The call Cheikh Diouf received was every son’s nightmare. Rushing back to his family’s fields near Dakar, he found his father dead, tragically struck down during an argument with herders whose animals had strayed into their cassava crops. Cheikh, only 18, is left with raw grief and a burning desire for vengeance.
This isn’t an isolated tragedy. Across West Africa, a simmering conflict between farmers and nomadic herders is boiling over, exacerbated by a silent, powerful force: climate change. Decades of declining rainfall and rising temperatures have parched traditional grazing lands, while agricultural fields expand to feed growing populations. The result? More frequent and often violent clashes as herders, with their cattle, sheep, and goats, are forced onto farmers’ lands in desperate search of sustenance.
Senegal, in particular, has seen a significant drop in rainfall, making it harder for farmers to predict seasons and for herders to find sufficient pasture. The Peul (Fulani) herders, vital suppliers of meat and milk, traditionally move south during the dry season. But now, these journeys are longer, overlapping dangerously with harvest times when crops are most vulnerable. Unfenced fields become irresistible targets for hungry animals, leading to disputes that can quickly turn deadly. Everyday tools – like the ‘diassi’ machete – become weapons, as evidenced by tragic injuries and deaths reported by local media and medical centers.
Both sides feel the immense pressure. Farmers like Fode Diome insist on respect for harvest schedules, wanting herders to wait until fields are bare. Herders like Alioune Sow lament the disappearance of grass and traditional cattle paths, forced to buy expensive feed or risk their animals entering crops and getting poisoned.
While Senegal lacks a national system to manage these escalating tensions, local communities and NGOs are stepping in. Villages like Labgar organize meetings between farmers and herders to discuss solutions, from clearer marking of grazing trails to defining field boundaries. The hope is that through dialogue, peace can return to the parched lands, preventing more lives from being lost to this climate-fueled crisis.
