hour ca., on tape) [1 day]; a long interview with Bouba Doutchi, the first BoDaaDo to be elected into the Tchin Tabaraden town council (in 2005) almost at the end of his mandate (almost 2 hours, on tape) [1 day]; the organisation and running of a meeting with about forty elders in the bush of Bermo, including the local laamido and forteen ardobe (4 hours ca. of discussion, on tape) [8 days]; a small extemporary meeting with seven Peul agro-pastoralists at the village of Eguidi [2 days]; a few short interviews including one in Bermo with Llabo Barade (a BoDaaDo who was Member of Parliament during the 2001-2005 mandate), one with an elder in Tchin Tabaraden, plus a number of extemporary conversations with various herders on the topic of future and mobility [2 days]; synchronised, translated transcription of the discussions on tape [3 days].

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3. DRIVING FORCES AFFECTING THE FUTURE OF WODAABE PASTORALISTS IN NIGER

Discussion groups and interviews about drivers of change, mobility and future scenarios involved WoDaaBe from the Gojankoen clan (Degerewol) in the area of Tchin Tabaraden and WoDaaBe from several clans in the bush of Bermo (mostly Ali Jam). Although by no means exhaustive or fully representative, they are a valuable indicator of current insiders visions of the forces that affect the WoDaaBes economic security as livestock producers, as well as of their considerations around what they perceive as the available options. In the course of all these discussions, the people involved repeatedly returned to the two broad themes described below. The first one can be wrapped up in the idea of an on going pressure leading to the overall weakening of the pastoral household. I titled this theme 'Losing out'. The second theme concerns a pressure in the opposite direction, in the form of a range of measures (some of which relatively new) put in place by the WoDaaBe in order to counteract this sense of losing out. People talked openly about the weak position of the WoDaaBe in the national context, both in terms of straightforward power, economic control and political representation. These processes are manifest both at the household level and at the wider level of the network of producers.

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'Losing out': the household level Decreased herd size People emphasised that the herds are not as large in size as they used to be when they were children (i.e. about forty years ago). A recurrent example was that herds of two hundred head or more (once quite common) have become extremely rare. At the Purel gathering, people debated the meaning of this phenomenon. They reached an agreement on the idea that today there are many more WoDaaBe herding households. Although they tend to have comparatively smaller herds, the total number of cattle controlled by the breeding network has actually increased. It is also more common for herds to include jokkereji (entrusted) cattle. Often these cattle belong to the extended family, typically to households that do not have enough animals for a viable herd. In the region of Bermo, WoDaaBe herders with small herds are also entrusted Azawak cattle from town owners (Touareg and Hausa), which further affects their decisions concerning herd management and mobility (but in these cases the real limitation is in the unviable size of the owned herd). Households with viable herds are unlikely to have jokkereji agreement of this kind. Decreased animal production People talked of a dramatic drop in milk production, from 5-6 to 1-2 litres per day. Complementation with animal feed has become necessary during a good part of the dry season. Increased basic expenditure There is greater exposure to markets, more needs, more need for cash and more purchases. The now necessary animal feed can be so expensive that it is sometimes more convenient to use millet, giving smaller quantities (as it simplifies the logistics).

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'Losing out': the network of producers Environmental changes The bush was said to have become poorer in diversity and quality of the pasture, with less trees, too many wells (making life easier but leading to overpopulation of the range), and less rain (short cycles of two good years and a drought). Eroded overall efficiency of the system Households without a viable herd cannot afford the most intense and most effective patterns of mobility. The necessity to integrate livestock production with a parallel economic activity keeps them nearby settlements. Mobility and the most efficient patterns of herd management are also hindered by the necessity to keep at least part of the household near a village in order to secure the schooling of some of the children. Usually this leads to splitting the herd, leaving a few milking animals in town (if there are milking Azawak in the herd, they usually end up in this group). These animals are typically neither sufficient or marketable. Thus even with a split-herd regime, herd mobility ends up being limited, as the family members in the settlement are still dependent on the sale of the livestock from the bulk of the herd (therefore the herd must remain within reach). Great relative loss with regard to the incoming flow of development resources Political weakness and lack of access to development networks means that the WoDaaBe are reached by development resources in any significant measure only when development interventions deal directly and specifically with them. References to this theme of 'losing out' were accompanied by descriptions of a number of countermeasures and strategic adjustments.

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Strategic countermeasures Investing in education. Over the last few years, many WoDaaBe have become acutely aware of a link between lack of formal education and their difficulty, as a community, to access the networks controlling the flows of public resources (development agencies/projects and state administration). Many show a strong concern for securing the skills and qualifications that would (in their view) enable this access. Rooted in this concern is an increasing interest in formal education. As a consequence, some family members today stay nearby a school or in the village (although no more than a few families per taarde actually follow this pattern). Some children are sent to school (usually the youngest) whilst the others take care of the herd. This strategy unavoidably splits the family into producers and schooled within an education system that is still fundamentally antagonistic (when not openly hostile) to mobility. This is the same model applied elsewhere with long-term negative impact. Although the practice amongst the WoDaaBe is still very recent, even people actively involved in the process and strongly supportive of education, have not failed to notice a link between limited mobility and a steady decrease in herd productivity, both in terms of milk production and calving rate.

Investing in visibility Following some notable precedents particularly the town of Bermo WoDaaBe clans and sub-clans appear to be investing considerable energy in the creation of small WoDaaBe-only settlements. For the time being these settlements are often only characterised by the presence of a handful of camps and a school. Nevertheless, they are given a name and are usually associated with a traditional chief (the laamido or an ardo) who uses his influence and political entrepreneurship in order to attract development resources, typically starting from a school and, immediately after, a well. These settlements quickly become a base for those households that have not got viable herds or that, for various reasons, cannot afford the kind of mobility required for the success of the WoDaaBe livestock production strategy. People see such
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settlements as a necessary interface with both the public administration and development institutions. Compared to ordinary towns and villages, these new WoDaaBe-only settlements in the bush, even when lacking basic structures, are seen as offering the advantages of institutional visibility and close proximity of undisputed pasture resources.

Strengthening political unity The WoDaaBe, particularly in the regions of Tahoua/Agadez, seem to be going through a process of political reorganisation, allegedly prompted by a growing awareness of their own weakness outside the possibility of dealing with problems on a united front. The formation of new associations and collectives of associations is part of this process, accompanied by the disownment of the historical associations (now perceived as high-jacked by urban elites). A conversation in Tchin Tabaraden, with a Touareg woman with a lot of experience of working with development projects, was enlightening in this respect. She remarked that the economic pressure over the last twenty years has greatly increased inequality amongst the 'Touareg rouges', undermining family ties and traditional institutions of solidarity. Great concentration of wealth and equally great impoverishment have had devastating effects on the fabric of the society. The WoDaaBe, on the other hand, have overall been affected by more contained and homogeneous economic losses. Despite their reputation for isolation and individualism, they appear to have reacted to external pressures with an increased sense of social cohesion and a new drive for (peaceful) organisation. If we trust this insider's scenario, discussions with WoDaaBe leaders in which they refer to 'les Touareg' (meaning the 'Touareg rouges') as a uniform category, would suggest that they might not have yet fully realised the extent to which the Touareg society has been broken down into highly unequal groups. Some of these subgroups (typically the herders) are often in greater difficulties than most of the WoDaaBe themselves, and would probably make good allies with shared interests around a
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common cause.

Networking outside the WoDaaBe society Since 2004 the Collectif Djingo has organised annual meetings (Assemble Gnrale) designed to increase the visibility of the WoDaaBe at both the national and international level. These meetings are held in a different WoDaaBe settlement every year, and last for several days. Local and national authorities are invited together with representatives of international organisations and development projects. The meetings are widely publicised and designed to also attract tourists. This year's meeting (5-14 October) was held at Tagayet, a relatively large Peul and Touareg settlement (about 350 households) 33 km east of Abalak. The points for discussion were: access to natural resources; conflicts between agriculturalists and pastoralists; privatisation of land; Pastoral Code; transnational pastoralism (the complete programme is in Annex D). Djiingo has been very active in attracting international interest, particularly in Europe. They are online in French and English: http://www.djingo.net. Increasing economic diversification Particularly in the area of Bermo, household splitting into sub-groups with different production strategies has become relatively frequent. Those households that have lost the capacity for sufficient mobility, and have access to adequate land, tentatively engage in cultivation (whilst also keeping some cattle). Another dimension of economic diversification is the seasonal group-migration of women, sometimes as far as Senegal and for as long as three-four months. Although the phenomenon is not new (at least twenty years old), people emphasised that in the last few years it has increased in scale and extended to younger women (with children).

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4. MORE SPECIFICALLY ON THE ISSUE OF MOBILITY

The WoDaaBe distinguish at least four forms of mobility: migration in response to an otherwise uncontrollable crisis (perol); migration between two or more zones of different ecological settings at the beginning and end of the fresh-pasture period, in order to keep their herds at the front of the season (baartol); movement between pasturelands within the same ecological settings, in order to keep their herds on the kind of pasture that is known to be most beneficial to them (goonsol); and adjustment movements in order to secure the constant availability of such a pasture even around the camp (sottol). However, whether they spoke of one or the other, the interpreter always translated with 'mobilit' or 'transhumance', in the absence of more specialised terminology in French (or English). Thus, the complexity and qualitative distinctions within the category of 'mobility', characteristic of the understanding and practices of the herders, began to be filtered out by the very process of addressing the issue at the national and international level. As this phenomenon is bound to be very common and broad, it is crucial to find ways of re-integrating in the discussion of mobility both complexity and qualitative distinctions. During the meetings in Niger, mobility was mainly discussed in the two meanings of baartol and goonsol. These meanings strictly link mobility to production, prompted not by scarcity but by the animals' need for a diversified diet and the better quality of pasture in the north during the wet season. Both the WoDaaBe in Bermo and the Peul agro-pastoralists in Eguidi said that they would not remain on their dry season grazeland during the wet season even if there was enough pasture there to feed on all year round. The herds, they said, need to go north during the rainy season. This despite the consequences of leaving the range 'near home' open to incoming herders (in Bermo, people were lamenting that whilst they spend the wet months in the region of Abalak, herders from Nigeria come with their animals to 'eat all the range at home').

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The patterns of baartol (movement across different ecological areas) are linked to the efficiency of goonsol (movement within the same ecological area). In turn, this efficiency depends on the competence of the herder and the herd. The Peul agropastoralists in Eguidi said that whilst all of them go north (near Abalak) at the beginning of the rainy season, some come back in October and others in January. This difference depends on the availability of labour (either for watering the herd once surface water has dried out, or for the harvest back home) and/or on the capacity of the herd to exploit the northern pasture even once it has been dried up by the hot winds of September. In the herders' words, 'not all the cattle are accustomed to that pasture'. Whilst the 'accustomed' herds typically gain weight at the beginning of the dry season, those that are not, loose it quickly and must return south. It must be noted that these 'different' herds are all of the same breed (Red Bororo) and from the same village (Eguidi), often belonging to herders from the same extended families. In the case of these herders, the pattern of mobility is affected by labour force and by the competence of their animals as selective feeders. No obstacles to transhumance (baartol) were recorded, either in Tchin Tabaraden or Bermo, except for problems of security when going south, near the border with Nigeria, because of the risk of theft. Instead, many people (both in Eguidi, Bermo and Tchin Tabaraden), insisted on the difficulty to access water (particularly in the bush of Abalak). Water from public wells was said to often be monopolised by the settlers or by some influential figure and sold to the incomers at arbitrarily high prices. In some cases, even access to ponds is precluded, for example by surrounding the water with cultivation and threatening fines if the animals damage it. Overall, accusations of damaging cultivations are frequent.

