In the small Ivorian town of Doropo, just 12 kilometers from the Burkinabe border, the landscape is a stark composition of three colors: a vast blue sky, rich red soil, and the sweeping green of pastures. This serene setting belies the violence that frequently erupts here—illegal gold mining, vehicle robberies, and, most alarmingly, rampant cattle theft that torments the local population.
A herdsman, his brow furrowed with worry and speaking on condition of anonymity, gestures toward the thin oxen grazing among cocoa plants. “You see this herd? It’s worth at least 20 million CFA francs [30,500 euros]. Herds like this one, or larger ones of 100 or 200 oxen, are stolen and taken to Burkina Faso,” he explains.
This is no ordinary crime. According to a report from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), cattle theft in the area doubled between 2023 and 2024. The illicit trade funds jihadist armed groups like the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), as well as the civilian auxiliaries of the Burkinabe army, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP). Both factions terrorize communities in northeastern Côte d’Ivoire, presenting a severe security challenge for President Alassane Ouattara’s government.
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