“As a country, we need to find solutions around the problem and take advantage of it to make that sector self-financing”, Mr Banuoku Faabelangne Daniel, the Director of Programmes and Deputy Executive Director, CIKOD North said.

He said Ghana has no clear strategy on transhumance as the Ghana Livestock Development Policy and Strategy only mentioned transhumance as a problem. It is being organised by the Centre for Indigenous knowledge Development (CIKOD) and its partners, to draw strategies towards addressing the conflict between crop farmers and herders in the country.

The workshop is also to learn and share the Togo experience on the sector.

The workshop forms part of the agro-pastoralism project dubbed: “Strengthening the Resilience of Agro-pastoral Systems in West Africa (PARSAO)” being implemented by CIKOD and the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA) in the three northern regions.

The project, which is funded by UKAID, Acting for Life, Air France and DANIDA, works to improve conditions for cattle breeding and movement across borders and regions in West Africa.  Mr Banuoku said identifying principal transit routes/corridors and securing them, as well as providing and equipping livestock markets with water and feeding toughs, loading ramps and veterinary services would reduce at least 30 per cent of conflicts over access to resources.

Those interventions, he said, were key to achieving economic benefit from livestock and transhumance trade. He said Ghana has greater opportunities to take advantage of when it comes to transhumance and livestock development.

He said Ghana for instance is endowed with resources such as water and feed; Market opportunities, employment along the value chain and stable political environment, which the country could capitalize on to make economic gains from the sector.

He said currently, Ghana’s meat supply and meat deficit has reached 47 per cent and “we need to come up with innovations in the sector to bridge the gap”.  Mr Banuoku said throughout their two and half study on the sector they learnt that “Livestock value chain is complex and involves everybody not only the herder”.

“It also provide employment to people in the value chain and a huge source of revenue for assemblies, traditional authorities and departments such as Customs, Veterinary Service and even the police,” he said, adding “there will be no meat available on the table if the herder do not move”.

Dr Kwame Asafu-Adjei, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee in charge of Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, emphasised the need for livestock and transhumance traders to respect the laws of the country, saying, “that is not negotiable”.He said there was a difference between having a solution and using the solution to implement the law and urged the herdsmen to organise their cattle well to benefits all.

Executive Director of CIKOD, Mr Bern Guri, said it was about time the country goes back and learn how “our elders did it in past to co-exist with the herdsmen”. He said: “If we’re going to have a sustainable food sovereignty, we need livestock and food to achieve it”.