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Specific enquiry on the utility and performance of livestock corridors was hindered by a late transhumance. The herders were not in a hurry to leave the dry season rangeland, which was still offering good and abundant pasture (if dry) after the exceptionally good rainy season the previous year. With regard to the corridors of transhumance, the agro-pastoralist Peul in Eguidi only pointed out the excessive distance of the first grazing area (about 50 km from the village; more than 60 km from the previous area in the opposite direction), which makes it risky to use the corridor (in case one finds no pasture on the grazing area). Some commented that the corridor is too narrow. They pointed out that a herder needs at least 10 m of free ground on each side of the walking herd in order to make sure that no animal crosses onto cultivated fields. At present, the corridor by the Eguidi is 'fenced' by crops and just large enough for a herd to walk along. Whilst appreciating that the corridor significantly reduces conflict with the farmers (also the Chef du village manifested this opinion) the herders found that the narrow size of the corridor still exposes them to the risk of fines for damaging the crops. Transhumance corridors were not mentioned during the Purel meeting, not even during the analysis of the recent changes.

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6. RESULTS AND REFLECTIONS Communication and networking Receiving first-hand information with regard to the debate on pastoral development at the international level raised a lot of interest. Overall, the WoDaaBes experience of decades of development interventions appears to have been one of disenfranchisement, with the incoming flow of resources being either directed somewhere else or largely high-jacked or diverted by interfacing actors before they could reach their final target. Work to change this trend at the national level is made difficult by the very factors that have led to it in the first instance: lack of direct involvement in the work of development and lack of political representation. Today, there is a widespread feeling amongst the WoDaaBe that their only chance to receive their share of development resources is to link directly with the source. They value any opportunity to network with the international level (with important implications with regard to opportunities for education/training and communication). This is consistent with their resource-use strategy in livestock production: the WoDaaBe are usually uncomfortable with open competition and tend to refrain from disputes; they prefer to avoid competitors (even if at great cost) and place themselves where they can be the only users with undisputed access. At the same time, both in the region of Bermo and in that of Tchin Tabaraden, the WoDaaBe are trying to enter the national political arena. They are presenting candidates to the local elections despite enormous difficulties in building a basis of consensus within a highly scattered community and, when elected, the challenge of poor formal education and the often complete isolation within the assembly. The arguments presented during the discussions hinged on the awareness of the herders' contribution to the national economy as producers as well as their role in attracting development resources into the country (e.g. the Bouba Doutchi underlining that the wells now controlled by settled people with no livestock were initially built to meet the needs of pastoral production).

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Format and timing. The work took place in June-July due to the timing of the technical survey for the documentary project on the WoDaaBes breeding/production system exploiting unpredictable variability as a resource (IIED project code 840). This transitional period between dry and wet season was chosen because it is when the system is under more pressure and therefore its peculiarities are more visible. What made it the best period for the technical survey, however, made it the most difficult for organising gatherings and group discussions. Households are scattering after the first rains, and the heavy workload of the late dry season increases sharply. The herders are tense and distracted by many concerns. That a gathering with more than forty elders could be organised within five days out of the blue, should be taken as a sign of great interest on the part of the herders.

The herders showed a keen interest in the opportunity for long term planning and liked the idea of constructing future scenarios as a vehicle for both equipping themselves to deal with the ongoing processes of change and to influence their course. A fortunate analogy was particularly successful in conveying this notion: you make a calf-rope even if you dont have calves, because when the calves arrive you can only keep them if you have a calf-rope. Somehow, therefore, making a calf-rope positively affects your chances to have calves. Introducing the FSP exercise with a preliminary meeting, in order to give elders time to think it over and discuss things back at the camp before the actual meeting, proved successful, although time consuming. In this way the actual FSP meeting was decided and organised by the elders themselves, including time and venue. They also provided food and water and took care of organising temporary shelter for people to sit in the shade. Having concentric meetings (a small preparatory one followed by a larger one) also embedded some degree of repetition, helping everybody to become familiar with the new methodology. Had the meeting taken place at a less demanding time of the year, the number of participants would have been greater. However, forty people proved to be a big group to handle. A considerable amount of time was spent in translation, which slowed down the discussion. My personal involvement however also offered an advantage,
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particularly in giving out the message that there is a direct interest on the part of actors working at the international level. Translation is of course problematic and always somehow inadequate, but it is also unavoidable. To run FSP entirely in Fulfulde, shifting the translation to a later stage, could smooth the process. Extreme care would have to be taken in order to prevent the black-boxing of problems and ambiguities and the externalising of complexity. Concluding remarks In the herders' own vision, as imperfectly grasped through the work on FSP, successful development should center around the following key points (the last two refer to what would need to happen for the preferred scenario to be realised):
! Securing WoDaaBe-only settlements as administrative reference points. ! Securing access to the networks that control the flow of public resources: a) by

establishing specific and direct links; and b) by securing skills and qualifications through formal education. ! Strengthening mobility and supporting the actual producers in the bush. ! Supporting livestock-less households (or household members) who are forced to remain in the settlements. ! Securing first-hand information on pastoral development policies and securing communication with the international level.
! Incoming resources target the herders specifically and without intermediate

actors. ! The WoDaaBe gain communication skills (e.g. fluency in French or English) and formal qualifications enabling them to access all levels of political representation and of employment in the development sector.

