Environment-Conflict Nexus in the Sahel Region: Lake Chad as a Case in Point

Abstract

Lake Chad in the Sahel region has emerged as the epicenter of the widening conflict that is, in part, attributed to climate change-induced factors along with natural resource instability and intra-state pressures exacerbated by exploitative past colonial policies. The resulting environment-conflict nexus has given rise to violence, state fragility, communal breakdown, displacement of the local population, the proliferation of violent non-state actors, and a vicious cycle of poverty in countries surrounding Lake Chad. These factors, in turn, have made the individuation, establishing, and sustaining of institutions, and aid mechanisms to alleviate climate-change-related hardships extremely difficult. Furthermore, the environment-conflict nexus has disrupted inter- and intra-state migration patterns in Lake Chad, thereby adversely affecting agricultural yields and water resources. Additionally, there is a limited political representation and inadequate access to governmental services in the worst affected regions, which negatively accrue several contributing factors of the environment-conflict nexus.

The Nexus of Climate and Conflict in the Lake Chad Region: What We Know, Don’t Know and Need to Know

“…Vivekananda et al (2014Vivekananda et al ( & 2019 call this a "climate-fragility-conflict trap". A final point to note here is that, across the Lake Chad region, climate and conflict are tied together in a vicious circle where conflict undermines the capacity to cope with climatic events, with climate making it harder to address conflicts and promote peace (Nagarajan, 2018;Singh, 2022) Switching to how the nexus has evolved with ongoing increase in regional climatic stress where temperatures are rising 1.5 times faster than the global average, more recent studies reveal: heightened rate of forced migration (UNHCR, 2016;Akubor, 2017;IOM, 2019;Kamta et al, 2021;Lamarche, 2022;Tower, 2022); more land use changes (Nwilo et al, 2019;Nwilo et al, 2020); and hike in food prices (Blankespoor, 2020;Pham-Duc et al, 2020;Olowoyeye & Kanwar, 2022). Multiple conflict types (e.g., gender-based violence and violence against children) are happening simultaneously with communal battles and land violence increasing by more than 50% since the emergence of Boko Haram conflict in 2009 (Cole, 2016;Brechenmacher, 2019; UNDP, 2022; Escola de Cultura de Pau, 2023).…”

“…Conflict in the Lake Chad region manifests as a continuum that stretches from latent conflict to visible conflict and armed violence (Griffin, 2020;Frimpong, 2020;Singh, 2022). It is experienced in different forms and types, ranging from banditry, kidnapping and violent extremism to gender-based violence, farmer-herder conflict, land and water communal conflict and rebel violence (van Weezel, 2019;Ferreira et al, 2019;Buba, 2021;Nagabhatla et al, 2021;UNDP, 2021;Oyekanmi, 2022;Lenshie et al, 2022;Newman et al, 2023).…”