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Grazing periods for livestock are affected by climate change.
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Herders in Senegal have to start their journey earlier and travel further to graze their herds.
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The UN estimates that Senegalese pastoralists provide 65% of the meat and 70% of the milk sold at local markets in the region.
As the climate changes in Senegal, pastoralists – or herders of cattle, sheep and goats – are facing a series of problems.
In the past, herdsmen would take their herds to graze on grass close to home. But with rainy seasons becoming less predictable, it is becoming more difficult to find areas to graze for herds. As a result, pastoralists have to travel further to feed their animals.
New grazing areas can bring new threats, and herders have to start moving their animals months earlier and sometimes travel almost 100 miles to find food.
The changes don’t just affect the animals. They can discourage entire families. While the men go with their animals to find land to graze, their children and wives are left at home hundreds of miles away.
Fulani herdsmen in Senegal have been raising livestock for centuries.
Many men in the community learn about pastoralism from their ancestors to earn a living, the Associated Press reported.
Due to the impact of climate change, there is less land available for grazing livestock.
As a result, herders have to travel further and earlier than ever before.
Usually, herders wait until March or April to start their journey, but due to climate change, they now have to leave as early as December.
With less food available, animals find whatever they can to fill their stomachs. Sometimes that includes plastic which can turn them off.
Travel is not always profitable, and herders are facing new problems.
Because herders are traveling so far and to places they are not familiar with, they have more conflicts with local farmers.
Herders sometimes encounter land that has not yet been fully harvested, causing angry farmers to kill some of their animals, the Wilson Center reported.
Farmers said they must harvest earlier for fear of their land being trampled by migrating herds.
Historically, farmers and pastoralists have had a symbiotic relationship. Herders would let their animals graze on the land and provide natural fertilizer. Alternatively, farmers would feed the animals agricultural waste.
As artificial fertilizers become more accessible, farmers are less inclined to give away grain and hay that they can sell.
Now many farmers block access to farms that cover large areas of land, making it harder for herders to find grazing areas.
The surrounding area has been subject to erratic rainfall for the past six years, making water scarce and uncertain.
There was subpar rainfall in 2017, 2019, and 2021, according to an article published by the Wilson Center. In 2020, there was heavy rain in Senegal which caused severe flooding and the destruction of mud-brick villages. In contrast, 2022 was a “rarely good” year.
With less water and food available, herders trade in cattle for less essential animals such as goats and sheep.
Herdsmen are also digging into dried riverbeds to get water for their animals.
Even as they get rid of their cattle, herdsmen are still grappling with the loss and theft of sheep and goats.
With less food available, animals are overweight and sick to fight disease, give birth, or feed their young.
As a result, herd sizes have been cut in half, and the animals that make them up are much smaller. Because of this, herders are under pressure for profits.
Meanwhile, unemployed young men have taken to stealing sheep and selling them to butchers to make extra money, sometimes stealing hundreds in a week.
Pastoralists today are turning to modern technology and NGO resources to find food.
The unpredictable weather makes it difficult to know where to go and when to go, but with increased access to technology, herders have the resources to weather the storm.
Mobile phones help herders to know the best places to raise their herds.
NGO-led radio stations, such as AfricaPinal and Radio Ferlo FM, broadcast weather forecasts and animal husbandry advice in the region’s dominant pastoral language, according to the Wilson Centre.
The change in rainy and dry seasons is not necessarily new, but it was not as severe as it is now.
The elders of the village remember the time between the 1960s and the mid-1980s when severe droughts fueled famine in the area.
“Things are hard now, very hard,” Madjen Madigniang, who has been a shepherd for 60 years, told the Wilson Center. “But we’ve seen bad conditions before.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