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ANNEX A. Translated transcripts

INTUSA MEETING [TAPE 3] [The laamido] We are the people living at Intusa. We are gathered in the school of Intusa. The school that we managed to have built here, where the children come to learn to read and write. 0:07:27 The school of the herders. 0:08:11 The school is three years old. x [The children] are at school for receiving the advantages of schooling.
0:07:04 0:07:10 0:07:23 0:08:27 0:08:50 0:08:55 x 0:09:04 x 0:09:10 x 0:09:27 x 0:09:37 x 0:09:43 0:10:08 0:13:11 x 0:13:21 x 0:13:25 0:13:26 0:13:27 0:13:39 0:13:40 0:13:42 x 0:13:45 x

There is another project that has promised us a well, but we dont know whether we will have it or not. We have one problem with regard to education, that I am going to say now. Our children are children of herders and the herders dont stay always in the same place. If you set on leaving your child behind, the child will face difficulties. If there was a canteen, with food for the pupils, each herder would leave his children without problems. The herder would take care of his livestock and leave his children at the school, to learn, without problems, until the holidays. There are 28 pupils: 14 girls and 14 boys. We have created a village here at Intusa. It was already our place, but we are herders and dont remain always in the same place. It was a place of pasture for us and when we wanted a school we decided to settle here in Intusa in order to have a school to have a well to have a village. Before, it was Tchin Tabaraden that was our home. From our birth we have been here. But as we now want a school, herders cannot have a school. If they want a school they must 20 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:13:55 x 0:14:06

first find a place to settle. This is why we have chosen Intusa, that is not far from Tchin Tabaraden, for creating our own village.

WHY INTUSA?
0:15:45 0:15:49 0:15;49 0:16:00 0:19:04 0:19:08 0:19:09 0:19:12 0:19:13 0:19:24 0:19:25 0:19:28 0:19:29 0:19:30 0:19:33 0:19:39 0:21:00 0:21:07 0:21:10 0:21:26

Why did we chose Intusa? A herder with his animals cannot settle in Tchin Tabaraden and we are with our laamido, who is here at Intusa. The man of the bush belongs to the bush. The herders dont like the town and the town is not good for the herders. It is better for the WoDaaBe herders to create their own village rather than settling in town with Haousa and Touareg. But if we have our own village here, we have no problems. All our animals are in the bush. Our cattle are in the bush, our sheep are in the bush, our donkeys are in the bush. We have to look far away for water but we prefer doing so rather than settling in town where there is water. One day, when Intusa will be a large village. We will know how to do trading, our children who are now at school will have grown up, we will have no fear of settling in town and at that point we will have no problems to be in town. There are WoDaaBe who are settled and others who are in the bush with the livestock. Even in Bermo there are old people who are at the village, the teachers are at the village, but the others are in the bush with the livestock. Even if we settle in order to learn at school, we are not going to abandon herding.

0:25:38 0:25:44 0:25:45 0:26:02 0:26:06

0:08:10 0:08:19 0:08:20 0:08:25 0:08:34 0:08:38 0:08:42 0:08:42 0:08:44 0:08:45 0:08:46 0:08:50 0:08:52

WHAT ARE WE EXPECTING IN 20 YEARS TIME? [TAPE 3.1] [a woman: Mbodjoua Doutchi] We are suffering now. We dont have water, we grind millet, we cook, we look for firewood. Really we are suffering! We have understood that we have suffered in the past and now we are looking for help so that our children might be schooled. For those who have settled is because they have problems Some dont have enough to make a living there is no water. They want their children to go to school but they have to look for water, for food [old woman] some go to look for water And this is why the school hasnt worked very well with us. [A woman: Mariama Abdoulaye] What brought us here, is that before we had not understood and today we have understood. We settled here in order to enjoy our rights, that all incoming aid to us could be received. And everybody in the community, even those who are in the bush, we know where they are, and if there will be aid, they too will be informed and will come. In case of drought, if the president sends something or some aid comes from abroad, we know where to find everybody.

0:11:20 0:11:22 0:11:22 0:11:29 0:11:30 0:11:35/36 0:11:36 0:11:45

21 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

INTERVIEW WITH BOUBA DOUTCHI [TAPE 9 0:03:15] (member of the Tchin Tabaraden Town Council, elected in 2005) 0:03:44 In Tahoua, and in all Niger, the WoDaaBe are not strong and dont receive any aid. 0:03:55 The projects arrive the WoDaaBe are not involved.
0:04:01 0:04:02 0:04:06 0:04:07 0:04:19 0:04:21 0:04:22 0:04:27 0:04:28 0:04:32 0:04:33 0:04:39 0:04:40 0:04:41 0:04:42 0:04:48 0:04:51 0:04:57 0:04:59 0:04:07 0:05:08 0:05:17 0:05:18 0:05:28 0:05:29

Even when the government includes them for aid, they dont receive it! With the projects is even worse. They work only with Hausa and Tuareg. This is what we are seeing. All the project directors are Haousa or Touareg. When you present your proposal [for aid] they bin it. Thats it! Whatever the proposal their people present, they will help them. Since they are the directors. The WoDaaBe present their requests, but they see nothing! I know, the others went to school and those who have gone to school help their own people. The WoDaaBe dont have people who have gone to school and are working in projects. The WoDaaBe are 'Nigeriens', children of Niger. There are things that the country should do for all its people. If you take a look around in the area [of Tchin Tabaraden] if you dont just stay in the house, youll see the reality here. There are a lot of boreholes (fonfoji) in the area, but they are all for the Touareg. 22 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:05:35 0:05:36 0:05:37 0:05:38 0:05:39 0:05:39 0:05:48 0:05:49 0:05:54 0:05:55 0:05:57 0:05:58 0:06:01 0:06:01 0:06:08 0:06:09 0:06:13 0:06:15 0:06:21 0:06:22 0:06:25 0:06:26 0:06:28 0:06:40

