Understanding the Drivers of Farmer-Herder Conflicts in West Africa

Farmer-herder conflicts have increased over the past few decades. While literature points to several potential causes of conflict – including historical, ethnic and social factors, and shocks -- more recent literature highlights the impact of climate change on conflict, due to declining rainfall and land degradation, thereby fueling competition over scarcer resources. Much of the existing academic work uses cross-country comparisons, making it difficult to identify the key policy levers that could be used to address the root causes of conflict. The Sahel has witnessed increasing farmer-herder conflicts, but little is known about intensity, dynamics, causes and impacts. Using data from 2023/2024 from 180 villages in eastern Niger, we document the seasonal and location-specifc dynamics of farmer-herder conflicts. However, our sample is limited and does not capture the full herder-migration and agricultural calendar. We propose a formative study to learn more about local conflict dynamics in a larger sample (400 villages and two regions) and over a full year, combining high frequency phone surveys with in-person surveys among famers and herders and GIS data on migration corridors and pastureland quality. The ambition is to develop and scope interventions to help reduce and mitigate conflicts, through increasing pastureland, enabling coordination and develop strategies for conflict mitigation.