Community Solutions to Farmer-Herder Conflicts

This document is a report detailing the implementation of cattle parks in Côte d’Ivoire as a solution to farmer-herder conflicts. The Resilience for Peace (R4P) initiative facilitates the construction of these parks to promote collaboration, economic opportunities, and conflict prevention. The report outlines how herder-farmer conflicts, often along ethnic lines, can escalate into violence, particularly when unsupervised cattle damage crops. The establishment of cattle parks serves as a land management tool that mitigates these conflicts by providing a secure area for cattle. Community members, including the Fulani and women from various ethnicities, collaboratively design and maintain these parks, fostering social cohesion. The parks also create economic opportunities for youth and support local women-run market gardens by providing organic fertilizer. The report highlights a decline in violent clashes since the parks' construction and emphasizes the importance of inclusive collaboration in building resilient communities. R4P has successfully established four parks, with plans for two additional parks.