The WoDaaBe dont have a single one! But it is the WoDaaBe who have the livestock a lot! But it is the Touareg who manage the boreholes, sell the water whilst they have no livestock. Since they are strong, they get the money. They make a business [of the borehole]. But the owners of the animals, the herders and it is because of them that the borehole has been drilled the boreholes are not in their hands. If you see a borehole where the WoDaaBe dont have to pay for the water, it is because it has been built through a direct contact with a white [anasara]. Maybe a friend who has helped. For example Djouri [in Tanferigan, 30km E of Tchin Tabaraden]. It is a white who helped him, through an association, to have a borehole that is not operating yet. Or Ortudu [Ajangafa, 15km SW of Tchin Tabaraden]. It is through an association that some white built him two wells, one that worked for sometime before collapsing, and another that is about to be completed. Maadina too [Ekinewan, 20km W Tchin Tabaraden]. But the WoDaaBe dont have a place where either the government or a project has built them a well There isnt!

0:09:-0:10:--

ON NEW FORMS OF ASSOCIATION [Mentions the Collectif Djingo and the meeting to be held in Abalak in October 2008, in French] EXPERIENCE AS A MEMBER OF THE TOWN COUNCIL [At the Council meetings], we vote on the budget in order to make wells, clinics for animals and everybody, vaccination parks, cooperative stores in the bush but we, the WoDaaBe, dont get anything! This is why I raised an issue, I asked Why? We pay the [pro-capita] tax, we pay taxes on the sale of animals. Not so long ago we even had an animated argument. They accused me of ethnocentrism. I said I am not ethnocentrist. It is you who are ethnocentrist! Did you understand? The WoDaaBe have received nothing! One person alone, who stand up in a meeting and who does not represent the majority people treat him like a fool.

0:24:48 0:25:14 0:25:15 0:25:18 0:25:18 0:25:19 0:25:26 0:25:31 0:25:31 0:25:37 0:25:37 0:25:41 0:25:42 0:25:46 0:25:46 0:25:52

x 0:29:47

ON SEDENTARISATION If you see the WoDaaBe settling in town, or settling in the villages of the Haousa they have run out of cattle!

23 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

PUREL GATHERING [TAPE 10] [Ibrahim Riskoua] In the past, herding used to be different. The bush was vast and some parts of it were not even used all alone the herders herded their cattle. They had enough, the herd grew and improved [jaudi mbaDi unfani, mbaDi yeeso] they had good returns. They found grass; they found GalaDi; they found Gajjaali [Cymbopongon giganteus]; they found Senseni [Maerua crassipholia]; they found Fangunehi1; they found Hurdu-dumboore [Cyperus conglomeratus]2 they found a lot. 0:43:00 But now, for us there is nothing even Amjahi [Boscia senegalensis] is missing and there is 0:43:06 no RuBBo [could be RuBBore, also Rayyere, Andropogon gayanus] anymore. 0:43:06 All the animals of the bush have gone.
0:42:19 0:42:24 0:42:36 0:42:37 0:42:43 0:42:24 0:43:00 0:43:10 0:43:10 0:43:13 0:43:13 0:43:17

The animals of the bush have gone with its plants and herding with them. There is no herding now. If you want to help us, help us to improve this situation. [Rouada Aliu] The plants of the bush have not changed. It is the times that have changed. Before, the WoDaaBe were deep in the bush, only we were only in the bush. Now, all over Niger, wherever you find the WoDaaBe, they are in settlements (wuriire). The herders in one place and the elders [those who make decisions] in another and they send their children to school. They have teachers, they have settlements, everybody is attached to a well and a settlement.

0:43:39 0:43:43 0:43:43 0:43:51 0:43:55 0:44:02 0:44:03 0:44:09 0:44:09

1

Could be Sotoore [Tapinantus dissoluta], a parasitic plant growing on the Barkahi tree [Pilostigma reticulatu] and used in the fuDngo nai, the most important cerimony for increasing the fertility of the herd (Bonfiglioli,1982: 47). 2 With the exception of Gajjaali, all bushes and trees. 24 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:44:18 0:44:19 0:44:29 0:44:32 0:44:33 0:44:34 0:44:38 0:44:39 0:44:44 0:44:46 0:44:51 0:44:52 0:44:55 0:44:55 0:44:57 0:44:59 0:45: 02 0:45: 02 0:45: 06 0:45: 06 0:45: 11

The WoDaaBe will not stop herding, even the Hausa government officials [functionnaires] when they have money they buy livestock! The livestock cannot be abandoned. Herding cannot be abandoned. Mobility [bangarol] cannot be dropped. Nobody has dropped mobility. It is the times that have changed. The grass has gone. It is a new time now. It is not even the case of asking It is a new time that has come. Those who say that herding is finished speak empty words. But the WoDaaBe have settled [be ndeppache] Now, whenever you find wells you see that the WoDaaBe have built settlements you find buildings, you find camps [sudi], you find people who have settled [ndeppibe]. After this I have nothing else to say. It is to you WoDaaBe who know some, to speak. [New intervention] What we have seen as change in the environment [kama yeney saakitoke]. When we got here, we were children. It is here that we found our people, here where we are sitting now. But they were going to Bororo [Bermo] to find water. And all around here there were no wells. There was only bush! The trees you see, now we have to use blankets [in order to have shade] but in the past a tree was good enough to give shade and its shade was good enough for us. Today those trees are no more. It is the environment that has changed. There are too many cattle in the bush. Water too has diminished rain water. There is less rain than in the past. This is what we call change in the environment: today there are many wells. Wherever you go you find wells.

