Home /DESERTIFICATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY . THE CASE OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN FARMERS AND HERDERS IN THE ARID ENVIRONMENTS OF THE SAHEL

DESERTIFICATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY . THE CASE OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN FARMERS AND HERDERS IN THE ARID ENVIRONMENTS OF THE SAHEL

TitleDESERTIFICATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY . THE CASE OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN FARMERS AND HERDERS IN THE ARID ENVIRONMENTS OF THE SAHEL
Publication TypeCase
Year of PublicationSubmitted
AuthorsHerrero, S. Tirado
Secondary AuthorsKepner, W. G., Rubio J. L., Mouat D. A., & Pedrazzini F.
ReporterDesertification in the Mediterranean Region a Security Issue
First Page109-132
CourtSpringer Netherlands
Keywordsconflict and collaboration, desertification, environmental security, farmers and herders, sahel, scarcity
Abstract

Traditional production systems in the Sahel are based on the integration of activities sharing and competing for renewable resources (water and soil fertility) under threat of desertification. A framework of relationships ranking from conflict to collaboration between human groups devoted to agriculture and pastoralism has been developed throughout history and has proven to be successful in sustaining the livelihood of the region’s population. Changes in the economic, social and political structure of the Sahel related to the process of colonization and de-colonization substantially altered the way in which resource scarcity was dealt previously. In a context of widespread social tension and political instability, this is thought to have increased the likelihood of farmers-herders conflicts. In this paper, we explore the worsening security conditions of the rural Sahel in the light of the new environmental security theories, which help to widen the focus of conflict analysis bringing in social, political, economical and environmental issues that were formerly disregarded