The African Union Inter-African Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) has reiterated its commitment to transforming pastoral mobility into a driver of peace, prosperity, and regional integration.

Huyam Salih, the director of AU-IBAR, stated this at the Continental Learning Forum on Market-Linked Transhumance Models in West Africa in Abuja on Monday.

The theme of the forum is “Strengthening Safe, Orderly, and Market-Linked Livestock Mobility through Evidence, Cross-Regional Learning, and Investment Partnership.”

Mr Salih was represented by Ahmed Elbeltagy, the policy pillar lead, African Pastoral Markets Development.

He said that stakeholder assessments have demonstrated the value of cross-regional learning and underscored the importance of moving beyond isolated interventions toward integrated corridor-based approaches.

”Importantly, this forum has shifted the conversation from policy compliance alone to economic opportunity.

“This forum has reaffirmed an important truth: pastoral livestock mobility, when governed, supported, and linked to markets, is not a liability.

“It is a strategic asset for regional integration, food security, and inclusive economic growth,” he said.

Mr Salih said that one of the most significant outcomes of the forum was the collective progress made toward the 2026–2028 Market-Linked Transhumance Roadmap.

“The Regional Partnership Matrix developed here is not an endpoint but a living instrument that must now be operationalised, monitored, and strengthened through sustained collaboration,” he said.

He said the forum reinforces AU-IBAR’s mandate under the African Pastoral Markets Development (APMD) Platform: to support harmonisation across regions and to promote evidence-based policy implementation and reform.

Mr Salih said the mandate also sought to catalyse investment ecosystems that make pastoral livestock mobility safer, more productive, and more resilient in the face of climate, security, and market pressures.

Baschirou Demsa, a livestock expert from Cameroon, said livestock contributed significantly to the gross domestic product (GDP) of African countries, but not to investment.

He said there are no boundaries for livestock and pastoralism, as transhuman issues are cross-border.

”This is an issue that will be taken as a holistic approach, an ecosystemic approach from West Africa to East Africa and through Central Africa.

”So that’s why we want to solve the security problem, the disease problem, and the climate change problem, to address all the issues that pastoralists are facing,” he said.

Jimmy JohnMark, programme officer for Livestock Development, Pastoralism, and Transhumance at ECOWAS, said the bloc plans to develop markets in border regions.

He said ECOWAS is deploying artificial intelligence to gather data on lifestyle mobility.

”We are also developing a new programme where we gather data on livestock mobility, on markets, and on livestock data,” he concluded.

(NAN)