Download or read book Livelihood Security written by and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Climate Change and Conflict in the Sahel written by Beza Tesfaye and published by Council on Foreign Relations Press. This book was released on 2022-11-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The link between climate change and conflict is increasingly at the forefront of security and development discussions. One place of greatest concern is the Sahel, a region defined by challenging environmental conditions. The Sahel, which means "border" in Arabic, is a geographic region in Africa separating the Sahara Desert in the north from the tropics to the south. The six francophone countries of the western Sahel-Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal-are collectively home to more than one hundred million people. Since the 2000s, the Sahel has been a prime focus of counterterrorism and stabilization efforts by the United States and Europe. Yet, despite multiple military interventions and billions of dollars in security assistance, violent conflicts involving jihadi insurgencies and intercommunal violence have steadily increased over the past decade, claiming tens of thousands of lives, displacing more than 2.5 million people within the region, and placing many more in need of humanitarian assistance. As instability grows and begins to spill over to coastal West African countries, policymakers in the United States and Europe are now looking to understand the structural and local drivers of conflict and fragility, including environmental factors. Climate change predictions indicate that increasing temperatures and more frequent weather extremes will continue to hit the Sahel region harder than other parts of the world. Populations that inhabit the region have, in the past, adapted in various ways to environmental hardships, but the confluence of evolving economic, political, and social factors, coupled with the momentum of environmental shifts, presents new risks. Overreliance on climate-sensitive, agriculture-based livelihoods is a risk factor in the Sahel. Overuse of water and land reduces resource availability over time; as agricultural production falters due to climate variability, food prices increase as food security declines. This phenomenon raises the risk of collective violence. These challenges could lead to heightened levels of deprivation and insecurity; the ability of Sahelian countries to manage these risks will depend on local, national, regional, and international responses. Conflict in the Sahel is primarily rooted in political and governance-related weaknesses. Likewise, effective governance can mitigate and prevent climate-related conflict. A proper recognition of the role that governance and policy play in shaping peace and security is crucial for framing climate security challenges in the Sahel, where institutional weaknesses are as formidable as environmental hardships. Climate change can also act to multiply threats of grave concern to the United States and the West. In the Sahel, those threats include the spread of violent extremism, growing demand for international aid, and the proliferation of weak, authoritarian governance. The United States would be well served to implement policies that try to tackle these issues through international cooperation and promote a more resilient and stable Sahel. This is the eleventh Discussion Paper in the Managing Global Disorder series, which explores how to promote a stable and mutually beneficial relationship among the major powers that can in turn provide the essential foundation for greater cooperation on pressing global and regional challenges. This Discussion Paper was made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.

Download or read book The End of Desertification written by Roy H. Behnke and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-12 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The question in the title of this book draws attention to the shortcomings of a concept that has become a political tool of global importance even as the scientific basis for its use grows weaker. The concept of desertification, it can be argued, has ceased to be analytically useful and distorts our understanding of social-environmental systems and their resiliency, particularly in poor countries with variable rainfall and persistent poverty. For better policy and governance, we need to reconsider the scientific justification for international attempts to combat desertification. Our exploration of these issues begins in the Sahel of West Africa, where a series of severe droughts at the end of the 20th century led to the global institutionalization of the idea of desertification. It now seems incontrovertible that these droughts were not caused primarily by local land use mismanagement, effectively terminating a long-standing policy and scientific debate. There is now an opportunity to treat this episode as an object lesson in the relationship between science, the formation of public opinion and international policy-making. Looking beyond the Sahel, the chapters in this book provide case studies from around the world that examine the use and relevance of the desertification concept. Despite an increasingly sophisticated understanding of dryland environments and societies, the uses now being made of the desertification concept in parts of Asia exhibit many of the shortcomings of earlier work done in Africa. It took scientists more than three decades to transform a perceived desertification crisis in the Sahel into a non-event. This book is an effort to critically examine that experience and accelerate the learning process in other parts of the world.

Download or read book Climate Change Security Risks and Conflict Reduction in Africa written by Charlène Cabot and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-11-04 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millions of people are already affected by weather-related shocks every year in West Africa and climate change is highly likely to increase these threats. In the wake of climate change, rising temperatures, increasingly irregular rainfall and more frequent natural hazards will endanger the ways of life of vulnerable population groups in this region and destabilize their human security. A surge in violence and conflicts could take place. One of the conflict constellations could be between farmers and herders. These groups are highly vulnerable to climate change due to their dependence on natural resources Millions of people are already affected by weather-related shocks every year in West Africa and climate change is highly likely to increase these threats. In the wake of climate change, rising temperatures, increasingly irregular rainfall and more frequent natural hazards will endanger the ways of life of vulnerable population groups in this region and destabilize their human security. A surge in violence and conflicts could take place. One of the conflict constellations could be between farmers and herders. These groups are highly vulnerable to climate change due to their dependence on natural resources for their subsistence. Furthermore, they are historically prone to enter into conflict over issues of access to natural resources. However, social, economic and political circumstances fundamentally influence environmental conflicts. There might thus be opportunities to face the societal challenges of climate change in a peaceful way and the political and institutional framework could play an important role in reducing conflict and violence. In order to explore such a path, this study analyses the potential of political factors (policies and institutions) for the reduction of climate-change-induced or aggravated conflicts between farmers and herders. After a theoretical demonstration, a case study of agro-pastoral conflicts in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana is conducted. their subsistence. Furthermore, they are historically prone to enter into conflict over issues of access to natural resources. However, social, economic and political circumstances fundamentally influence environmental conflicts. There might thus be opportunities to face the societal challenges of climate change in a peaceful way and the political and institutional framework could play an important role in reducing conflict and violence. In order to explore such a path, this study analyses the potential of political factors (policies and institutions) for the reduction of climate-change-induced or ‐aggravated conflicts between farmers and herders. After a theoretical demonstration, a case study of agro-pastoral conflicts in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana is conducted.

