APMD Continental Learning Forum on Market-Linked Transhumance Models in West Africa

West Africa’s ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol (1998) and Regulation C/REG.3/01/18 provide a core
legal foundation for regulated cross-border livestock mobility, enabling pastoral and agropastoral
communities to access grazing, markets, and services across Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Chad, Mali, and Niger. These frameworks are intended to improve livelihoods, strengthen market
integration, and reinforce peaceful mobility along major transhumance corridors.
However, implementation is challenged by limited coordination, fragmented policies, insecurity,
inadequate infrastructure, and insufficient investment in mobility-aligned market systems.
In parallel, the IGAD region has advanced its own transhumance protocol implementation, drawing
early lessons from ECOWAS, particularly around cross-border animal-disease surveillance, bilateral and
multilateral MOUs, digital traceability, and coordinated animal-health interventions. Coordinated
learning between ECOWAS and IGAD presents a significant opportunity to harmonize approaches
across Africa.

The African Pastoral Markets Development (APMD) Platform, through its Policy Pillar, in
collaboration with ECOWAS, therefore proposes to convene a Continental Learning Forum on
Market-Linked Transhumance Models to generate actionable evidence, promote cross-regional
learning, and co-develop a coordinated roadmap for market-linked transhumance models that enhance
investment, mobility, resilience, and formal market access across West Africa.