Securing land for herders in Niger

Pastoralists in Niger are mobilising in an attempt to affirm their rights to home grazing territories. Their associations will be involved in consultations about the draft Pastoral Code, which should be written over the next three years, and it is their hope that this opportunity to re-examine weak or contradictory points in the legislation will improve the status of grazing lands. This paper describes the strategies used by pastoralists over the last ten years to make their tenure to land and other resources more secure and, by reviewing the law as it stands, asks how best such rights can be reinforced by legislation.