WESTERN BAHR EL GHAZAL:  Every year in South Sudan, seasonal cattle migration takes place during January to April—the dry season.

In these months, animal herders from Warrap state begin moving large hordes of cattle towards their neighbouring state, Western Bahr El Ghazal, to make sure their livestock can graze on green pastures.

To the uninitiated, this may seem fairly routine. But this annual occurrence has been the source of fierce conflict between semi nomadic herders and settled farming communities, often triggered by the fact that animals do not differentiate between grazing lands and food crops.

The toll of such clashes, over the years, has been heavy on communities, characterized as it is by death, displacement, and loss of property.

To prevent such cyclical violence and promote peaceful resolution of migration-related disputes, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS); the UN Development Programme (UNDP); and the International Organization for Migration, joined hands to host a mini conference, bringing together all constituents to settle outstanding issues.

These conferences are, like the migration they focus on, a yearly feature, and this particular gathering took place ahead of time, given the early onset of dry weather.

“We are here today because we all want to be on the same page when talking about the protection of our wealth and resources,” stated Arkangelo Anyar Anyar, Western Bahr El Ghazal’s Acting Governor.

“In South Sudan, cattle are synonymous to wealth for herders just as crops are wealth to farmers. Conflict arises when one person thinks their wealth is more important than that of the other,” he added, eloquently summing up the problem, as he opened the two-day discussions among pastoralists from Warrap state and farmers from Western Bahr El Ghazal’s Jur River county.