Community Location Map
📍 Location: Sahelian Belt & Sudanian Savanna, West & East Africa
Overview & Cultural Background
Sub-Saharan rainfed agropastoralists operate integrated crop-livestock production systems across the Sahelian belt and Sudanian savannas of Africa. Combining seasonal rainfed cultivation of millet, sorghum, and maize with mobile livestock grazing, agropastoral communities flexibly shift focus between crops and animals depending on annual rainfall patterns.
This symbiotic system relies on intricate farmer-herder agreements: livestock graze crop residues after harvest, manuring fields for the next planting season, while farmers provide access to water wells. Innovations in peacebuilding, corridors mapping, and rainwater harvesting are vital for sustaining these African agropastoral economies.
Key facts
- Estimated Population: Estimated 100 million agropastoralists across West, Central, and East Africa
- Primary Livestock Herded: Cattle, goats, sheep, and donkeys
- ️ Contemporary Challenges: Escalating farmer-herder land use conflicts due to crop expansion into dry-season migration corridors, severe climate rainfall variability, desertification, and regional political instability.
Featured Films in the Festival Program
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Catching Raindrops in Africa ⏱ 5 min | 🌍 Sweden / Sub-Saharan Africa | 🎬 Radhika Gupta