Livestock mobility and the territorial state: South-Western Niger (1890–1920)

Abstract

Colonial rule in West Africa initiated the incorporation of mobile people, particularly pastoralists, into Western territorial states. This article reports on the early period of French colonial rule of the area that is now South-Western Niger – a strategically important area with respect to territorial competition among the French colonies of Dahomey and Soudan (later the colonies of Senegambia and Niger) as well as the British colony of Nigeria. Building from the study of contemporary patterns of livestock mobility and their logics, archival and secondary literatures are used to develop an understanding of dominant herd mobility patterns at the time (transhumance for grazing and trekking to distant markets); the importance of livestock as a source of tax revenue; colonial anxieties about the loss of livestock from within their borders; and efforts of colonial administrators to reduce the potential loss of livestock from their territories. This case illustrates the limitations of the territorial state model where the state lacks sufficient power over mobile subjects utilizing a sparse and fluctuating resource base. The actions of French administrators and Fulɓe pastoralists worked as a form of ‘hands-off’ negotiation, with each group monitoring and reacting to the actions of the other. Due to the limitations of colonial state control, the existence of boundaries elicited greater monitoring of livestock movements by colonial administrators but also increased the leverage held by mobile pastoralists as the French sought to increase the attractiveness of their territory to the principal managers of its wealth (livestock). The proximity of borders to the study area complicated the task of French colonial administrators, who necessarily became increasingly focused on monitoring the movements of their subjects (labour and capital) to avoid their possible escape as they moved within the borderlands of what is now South-Western Niger. The limits of colonial power to monitor and control these movements led administrators to initiate policies favouring pastoralists.

Resilience strategies of West African pastoralists in response to scarce forage resources

“…Shepherds are now engaged in the task of grazing animals at both local and regional levels. For Turner (2017), the Fulbe identify themselves as livestock breeders although they practise agriculture and animal husbandry. In our case, the "definitive" sedentariness has allowed the pastoralists to acquire large areas for agricultural activities.…”

Livestock mobility in sub-Saharan Africa: A critical review

“…A brief summary of the long history of outsider portrayals of pastoralists is that their mobile livelihoods are seen to work against the interests of the state, progress/ development, and a sustained environment (Kerven 1992;Niamir-Fuller 1999). The state's interest to control wealth within its borders while collecting taxes from and providing services to its citizens is, at the very least, complicated by the movements of people and livestock within and beyond the boundaries of the territorial state (Turner 2017). In fact, early accounts, despite evidence to the contrary, argued that pastoralism itself has worked historically against hierarchy and state formation (e.g.…”