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Regional Review:

In West Africa, indigenous peoples emphasise their historical relationship with the Sahara and their continued adherence to nomadic pastoralist economic and cultural systems and a cultural heritage that predates agriculture in the region.

Groups claiming indigenous status include the Tuareg, Bororo (also called Mbororo and Wodaabe), Tubu (Teda and Daza). The Bororo are part of the larger Peuhl / Fulani language and culture group in West Africa. They are the groups who most adhere to their traditional nomadic culture and identity. Amongst the Tuareg and Tubu peoples there are those who are nomads, and others who live in the oasis, who live in symbiosis with the pastoralists.

The claim for collective rights as indigenous peoples arises from the marginalisation of Saharan nomads, first under colonialism and then later by independent states. The people of the Sahara and its oases are politically dominated by sedentary agricultural peoples living in the South. Other extremely vulnerable groups include the Bassari hunters of Senegal and the Nemadi hunters of Mauritania.

The Ogoni people of the Delta Region of Nigeria also claim an indigenous status in the face of severe environmental disruption caused by oil explorations by Royal Dutch Shell and the subsequent human rights abuses carried out by the previous central government.

From 1991 to 1995, the Saharan region of West Africa was gripped with severe armed civil conflict and extreme human rights abuses. The origins of the conflict can be traced to the policies that exclude nomads from governance and policy making. Other major factors included the vulnerability of nomads during bad drought years, widespread corruption in the government, police and military, as well as ‘racial’ conflict rooted in historic inequities.

Today, there are still unresolved tensions in the region. There has been symbolic representation of nomads in the political systems of several countries, but there has been no serious effort to address the issue of creating substantive democracy that meets the needs of nomads and sedentary peoples, and the ongoing economic marginalisation of the north.

In February 2006, Tunfa Association in co-operation with Mbodscuda, Tin Hinan and the regional advocacy network Tasghalt, hosted a five-day conference for indigenous nomadic peoples of the Sahara and Sahel. (See separate downloadable reports in English and French).

40 community associations from Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, southern Algeria, Chad and northern Cameroon attended the workshop. The conference focussed on the themes of good governance, the Millennium Development Goals, strengthening civil society capacity, and building up regional advocacy alliances and capacity.

In Niger, the end of the armed conflict flared again in 2005. The only Tuareg minister in the government was accused of murder by state officials. This led to renewed tensions north of Agadez, the region where the Tuareg conducted a 6 year rebellion against Niamey in the 1990s. The recent rebel activity carried on for three months but was subdued with substantial American military assistance to the Nigerien army. The United States is providing military support to potentially oil rich countries, including Mauritania, Niger, Mali and Chad. Local governments are using the military resources to deal with internal political issues rather than promoting peace in the region. Activists are concerned about the negative impact that US military assistance is having on the consolidation of democracy in the Saharan states.

For Niger, and neighbouring countries, 2005 was dominated by the drama of the extended drought. Nomadic pastoralists ran out of water for their herds. Government restrictions on the sale of livestock and the poor transport infrastructure meant that both animals and humans were starving. During IPACC’s 2006 mission to northern Niger, many local politicians and nomads complained that international development assistance went to the south where the government has its traditional political strength amongst Hausa, Djerma and Songhai agricultural peoples. Allegedly, much of the food aid was misused and very little got to where it was most needed. Several European signed assistance agreements with the government in Niamey without consulting indigenous peoples or visiting their territories.

In Mali, corruption in the police and military remains a problem for the whole country. It fosters feelings of insecurity and reminds those who were tortured or lost family members during the civil war that they are still vulnerable without secure human rights.

Key issues:

* The Saharan and Sahelian congress in Agadez held a special commission on environmental issues (see downloadable report). Concerns included pollution from petrol exploration on the coast of Mauritania, siltation of the Niger River in Mali, open pit uranium mining in Niger, toxic waste dumps in Algeria and other countries, the gas pipeline through Bororo territories in Chad and Cameroon;
* Food aid needs to take into consideration the situation of nomads, access to water and the ability to sell off livestock before starvation settles in. Indications are that the drought will worsen in 2006;
* The military situation in Mali and Niger remains unstable and many nomad civilians are still traumatised by events in the 1990s. The region urgently needs a truth and reconciliation process to face up to past events and build a better future;
* There needs to be international monitoring of the impact of US troops and militarisation in the Sahara
* Urgent attention needs to be given to issues of education access for nomads that does not break transhumant cycles;
* Governments need sensitisation regarding traditional knowledge systems and the economic viability of transhumant pastoralism;
* Nomads in seven countries have organised Tasghalt, a regional advocacy network;
* Tuareg groups have made alliances with less organised nomadic Bororo - Wodaabe and Tubu groups;
* Burkinabe nomad organisation, Tin Hinan, has promoted literacy and human rights training, as well as women’s livelihood projects.

Dont' know how nomads can be indigenous when they're always moving.

Today, groups claiming to be ‘indigenous’ in Africa are mostly those who have been living by hunting and gathering or by transhumant (migratory nomadic) pastoralism. These are different peoples who have followed particular trajectories of cultural and economic evolution in specific environmental conditions such as the equatorial rainforests, the Atlas, Hoggar and Tibesti mountain ranges, the Rift Valley and the deserts of the Sahara and the Kalahari.
Some Africans may be offended by the idea that one ethnic group should be called ‘indigenous’ and others not. IPACC recognises that all Africans should enjoy equal rights and respect. All of Africa’s diversity is to be valued. Particular communities, due to historical and environmental circumstances, have found themselves outside the state-system and underrepresented in governance. These ‘first-peoples’ or ‘autochthonous peoples’ have associated themselves with the United Nations’ standards on the rights of indigenous peoples. This is not to deny other Africans their status; it is to emphasise that affirmative recognition is necessary for hunter-gatherers and herding peoples to ensure their survival.

The claims to being indigenous in Africa are related to a cluster of characteristics:

• political and economic marginalisation rooted in colonialism;
• de facto discrimination based often on the dominance of agricultural peoples in the State system (e.g. lack of access to education and health care by hunters and herders);
• the particularities of culture, identity, economy and territoriality that link hunting and herding peoples to their home environments in deserts and forests (e.g. nomadism, diet, knowledge systems);
• some indigenous peoples, such as the San and Pygmy peoples are physically distinct, which makes them subject to specific forms of discrimination.

Recent efforts to map Africa’s genetic prehistory are drawing attention to the fact that ‘first peoples’ have a great antiquity on the continent. Africa is recognised by geneticists and archaeologists as the cradle of humankind. Africa has the greatest genetic and linguistic diversity of any continent. There have been major technical advances over the last decade in reading genetic signatures and unravelling prehistory of Africa. Peoples such as the San and Khoe, the Hadzabe, and the various ‘Pygmy’ forest peoples represent some of the oldest gene types on the planet.
Genetics is not the basis of human rights, but it does reflect that the distribution of power between different peoples in Africa is born of a long history and cannot be dismissed.

http://www.ipacc.org.za/eng/home.asp?sPage=/eng/who.asp