0:46:10 0:46:14 0:46:14 0:46:18 0:46:18 0:46:21 0:46:22 0:46:25 0:46:27 0:46:29 0:46:29 0:46:30 0:46:31 0:46:35 0:46:35 0:46:39 0:46:39 0:46:42 0:46:43 0:46:48 0:46:49 0:46:51 0:46:51 0:46:52 0:46:55 0:46:56 0:47:06

IS IT A GOOD OR A BAD THING TO HAVE MANY WELLS? [New intervention] 0:48:37 It has diminished the difficulties, but it has also weakened herding [durungol].
0:48:42 0:48:42 0:48:48 0:48:48 0:48:56 0:49:00 0:49:04

In the past there were many cattle around a few wells. The wells were about 10-15 km far from one another, and all cattle gathered around and at the camps people were thirsty. But today there are a lot of wells.

25 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:49:28 0:49:31 0:49:43 0:49:47 0:49:47 0:49:51 0:49:52 0:50:00 0:50:00 0:50:02 0:50:02 0:50:05 0:50:06 0:50:09 0:50:10 0:50:14 0:50:15 0:50:19 0:50:23 0:50:30 0:50:31 0:50:38 0:50:39 0:50:40 0:50:43 0:50:49

[Rouada Sabgari] We have seen a lot of change in the environment. Us, it is here that we were born, and found our fathers and our grandfathers. But at that time, if we had a strong rain like that we had the day before yesterday the animals would have had plenty of grass. Because there were not so many animals, not so many people. The population was low. Today people are so many. And the cattle too are many. The change in the environment is that the bush has gone. The bush has gone, this is what we have seen. The years if you had a good year [now], after you have a bad one! But the wells, it is good what we have now. Because if all the cattle that are in the bush now if they had to be watered at the few wells we used to have, they would not have enough. It would be difficult. The bush the cattle ate it! [New intervention] There is something I want to add There have been changes in the bush. About the herds before a cow produced 6/7 litres but today it is 2! Before, we didnt give millet on top of grass. Today we must buy feed for the cattle. Before we didnt know about giving millet to the cattle. Before the milk was enough. Today it isnt. Before the herders lived mostly of milk, but today they have to purchase other food. [New intervention] The millet, we have to give it even to the cattle during the dry season. The millet is not just for the family. [now] we give it even to the cattle! There are many changes in herding We consider ourselves young but what we found doesnt exist anymore. Because what we found at this time [of the year] we would have had a lot of grass and the 26 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:51:15 0:51:16 0:51:16 0:51:17 0:51:17 0:51:23 0:51:23 0:51:30 0:51:30 0:51:36 0:51:36 0:51:41 0:51:41 0:51:45 0:51:46 0:51:50 0:51:51 0:51:57 0:51:57 0:51:59 0:51:59 0:52:07

0:52:58 0:53:01 0:53:01 0:53:10 0:53:30 0:53:34 0:53:34 0:53:38 0:53:38 0:53:40 0:53:41

0:53:48 0:53:48 0:53:53 0:53:54 0:54:00 0:54:00 0:54:10 0:54:10 0:54:18 0:54:18 0:54:22 0:54:22 0:54:25 0:54:26 0:54:35 0:54:35 0:54:42 0:54:44 0:54:50 0:56:12 0:56:15 0:56:16 0:56:19 0:56:19 0:56:27 0:56:27 0:56:37 0:56:37 0:56:40 0:56:40 0:56:42

cattle would be full. It used to rain from the seventh month [May]. But today the rain starts the ninth month [July] or even the tenth [August]. Before, if you travelled either North or East if you didnt carry water with you the thirst was going to kill you. But today if you go to Agadez and you dont carry more than a few litres, you will have no problems. But today, cattle are many, people are many, the bush has gone. This is the change and on top, the rains are always late. and when they arrive they stop quickly, before the grass has grown. We didnt know [the disease] when the cow cannot see at night. But today, the herder feeds his animals just as they feed his family. We think that this is because of inadequate rains. And then, the settling of herders... People dont settle abandoning herding they settle on request of the [pastoral] associations and the projects. And where they settle you might find buildings and people, but you also find buildings without people Yet so far the WoDaaBe are still herding. They dont have any other occupation. [New intervention] Then, those who settle dont have enough to survive their cattle are far and one must travel far to get one to take it to the market and buy food for the family. This is our problem. But if those who settled receive some help, then there is no problem and those who are with the herds can go as far as necessary until the end of the wet season, and then they come back ,,,and at their return the place is not like during the rainy season when there is nobody. Because people stay with their cattle. This is what they sell. This is what they eat! You, a herder, you sell your cattle, you eat, and then you stay put in the shade and again you go to get cattle to sell? Who is the one who takes care of your cattle and you are taking them to the market? Nobody is going to accept this! This is why we are staying with our cattle. But if we had food available for those who are settled, this would represent a great help. If there is help it is those who are settled who need to be helped helping pastoralism is this. Helping pastoralism means giving food. Now we cannot live of the cattle anymore. We herd them only. 27 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:56:43 0:56:46 0:56:46 0:56:56 0:56:56 0:56:59 0:57:00 0:57:05 0:57:05 0:57:10 0:57:10 0:57:11 0:57:12 0:57:15 0:57:16 0:57:19 0:57:20 0:57:26 0:57:26 0:57:30 0:57:30 0:57:32 0:57:32 0:57:36 0:57:40 0:57:44 0:57:44 0:57:49 0:57:49 0:57:58

