Resource use conflict in West Africa: Developing a framework for resilience building among farmers and pastoralists

Abstract

Resource scarcity and security are interconnected. The impact of recurrent resource degradation in West Africa is assessed, in conjunction with social and economic factors, showing how these have interacted with conflict in West Africa and its import in other conflict climes. Resource scarcity interacting with economic pressure and political instability, have resulted in the rapid loss of arable lands in the Sahelian region of West Africa, leading to social crisis across the region. Combined, these factors result in increased land use and social pressure and resultant ownership struggles, which generate conflicts in the southern Sahel. Evidences of resource scarcity and resource use conflict across the region are reviewed and analyzed. These interactions are used to develop a resource use conflict pathway model for building resilience among stakeholders in the region. It is suggested that by making more arable land available through land restoration, in combination with implementing poverty alleviation programmes for the poor, more sustained solutions to the socio-economic and resource crisis in West Africa and across the world could be achieved. Key words: Climate change, desertification, economic pressure, land restoration, migration, model, ownership struggle, poverty, resource degradation, security, vulnerability.