Securitisation initiatives and the lingering security challenges in Sub-Saharan Sahel region: An appraisal

Informal Economies of the Sahel

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198816959.013.18 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 310-328

Author(s):

Fatou Guèye ◽

Ahmadou Aly Mbaye

Keyword(s):

Informal Sector ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Growth Dynamics ◽

Business Environment ◽

Security Challenges ◽

Informal Economies ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

National Economies ◽

Formal And Informal Sectors ◽

Formal Business

Sahelian countries, while sharing many features of other Sub-Saharan African economies, face some unique economic challenges, which merit particular scrutiny, notably: a sizable demographic bulge, being landlocked, a lower income per head, and a higher poverty incidence. The picture is further darkened by critical governance weaknesses, political instability, and radical Islamist threats, which, as discussed in other chapters in this volume, have caused serious security challenges within, and across, national borders. All these factors have contributed to a downsizing of the formal business environment and an expansion of the informal sector. This chapter assesses the relative weights of the formal and informal sectors in Sahelian national economies, its growth dynamics, as well as employment and productivity patterns. It also examines the implications of the rise of the informal sector for institutions and governance, social inclusion, and stability.

Download Full-text

Kalahari Wildfires Drive Continental Post-Fire Brightening in Sub-Saharan Africa

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11091090 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 1090

Author(s):

Michael V. Saha ◽

Paolo D’Odorico ◽

Todd M. Scanlon

Keyword(s):

Energy Budget ◽

Land Surface ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Continental Scale ◽

Object Based ◽

Negative Surface ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Sahel Region ◽

Almost All

Fire can induce long-lived changes to land-surface albedo, an important aspect of the Earth’s energy budget, but the temporal evolution of these anomalies is poorly understood. Due to the widespread presence of fire in Africa, this represents uncertainty in the continental energy budget, which has important implications for regional climate and hydrologic cycling. In this study, we present the first object-based accounting of albedo anomalies induced by larger (>1 km2) individual wildfires in sub-Saharan Africa. We group spatially contiguous wildfire pixels into fire objects and track the albedo anomaly for five years after the burn. We find that albedo anomalies all have the same general temporal signature: An immediate, brief period of darkening followed by persistent brightening. The strongest brightening is found in the Kalahari region while more intense and long-lived initial darkening is found in the Sahel region. The average southern hemisphere albedo anomaly is +1.50 × 10−3 in the year following wildfire, representing a statistically significant negative surface energy balance forcing on a continental scale. This study challenges an existing paradigm surrounding the physical effects of fire on the landscape. Our results suggest that models of albedo that assume a darkening and recovery to baseline are overly simplistic in almost all circumstances. Furthermore, the presumption that immediate darkening is the only meaningful effect on albedo is incorrect for the majority of the African continent.

Download Full-text

Climate change and human heat stress exposure in sub-Saharan Africa.

CAB Reviews Perspectives in Agriculture Veterinary Science Nutrition and Natural Resources ◽

10.1079/pavsnnr202116049 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (049) ◽

Author(s):

Desalegn Yayeh Ayal

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Heat Stress ◽

Food Security ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Political Crises ◽

Climate Change Risks ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Sahel Region ◽

The Impact ◽

Agricultural Food

Abstract The sub-Saharan Africa region has been affected by multifaceted interrelated challenges including climate change risks, environmental degradation, political crises, demographic, and food security. The region is geographically exposed to and heavily depends on heat stress-sensitive livelihood and economy. Unlike drought, flood, and erratic rainfall, the situation and impact of heat stress are not well documented. This paper summarized the impact of heat stress on various sectors of the Sahel region. The result revealed that exposure to heat stress contributed to water, agricultural, food security, health, and economic adverse impacts in sub-Saharan Africa. The study also shows in sub- Saharan Africa especially in semiarid and arid areas the future impact of heat stress in various sectors is expected to be more severe. The changes and impacts of heat stress are not uniform across the region. For instance, East Africa is at higher risk of acquiring concurrent health impacts. West Africa is projected to experience severe impacts on food production. South Africa observes the strongest decrease in precipitation with concurrent risks of drought. Thus, understanding the effect of heat stress on humans and various heat-sensitive sectors should be the focus of researchers. However, given the degree of uncertainty of the models' results and effect of heat stress in the region, it is important to develop adaptive capacities at different ecological settings that enable the region population to adapt to risk factors related to climate change and heat stress.

