Accelerating Silvopastoralism Agroecology and the Resolution of Conflict between Herders and Farmers in Africa

The document advocates for Silvopastoral Systems (SPS)—the integration of trees, forage, and livestock—to restore degraded African rangelands and mitigate resource-driven conflicts. It highlights successful models like Herding for Health and Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), while urging philanthropic investment to overcome barriers such as insecure land tenure, knowledge gaps, and government subsidies for chemical-intensive farming.

• Silvopastoral Systems (SPS) serve as a conflict mitigation strategy in Africa by reducing competition over scarce resources and providing sustainable fodder sources, which helps resolve tensions between herders and crop farmers.
• The Herding for Health (H4H) initiative in Southern Africa uses controlled rotational grazing and mobile livestock enclosures across 925,000 hectares to improve herd health, reduce zoonotic diseases, and minimize conflicts with wildlife.
• Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), originating in Niger, is a low-cost method (estimated at US$20 per hectare) that has re-greened over 5 million hectares in Niger by leveraging existing root systems to regenerate trees.
• In the Sahel, FMNR has increased soil organic content by 25–46% and boosted millet yields by 41% in Senegal.
• Widespread adoption of SPS is hindered by structural barriers, including insecure land tenure for pastoralists, a lack of region-specific research, and government subsidies that favour chemical-intensive farming over agroecological transitions.
• Philanthropy is positioned as a catalyst to de-risk the transition to SPS by funding pilot projects, supporting subsidy reform advocacy, and creating blended finance models to attract private sector investment.

APA

Jeiyol, E., Ngcoya, M., & Clausen, B. (2025). Accelerating Silvopastoralism Agroecology and the Resolution of Conflict between Herders and Farmers in Africa. African Climate Foundation. https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/801023_P-Accelerating-silvopastoralism-WEB-1-1.pdf

Chicago

Jeiyol, Elizabeth, Mvuselelo Ngcoya, and Barry Clausen. Accelerating Silvopastoralism Agroecology and the Resolution of Conflict between Herders and Farmers in Africa. African Climate Foundation, 2025. https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/801023_P-Accelerating-silvopastoralism-WEB-1-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jeiyol |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Ngcoya |first2=Mvuselelo |last3=Clausen |first3=Barry |title=Accelerating Silvopastoralism Agroecology and the Resolution of Conflict between Herders and Farmers in Africa |publisher=African Climate Foundation |date=2025 |url=https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/801023_P-Accelerating-silvopastoralism-WEB-1-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jeiyol2025accelerating, author = {Jeiyol, Elizabeth and Ngcoya, Mvuselelo and Clausen, Barry}, title = {{Accelerating Silvopastoralism Agroecology and the Resolution of Conflict between Herders and Farmers in Africa}}, institution = {African Climate Foundation}, year = {2025}, url = {https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/801023_P-Accelerating-silvopastoralism-WEB-1-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }