Extreme Climate Events and Conflicts in the G5 Sahel Countries
Date
2022
Authors
Ouédraogo,Mahamady
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
Climate change affects population and economic activities dynamic and thereby
puts additional pressure on scarce resources. These dynamics have the potential to
trigger conflicts or exacerbate the existing ones. According to Homer-Dixon (1999),
arid regions in Africa, in particular, are prone to ‘scarcity-induced conflicts.
This policy brief aims to share insights on climate and conflicts nexus with a specific
focus on the G5-Sahel countries. To do so, we use both country and cell level analysis
The G5 Sahel countries are trapped in a complex socio-political environment and
multiple factorsmay contribute to conflicts. Isolating the contribution of each factoris
criticaltodesigning andimplementing conflictmitigationandpeace-buildingpolicies.
The G5-Sahel country members (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) are
experiencing both and increase in conflicts and extreme climate events in terms of
occurrence, and intensity reinforcing the suspicion about any association. Figure 1
shows the of extreme climate events and the number of people affected on the one
hand (a) and the number of conflicts on the other hand (b). We observe an increase
in both events over the last decades.