Beyond any drought: root causes of chronic vulnerability in the Sahel
2007
P. Trench | J. Rowley | M. Diarra
This paper examines vulnerability to droughts in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso against the background of the 2005 food crisis in the Sahel region. The authors argue that vulnerability to droughts is due to a combination of political, economic and social forces as well as the impacts of highly variable rainfall. Given the higher temperatures expected over the next few decades, the authors argue that it's necessary to strengthen resilience in human and environmental systems and help people to adapt. <br /><br />The authors find most vulnerable households among farmers, pastoralists and landless labourers. Those groups have continuously lost assets, including land and livestock, without time or opportunity to rebuild. Children are particularly vulnerable as reflected by high levels of acute child malnutrition. <br /><br />The authors then argue that governments can help people adapt to drought and climate change by: enabling movement across national frontiers and ensuring that migrants can safely send money to their families back home strengthening local institutions to ensure transparent systems for gaining access to land and for resolving disputes between different land users encouraging technical and financial support for small-scale irrigation activity and simple methods to trap rainwater and conserve soils building up grain reserves for urgent needs in case of harvest failure <br />
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