Download or read book The State of Peacebuilding in Africa written by Terence McNamee and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-02 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book on the state of peacebuilding in Africa brings together the work of distinguished scholars, practitioners, and decision makers to reflect on key experiences and lessons learned in peacebuilding in Africa over the past half century. The core themes addressed by the contributors include conflict prevention, mediation, and management; post-conflict reconstruction, justice and Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration; the role of women, religion, humanitarianism, grassroots organizations, and early warning systems; and the impact of global, regional, and continental bodies. The book's thematic chapters are complemented by six country/region case studies: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan/South Sudan, Mozambique and the Sahel/Mali. Each chapter concludes with a set of key lessons learned that could be used to inform the building of a more sustainable peace in Africa. The State of Peacebuilding in Africa was born out of the activities of the Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding (SVNP), a Carnegie-funded, continent-wide network of African organizations that works with the Wilson Center to bring African knowledge and perspectives to U.S., African, and international policy on peacebuilding in Africa. The research for this book was made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Download or read book Unpacking new Climate Wars written by Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As violence and insecurity increase and the Sahel situation deteriorates further, understanding the main causes and drivers of conflicts is of growing importance. Recently, the assumption that climate change is causing violence and displacement in the region has become prominent, and this has led to the emergence of notions such as 'climate wars' and 'environmental wars'. This report seeks to nuance this mainstream idea and argues that violence and conflict in the Sahel are caused not by climate change but by the presence of armed groups, jihadist insurgencies and military interventions with diverging political and ideological agendas. While acknowledging that conflicts can be exacerbated by climate change, the report challenges the predominant belief that these changes automatically lead to conflict. Focusing on Mali's epicentre of violence, the Mopti region, the report maps the actors and multiple, intertwined, causes behind the ongoing violence including, but not limited to, the role of the state. It concludes by pointing to the importance of understanding the relationship between climate change and conflict in order to design effective and adapted security, political and development responses, and the need for concerted dialogue with local stakeholders and community representatives as a prerequisite for any attempt to prevent and mitigate effects of climate change in the Sahel.

Download or read book Climate Change in Africa written by Camilla Toulmin and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2009-11-16 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is a major challenge for us all, but for African countries it represents a particular threat. This book outlines current thinking and evidence and the impact such change will have on Africa's development prospects. Global warming above the level of two degrees Celsius would be enormously damaging for poorer parts of the world, leading to crises with crops, livestock, water supplies and coastal areas. Within Africa, it's likely to be the continent's poorest people who are hit hardest. In this accessible and authoritative introduction to an often-overlooked aspect of the environment, Camilla Toulmin uses case studies to look at issues ranging from natural disasters to biofuels, and from conflict to the oil industry. Finally, the book addresses what future there might be for Africa in a carbon-constrained world.

Download or read book Climate Change and Conflict written by Salomé Bronkhorst and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Using a human security perspective, this report identifies and analyses local and international non-governmental organisation (NGO) interventions in cases of conflicts related to the environment and environmental change in the Southern Sahel of Sudan. The research for this report is based on the premise that valuable lessons for addressing conflicts related to the impacts of climate change may be identified from environmental interventions. The report focuses on the Southern Sahel that stretches across Africa and across Sudan; in particular, the state of Southern Kordofan and its neighbours. The report makes a contribution to the emerging body of work on conflict-sensitive climate change adaptation."--Back cover.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of the African Sahel written by Leonardo A. Villalón and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-15 with total page 816 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long on the margins of both scholarly and policy concerns, the countries of the West African Sahel have recently attracted world attention, primarily as a key battleground in the global 'war on terror'. This book moves beyond this narrow focus, providing a multidimensional and interdisciplinary assessment of the region in all of its complexity. The focus is on the six countries at the heart of the Sahelian geographic space: Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad. Collectively, the chapters explore the commonalities and interconnections that link these countries and their fates, while also underscoring their diversity and the variations in their current realities. The Sahel today is at an important crossroads, under multiple pressures of diverse kinds: environmental, political, demographic, and economic, as well as rapidly changing social and religious dynamics. It is also marked by striking dynamism and experimentation, drawing on a long history of innovation and cultural transfer. In many ways the Sahel is today on the cutting edge of grand natural experiments exploring how humans will adapt to climate change, to technological innovation, to the global movement of populations and the restructuring of world politics, to urbanization, social change, and rapid demographic growth, and to inter-religious contact. The region is a weathervane on the front lines of the forces of global change. In nine thematic sections, the chapters in this book offer holistic analyses of the key forces shaping the region. Including scholars based in Africa, Europe, and the United States, the authors represent an exceptional breadth and depth of expertise on the Sahel.

