Climate security in the Sahel

Tor A. Benjaminsen

Norwegian University of Life Sciences &

Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

The securitization of climate change

• Climate wars? or

• Climate change as a threat multiplier - One of the underlying factors creating declining food production, increased land degradation, increased health risks, and more migration – and finally more conflicts

The Greening of the Sahel

August 1984

Photos: Pierre Hiernaux 5

August 1985

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August 1988

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August 1989

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August 1992

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September 1999

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Greening of the Sahel1982-1999

Rainfall in Dakar, 1895-2015

A jihad caused by climate change?

Governance

• International view before crisis:• Mali – a poster child for African

democracy

• Internal critical debates in Mali:• Rural peasantry has for decades

complained about the rent-seeking of government officials and courts

• Large-scale corruption seems to have increased from the early 2000s

Why do farmers and herders join jihadist groups in Mali?

• Anti-corruption (judges, government officials)

• Anti-elite (state + traditional elite)

• Calls for a more egalitarian and just society

• Pro-pastoralism

What causes land-use conflicts in the Sahel?

1. Policies and legislation leading to encroachment on dry season key resources, blocking of livestock corridors and the continued marginalization of herders

2. Rent seeking, corruption and lack of trust in state institutions