Frexus Project // Awareness rising campaign for preventing natural resources related conflicts: Collective breaking of Ramadan fasting and de-escalating conflicts

This article is also available in French.

The Frexus project, focused on improving security and resilience in fragile contexts through the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Security Nexus, has been actively working in Dosso, Niger since 2021. Its efforts have centred around developing local conventions with the WEF Nexus action plans to transform conflicts positively and enhance social cohesion in the Karel Koissi and Farrey pastoral areas.

Promoting peaceful resource management through cooperation

The Nexus actions plans have emerged from an extensive year-long dialogue process led by the Frexus project and the Ziviler Friedensdienst ZFD, with support from Farmers and Herders NGOs federations, namely Fédération Nationale des Eleveurs du Niger FNEN DADDO (herders) and MOORIBEN (farmers). These dialogues were conducted using an innovative methodological approach that consists of developing and testing tools to prevent conflicts related to natural resource management through a participatory and inclusive process.

This awareness rising campaign is part of the implementation process of the Nexus action plans contained in the local conventions that were officially signed between the communities of farmers, herders, fishermen and beekeepers of the three pilot municipalities as part of the intervention of the Frexus Project in Dosso. During the awareness rising campaign, communities including women and youth have been sensitised to conflict factors between herders and farmers, which were previously identified in the diagnostic phase of the project. Additionally, the peace drivers associated with these conflict factors were also explained to the different audiences. The main topics discussed during this campaign include the early descent of the herders’ animals into the farms before harvesting, the management and prevention of conflicts related to field damage and the protection of pastoral areas as well as the restitution of key messages from the Frexus baseline study and the content of social agreements conventions.

Engaging in a Series of Sensitisation Campaigns

The municipality of Farrey hosted the launch of this series of education campaigns on the early influx of herd animals into the farms prior to harvest, the management and prevention of conflicts related to field damage, the protection of pastoral areas, and the restoration of key messages from the Frexus baseline study.

On this occasion, the mayor of the commune took the floor to welcome all the actors of the dialogue and urged the participants to be attentive to the messages of peace being delivered and urged the representatives from other villages to relay the key messages to their respective communities. Additionally, the Secretary General of the Dosso region expressed the significance of these activities, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan, and actively participated in the campaign.

Following the event in Farrey, three awareness centres were established in the municipalities of Farrey and Falmey. Each centre comprised 50 individuals representing various socio-professional groups from five neighbouring villages near the pastoral areas. A total of approximately 750 individuals received the campaign messages, becoming ambassadors for peace and social cohesion grabbed form the WEF Security Nexus concepts that Frexus has been spreading for two years in this Region.

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