0:58:00 0:58:15 0:58:18 0:58:21

[Peoples comments] It isnt the number of animals that is smaller, is that of people that is bigger. Thats right! It is not that there are less cattle, it is the people who have grown in number! [New intervention] Wait, wait. Us all, when we were children, we all watered the cattle at the same well [Yalema well]. Today, should we all go there with our cattle, would there be enough for all of us? [Answer] Not at all! [Answer] They couldnt drink! It is not the cattle that are fewer, the people are more numerous! The herds have been fragmented! [People reply] It is not like this, It is not like this! [can hodjaka] [Another man] It is the cattle that are more numerous! [Another man] In the past there were herders with 200/300 head we have see this! But now there isnt anybody like this! And you say that the cattle are not fewer? They are fewer! [Another man?] There have been marriages, many! There are no cows! You had children, this wife had children, this one had children, the other had children What stops there being too many people? Too many for the cattle. We must acknowledge, simply, that there are not enough cattle anymore! [voice over] the droughts have also killed many animals. If there are two good years, the third one is bad. There you are, thats what has decreased the number of cattle! In the past we had drought every 10 years, but now there is one, then two good years and the third is bad again! [TAPE 11] [Rouada Aliu] Before, you could have two cows and that would have been enough for your family. Today you might have twenty and it is not enough for your family. The good pasture is gone. You have heard that herds are smaller but in a few years they can be reconstituted! If the good years are back, youll see! The trees are gone, all what is left is some minor variety of straw [iriel gote nder jeelol tan]. Only one activity is not enough anymore. [New intervention] 28 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:59:04 0:59:12

0:59:12 0:59:15 0:59:16 0:59:22 0:59:34 0:59:36 0:59:54 x 1:00:10 1:00:28 1:00:18 1:00:23 1:00:23 1:00:24 1:00:24 1:00:28 1:00:28 1:00:32 1:00:32 1:00:34 1:00:35 1:00:40 1:00:40 1:00:43 1:00:43 1:00:48 1:00:49 1:00:52 1:00:52 1:00:54

0:05:00 0:05:03 0:05:03 0:05:09 0:05:10 0:05:17 0:05:17 0:05:26 0:05:28 x 0:05:0:05:46 0:06:00 0:06:14 0:08:41

0:09:07 0:09:12 0:09:12 0:09:20 0:09:20 0:09:26 0:09:26 0:09:31

We, the herders, all that can help herding is what can help us. All other activities we might have, we dont master them very well. We learn them, but only a bit. But with regard to herding, it is there where we really know well. Anything to do with herding, we learn it quickly and make it worthwhile! [New intervention] In the past you took one bull to the market, you could sell it for 1000 FCFA or 1500. And with that money you could buy the food for the family, the clothes, the mats [for sleeping] all. But today, the same bull you sell it at 300,000 FCFA, or 400,000. And you dont buy anything for your family, you buy a tarpaulin for the rain! [New intervention] And now there are more needs. Now everybody wants to go to the market to satisfy his own needs, but before, the market was far and it was the elders who went to buy for the family. [Rouada Aliu]] [Rouada Aliu talks about the aid from projects & government never reaching the WoDaaBe: all is chewed up along the way]. From now on if there is help for the herders, it is crucial to place it directly in the hands of the herders! [Ibrahim Riskoua] [Ibrahim Riskoua says that there are more iririiji today than in the past]

0:15:28 0:15:33 0:15:33 0:15:42 0:15:42 0:15:45 0:15:45 0:15:50

0:19:59 0:20:03 0:20:03 0:20:23

0:23:> 0:22:57 0:23:07

0:41:59

0:57:40 0:57:45 0:57:45 0:57:53 0:57:53 0:57:58 0:57:58 0:58:01 0:58:01 0:58:06 0:58:06 0:58:15

WHY DO WODAABE CREATE SETTLEMENTS NOW? There is a main reason why the WoDaaBe create settlements.

[TAPE 12]

From far away south, the WoDaaBe have moved this way [north] and the farmers have followed them. When they stopped somewhere to make a settlement, the farmers arrived. Until the WoDaaBe arrived at the Sahara. This is one of the reasons that brought the WodaaBe to make settlements. They thought that had they not made settlement now the farmers would have pushed them into the desert. [TAPE 13] [New intervention] You have come to meet the herders. You have not come to meet the farmers. You have come to help the herders. Now, even if there are farmers here we should not talk of farmers.

0:16:02 0:16:09 0:16:09 0:16:12 0:16:12 0:16:13 0:16:13 0:16:15 0:16:15 0:16:20

29 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:16:21 0:16:27 0:16:27 0:16:29 0:16:30 0:16:32 0:16:32 0:16:34 0:16:34 0:16:37 0:16:37 0:16:42 0:16:42 0:16:45 0:16:45 0:16:46 0:16:46 0:16:49 0:16:49 0:16:53 0:16:53 0:16:58

Now we are talking of herding. Herding is weakened. We have talked of the problems of herding. At the root of the problem is [the issue of] water. So far the herders if you want to do anything good for them one should return amongst the herders and look into ways of helping them as herders. If it is to increase security If it is the bush that is going to be helped If it is looking at diseases In all cases we are not meeting to talk about gardens. We met about gardens a few days ago. Now we have no scope for discussing it again.

0:38:43 0:38:48 0:38:48 0:38:57 0:38:57 0:38:59 0:38:59 0:39:02 0:39:02 0:39:04 0:39:07 0:39:13 0:39:13 0:39:15

[Rouada Sabgari] We have heard often that there has been a lot given to pastoral associations, for the herders The herders are surprised. Amongst the members of the pastoral associations some know nothing about cattle. They have no understanding of herding. They dont even know how to water a herd at the well! And it is said that they are the leaders of the herders! The leaders of herders who have never been in the bush? Who have never gone to see the cattle? Who have never gone to see the herders? And now it is them who are the leaders of the herders? [Ghide Rouada] Whatever is given to you, if you have not been given enough information, not much has been given. [Rouada Aliu] In the past, when we had truth we had regular meetings. When we had truth, when [help] was given... at the time the laamidos father was alive it was here, with the laamido, where the help was entrusted.

