Cattle have legal routes!
- wholetruthnigeria
- Jun 7
- 1 min read
Did you know that between 1965 and 1967 the recently independent (1961) Nigerian government mapped and protected cattle migration routes so pastoralists such as the Fulani could easily move around the country. No-one was allowed to farm or build on these routes because the safe passage of the herders and their animals was vital for the farmers who relied on the manure and urine of the animals to grow their crops to feed the country.
With the switch to chemical fertilisers, herders and their cattle are increasingly struggling to find safe passage as their legal routes are built and farmed on. They face the daily dilemmas such as
-where to go when they are made to feel no longer welcome in their own country that they sustained for generations, providing organic fertiliser to grow food?
-how to feed their cattle to produce the beef, leather (skin), cow tails and horns that are still expected of them?
Map of Nigeria showing the former livestock routes used by herders.... | Download Scientific Diagram
In the midst of all this stress it was good to hear some positive news this week from Kano where attempts are being made to reclaim 371 encroached grazing reserves, cattle routes (Burtali/Labi), and other pastoral resources. Hopefully this means that farmers and herders can live peacefully together, both enjoying and blessing the land with their unique skills and benefitting from each others' differing but complimentary livelihoods.
For more information on the cattle routes see 8-Study-on-Grazing-Reserves-and-Stock-Routes_Full-Report_final_EE-1.pdf
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