Download Full-text

Sectarianization, Identity, and How Terrorism Prevails: The Case of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in the Sahel Region of Africa

Jurnal Sentris ◽

10.26593/sentris.v2i2.5257.166-176 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 166-176

Author(s):

Adzraa Andira

Keyword(s):

Border Security ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Terrorist Group ◽

Al Qaeda ◽

The World ◽

Terrorist Groups ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Sahel Region

Various patterns have emerged as a result of globalization when it comes to controlling the kind of threats that a country may face, particularly non-traditional ones. One of them is terrorism, which occurences concentrated in specific places of the world, with North and Sub-Saharan Africa dominating for a variety of reasons. While there are other operational areas contested by various terrorist groups, the Sahel is one of the most well-known, with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) being one of the most infamous terrorist groups. Legacies of weak and corrupt governments and institutions, unenforced border security, historical disadvantages, and crippled economies may serve as catalysts for such groups' growing influence, but this paper would argue that the use of sectarianism as a tool of identity mobilization is one of the reasons for AQIM's prevalence as a terrorist group.

Download Full-text

Accelerating improvements in nutritional and health status of young children in the Sahel region of Sub-Saharan Africa: review of international guidelines on infant and young child feeding and nutrition

Maternal and Child Nutrition ◽

10.1111/j.1740-8709.2010.00306.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 6-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Sara E. Wuehler ◽

Sonja Y. Hess ◽

Kenneth H. Brown

Keyword(s):

Health Status ◽

Young Child ◽

Young Children ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Child Feeding ◽

International Guidelines ◽

Young Child Feeding ◽

Infant And Young Child ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Sahel Region

Download Full-text

Comparative Study of Cowpea Storage Technologies in the Sahel Region of Niger

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11100689 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 689

Author(s):

Ousmane N. Bakoye ◽

Baoua Ibrahim ◽

Haoua Seyni ◽

Laouali Amadou ◽

Larry L. Murdock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Callosobruchus Maculatus ◽

Insect Pests ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Stored Grain ◽

Weight Losses ◽

Grain Damage ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Sahel Region ◽

Storage Technologies

Cowpea stored on smallholders’ farms suffers serious losses to insect pests. A study conducted in Niger compared five postharvest technologies marketed in sub-Saharan Africa to protect stored grain. Naturally-infested cowpea stored for eight months showed adult Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) mortality of 97% to 100% in the hermetic bags (PICSTM, SuperGrainbagTM, AgroZ®, EVAL™, and ZeroFly® bags). There was no change in grain damage and weight loss of cowpea stored in hermetic bags. There was, however, a loss of up to 10 to 16% in germination when the grain was stored in hermetic bags. Results observed for grain stored in ZeroFly® bags impregnated with deltamethrin were substantial and similar to those in control woven bags. In both ZeroFly® and woven bags, (1) adult C. maculatus population augmented by 35.7% and 78.6%, (2) increased weight losses of 27.3% and 25.2%, and (3) reduced germination of 37.0% and 28.8%, respectively. After opening the bags, abrasions were noted on the liners of hermetic bags, potential damage that could limit their reuse if they only have a single liner. Smallholder farmers in the Sahel can safely store their cowpea in all the hermetic bags tested. However, further research is needed to mitigate insect damage on liners of hermetic bags to improve their performance and reusability.

Download Full-text

RTS,S/AS01, a vaccine targeting pre-erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum

Emerging Topics in Life Sciences ◽

10.1042/etls20170101 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (6) ◽

pp. 533-537

Author(s):

Lorenz von Seidlein ◽

Borimas Hanboonkunupakarn ◽

Podjanee Jittmala ◽

Sasithon Pukrittayakamee

Keyword(s):

Protective Efficacy ◽

Age Groups ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Phase Iii ◽

European Medicines Agency ◽

Older Children ◽

Pivotal Phase ◽

Malaria Epidemiology ◽

Maximum Benefit ◽

Sub Saharan

RTS,S/AS01 is the most advanced vaccine to prevent malaria. It is safe and moderately effective. A large pivotal phase III trial in over 15 000 young children in sub-Saharan Africa completed in 2014 showed that the vaccine could protect around one-third of children (aged 5–17 months) and one-fourth of infants (aged 6–12 weeks) from uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The European Medicines Agency approved licensing and programmatic roll-out of the RTSS vaccine in malaria endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. WHO is planning further studies in a large Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme, in more than 400 000 young African children. With the changing malaria epidemiology in Africa resulting in older children at risk, alternative modes of employment are under evaluation, for example the use of RTS,S/AS01 in older children as part of seasonal malaria prophylaxis. Another strategy is combining mass drug administrations with mass vaccine campaigns for all age groups in regional malaria elimination campaigns. A phase II trial is ongoing to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the RTSS in combination with antimalarial drugs in Thailand. Such novel approaches aim to extract the maximum benefit from the well-documented, short-lasting protective efficacy of RTS,S/AS01.

Download Full-text