0:46:49 0:46:51

0:47:17 0:47:20 0:47:21 0:47:23 0:47:24 0:47:28 0:47:28 0:47:30 0:47:32 0:47:36

0:57:54 0:58:00 0:58:00 0:58:08 0:58:09 0:58:16

WRAPPING UP THE MEETING Did you understand? Since projects have started to call meetings for doing sensibilisation with the herders To start teaching them it is at least twenty years. We have never seen somebody of whom we have been as happy as of you.

30 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

0:58:16 0:58:23 0:58:23 0:58:25 0:58:25 0:58:30

[Talking to the interpreter] We are happy with him because he has not said that our mobility is wrong. He has recognised the importance of our mobility. We are all very happy. Might God give us all a chance. [New intervention] Had you come earlier now is a difficult time there would have been far too many people for the shade of this tree. [The interpreter is speaking] He said, should he come back in October, after the Ramadan, would that be a good time for a large meeting? [Answers] Very much! The number of people who will come will be huge [at that time] there will be very many people.

0:58:32 0:58:45

1:01:58 1:02:09

1:02:09 1:02:19

31 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, October 2008

ANNEX B. Preliminary meeting in Bermo: list of participants Name Oumarou Barade Rouada Aliyu Tambari Oumarou Weli Oumarou Rouada Sabgari Bango Girka Saala Minnaka Ndoula Bawa Maigari Bouba Dudji Maunde Weli Naganamzo Role laamido Taarde Djadjwol Djadjwol Djadjwol ardo ardo representing ardo Moddake Djadjwol Djadjwol Siuwtel/ Djaanje Lenyol Bii Hammaen also Kabawa (Ali Jam) Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen Bii Koronyen (Ali Jam) Bii Hammaen Jamparankoen Hodoori Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen

32 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, work in progress, 06.08.08

ANNEX C. Gathering at the Purel well: list of participants. Name Oumarou Barade Hasan Barade Kiro HoDande Rouada Sabgari Barto Maisibi Ibrahim Riskoua Deede Yuguda Weli Denji Kiro Doula Weli Oumarou Mokao Djaho Berto Maounde Jeereji ZaDo Bango Gnirka Dotchi Djajo Weli Rouada Ali Maiwasa Baleeri Sabgari Arjo HoDande Djouri HoDande Orti Daro MokuDire JobDi Goga Girka HoDi JobDi Souralm Joodi Sai Maounde Weli Denji Barka Rouada Samaye Suralji Hassan Sabgari Rikoua Yaaro Bango Oumarou YaDDo Koine Orti Sabgari Moneji Suralji Tchatche Djouri Rouada Aliyu Darrani Djouli Alto Mosukabe Ghide Rouada Role laamido ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo ardo Taarde Djadjwol Djadjwol Djadjwol Djadjwol Yamankoen Djanje Kubankoen/ Biihammaen Djadjwol Lenyol Bii Hammaen - also Kabawa (Ali Jam) Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen [Peul Bororoen] Bii Koronyen Yamankoen Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen Kasawsawa (Degereeji) Kasawsawa Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen Bii Hammaen

Siuwtel Siuwtel Mosakao

33 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, work in progress, 06.08.08

ANNEX D. Programme of the General Assembly fo Djiingo 2008 (Tagayet)

(from: http://www.djingo.net/en/) October 5 ! Welcome and evening dances October 6 ! Official opening ! Installation of visitors ! Fatiha ! Speech by Sanda Bammi, president of this year's edition ! Reading of the programme in Haussa, Fulfulde and French ! Speech by the Chef de Groupement ! Speech by the Governor of Tahoua / Prfet of Abalak / Mayor of Abalak ! Speech by the Minister ! Dances ! Parade ! Visit of the site ! Evening: Debate with the invited authorities about the pastoralist policy in Niger October 7 ! Consultative workshop about the African Union's initiative to formulate a Pastoralist Policy Framework for the whole of the African continent in cooperation with the pastoralist populations October 8 ! Round table with the partners in development working in the pastoralists sector ! Projection of the documentary 'Kawriten koe meen, rassemblons nos ttes ' by Sandrine France October 9 ! Informative workshop about the advantages of mobile animal breeding systems ! Training for 40 pastoralist women in organizational skills and income-generating activities October 10 ! Training for 40 instructors in communication skills to change behaviour within the framework of the fight against AIDS October 11 ! Information about the FORAS (solidarity engagements taken by several pastoralist groups) ! Lecture about SVVP (Service Vtrinaire Priv de Proximit) by PROXEL (Vets without Frontiers Belgium) and information about animal health October 12 ! Debate with the tourists about 'Responsible Tourism' October 13 ! Plenerary reading ! Correction and adoption of the general summarising report ! Cultural night 'Nuit pastorale' October 14 ! Closing ceremony ! Camel race ! Public announcement of the assembly's report ! Petition towards the authorities ! Word of thanks Wodaabe dancing and singing Every day and night the colourful spectacle won't leave anyone indifferent, thanks to its originality and strenght of expression. The beauty of the make-up, the harmonic and polyphonic singing, the gracious movements, the traditional dress, hand clapping and foot stamping all come together in harmony to delight the onlooker. Men as well as women have their own dance forms. Exposition shops Craftsmen of all ethnic groups will expose the richness of the Nigerien craftswork. The Wodaabe women will install their saga, where they put up their bowls and traditional decorative objects), embroidered panes and garments, jewels, dance outfits etc. There will be a wide choice for tourists to take home some precious souvenirs from this unforgettable experience. 34 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, work in progress, 06.08.08

Camel race and walks At the end of the event, in the early morning the visitors will be able to watch astonishing riders rival in dexterity in a dogged camel race. It's always an astonishing spectacle for all to see this assembly charge at high speed into the bush. For a modest price, tourists will be offered a ride around the grounds.

35 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, work in progress, 06.08.08

ANNEX E. Sample documents of one of the recent pastoral associations in Tchin Tabaraden (attached)

36 Saverio Krtli, Report to IIED, work in progress, 06.08.08