More than 60,000 transhumant animals and over 2,000 herders entered the Upper East Region from countries in the Sahel between February and June 2025.
The movement formed part of seasonal transhumance patterns involving pastoralists from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo.
This was contained in research findings conducted by Changing Lives in Innovative Partnerships (CLIP) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Ghana and disseminated to stakeholders in Bolgatanga.
The research was part of the Transhumance Tracking Tool (TTT) project, implemented in the Upper East and Upper West Regions by CLIP in partnership with IOM and funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The project sought to generate evidence on transhumant movements and support efforts to prevent farmer-herder conflicts in the two regions.
Mr Cyril Lamptey, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at IOM Ghana, said the data showed that the majority of transhumants recorded were from Burkina Faso, which accounted for 58 per cent, while Malians and Nigeriens together constituted about 38 per cent.
He said transhumance patterns varied between the two regions, with the Upper East experiencing its highest inflows between February and May, while the Upper West recorded comparatively higher inflows between June and November.
“In the Upper East, we realised that the story was different. Between June and November 2025, we had less inflows, whereas between February and May, we had the majority of the inflows,” he said.
The findings also identified 17 major transhumance corridors connecting northern Ghana to neighbouring Burkina Faso, with the majority of the entry routes located in the Sissala East, Sissala West and Lambussie areas of the Upper West Region before extending towards interior districts of the Upper East Region.
The corridors formed part of a wider seasonal mobility network used by pastoralists moving livestock in search of pasture, water and markets.
The research further identified 48 water points, 60 health posts, 12 livestock markets, 16 rest areas and 63 grazing areas along the transhumance routes to support pastoral mobility and livestock health.
However, the findings identified 10 conflict hotspots along the corridors, with tensions often linked to competition over grazing land and water resources, as well as encroachment on farmlands in agro-pastoral communities, highlighting increasing pressure on pasture and water resources in northern Ghana.
Mr Lamptey said the volume of transhumant movements and the associated competition for natural resources required government agencies at the regional and district levels to use the data to improve planning and conflict prevention.
He said some of the large-scale movements could contribute to farmer-herder conflicts, theft and other disputes that sometimes required the intervention of security agencies and local government authorities.
Dr Alhassan Issah Suhiyini, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at CLIP, said the findings further highlighted growing pressure on pasture availability and water resources during peak transhumance periods, emphasising the need for sustained early warning, timely information-sharing and community-level conflict mitigation mechanisms.
He said the TTT project had four main objectives, including mapping transhumance entry and exit points, strengthening stakeholders’ capacity to mediate farmer-herder conflicts, improving the resilience of host communities and promoting sustainable management of agro-pastoral resources.
He said the findings were expected to support government agencies and local authorities in strengthening cross-border coordination, sustainable natural resource governance and conflict prevention in communities affected by transhumance.
He said the project trained relevant stakeholders to report farmer-herder conflicts, including violent and non-violent incidents, and helped communities develop plans for managing natural resources to enable farmers and herders to use them without conflict.
Dr Suhiyini attributed the inflows to climate change and instability in the Sahel and urged local government authorities to take advantage of the movement to establish the necessary infrastructure along the corridors to attract increased revenue.
Mr James Ayamwego, Bawku West District Chief Executive, commended CLIP and IOM for the research, emphasising that it had provided a basis for understanding transhumance movements and activities for informed decision-making.
Mr Mohammed Issahaku, Chief Director of the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council, urged stakeholders to use the data to implement interventions that would strengthen social cohesion and take advantage of the movement to increase revenue mobilisation.
Source : Access Agric