Download or read book The Sahel Crisis and the Need for International Support written by Morten Bøås and published by . This book was released on 2019-10-30 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The crisis in the Sahel is serious and multidimensional, and if it continues unabated it could have consequences far beyond the region. As the states of the region are too poor and weak to deal with this on their own, international support is needed. the current international emphasis on the G5 Sahel should change from a focus on more 'boots on the ground' to support for the development agenda of this embryonic international organisation. The Sahel needs a functioning regional framework and the G5 Sahel has some potential; but the only way to harvest this potential is to help fine-tune it to address the underlying causes of conflict. Improving security conditions in the Sahel is absolutely essential; but neither the inhabitants of the region nor the external stakeholders will find security exclusively through military means. The correct priorities must be set. And at the heart of this there must be an improvement in living conditions and a new system of governance that makes it much less possible for jihadist insurgents to appropriate local land-rights conflicts.

Download or read book Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-12-10 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World Bank Group has two overarching goals: End extreme poverty by 2030 and promote shared prosperity by boosting the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of the population in each economy. As this year’s Poverty and Shared Prosperity report documents, the world continues to make progress toward these goals. In 2015, approximately one-tenth of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty, and the incomes of the bottom 40 percent rose in 77 percent of economies studied. But success cannot be taken for granted. Poverty remains high in Sub- Saharan Africa, as well as in fragile and conflict-affected states. At the same time, most of the world’s poor now live in middle-income countries, which tend to have higher national poverty lines. This year’s report tracks poverty comparisons at two higher poverty thresholds—$3.20 and $5.50 per day—which are typical of standards in lower- and upper-middle-income countries. In addition, the report introduces a societal poverty line based on each economy’s median income or consumption. Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018: Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle also recognizes that poverty is not only about income and consumption—and it introduces a multidimensional poverty measure that adds other factors, such as access to education, electricity, drinking water, and sanitation. It also explores how inequality within households could affect the global profile of the poor. All these additional pieces enrich our understanding of the poverty puzzle, bringing us closer to solving it. For more information, please visit worldbank.org/PSP

Download or read book Conflict sensitive adaptation to climate change in Africa written by Urmilla Bob and published by BWV Verlag. This book was released on 2014-09-08 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In preparation for COP17 (17th Conference of the Parties) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC), the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) in Durban, held a two- day expert seminar to identify issues and recommendations for ensuring that adaptation to climate change is conflict-sensitive ...papers presented during the meeting were peer-reviewed and compiled for this pertinent book." -- ACCORD.

Download or read book Shock Waves written by Stephane Hallegatte and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2015-11-23 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be two unprecedented global achievements and two major steps toward sustainable development. But the two objectives cannot be considered in isolation: they need to be jointly tackled through an integrated strategy. This report brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. It examines the potential impact of climate change and climate policies on poverty reduction. It also provides guidance on how to create a “win-win†? situation so that climate change policies contribute to poverty reduction and poverty-reduction policies contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building. The key finding of the report is that climate change represents a significant obstacle to the sustained eradication of poverty, but future impacts on poverty are determined by policy choices: rapid, inclusive, and climate-informed development can prevent most short-term impacts whereas immediate pro-poor, emissions-reduction policies can drastically limit long-term ones.

Download or read book Environmental Peacemaking written by Ken Conca and published by Woodrow Wilson Center Press. This book was released on 2002-11-13 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eight contributions written by professors of political science, government, and politics as well as researchers and program directors for environmental change, energy, and security projects provide insight into the process of environmental peacemaking, based on their experiences in a variety of international regions. An initial chapter makes a case for the process; successive chapters address the Baltic, South Asia, the Aral Sea basin, southern Africa, the Caspian Sea, and the US-Mexican border. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Download or read book Population Size Concentration and Civil War written by Håvard Hegre and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do larger countries have more armed conflict? This paper surveys three sets of hypotheses forwarded in the conflict literature regarding the relationship between the size and location of population groups: Hypotheses based on pure population mass, on distances, on population concentrations, and some residual state-level characteristics. The hypotheses are tested on a new dataset-ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Events Dataset)-which disaggregates internal conflicts into individual events. The analysis covers 14 countries in Central Africa. The conflict event data are juxtaposed with geographically disaggregated data on populations, distance to capitals, borders, and road networks. The paper develops a statistical method to analyze this type of data. The analysis confirms several of the hypotheses.

Download or read book Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel written by Alexander Thurston and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-29 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers unique insights into the inner workings of jihadist organisations over the past three decades in North Africa and the Sahel.

Download or read book Sahel Climate Conflicts written by and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite routine declarations that connect Sahelian terrorism to climatic and environmental factors, available scientific evidence does not allow us to conclude whether (and what) climatic factors impact (and how) conflict variability and terrorism. This Brief explores why.