Pastoral transitions in West Africa: analysis of factors influencing herders’ sedentarization in northern Benin

Abstract

Pastoral livestock in West Africa has been under increasing pressure in recent years due to land tenure challenges, climate change, insecurity, and socio-economic transformations. These pressures have often led pastoralists to shift from mobile or transhumant livestock systems toward more sedentary systems. Whether this transition is voluntary and planned or gradual and imposed, it raises questions about its viability, sustainability, and broader social and economic consequences. The debate remains marked by divergent positions among researchers, policymakers, civil society actors, and technical and financial partners. This study aims to describe and analyze the factors influencing pastoral mobility, drawing on field surveys conducted in northern Benin, in order to better understand the dynamics at play. The results show that sedentarization stems from a complex combination of agro-ecological factors (availability and quality of forage and water resources), infrastructural factors (presence of vaccination parks, livestock markets, and livestock corridors), institutional factors (secure land access, supportive public policies), and socio-economic and cultural factors (children’s schooling, access to health centers, intercommunal conflicts, and generational change). Some factors act as direct incentives for reduced mobility, such as access to water, land tenure security, and availability of basic services. Others, such as conflict and generational shifts, contribute more indirectly. The analysis also indicates that the reduction of pastoral mobility is a hybrid process that combines voluntary adaptation strategies with responses to structural constraints. This findings suggest that pastoral transitions are more likely to be sustained in contexts where institutional environments are flexible, inclusive, and multi-level, recognizing pastoral knowledge, securing land rights adapted to extensive livestock production, and supporting coordinated territorial governance.