Countering climate-related security risks in the Sahel

Authorities in Mali and Burkina Faso are developing national climate security strategies based on research that pinpoints risks and solutions.

In the Sahel, community tensions and ongoing conflicts are increasingly aggravated by prolonged droughts and irregular floods. In response, the CGIAR Research Initiative on Climate Resilience (ClimBeR) has investigated how climate change impacts can cause and interact with security threats in Mali and Burkina Faso. They have consulted national and regional stakeholders to validate their findings and recommend best-bet solutions, which authorities in both countries are set to adopt into their first-ever national climate security strategies.

Farmers, herders, and other rural populations in Mali and Burkina Faso face increasing risks to their lives and livelihoods. Prolonged droughts, irregular floods, and other climate change impacts directly reduce farmers’ yields, harm livestock, and limit access to potable water. About 55 million people are affected by food insecurity, and conflicts continue to escalate across the Sahel.

With the Bamako Declaration, adopted at the first Sahel Forum on Climate, Peace, and Security in November 2023, West African countries committed to pursuing national strategies on climate security. These strategies are expected to become central guidance documents for national governments as they work to counter climate-related threats to peace and security in the Sahel.

When national authorities in both Mali and Burkina Faso kicked off efforts to develop their first-ever climate security strategies, researchers from the CGIAR Research Initiative on Climate Resilience (ClimBeR) offered their support. ClimBeR researchers investigated how climate change impacts can lead to and interact with security threats, and based on this research, they, together with stakeholders, offered recommendations on what climate programs, policies, and finance priorities could foster both climate resilience and security. In Burkina Faso, these insights have already been included in drafts of the forthcoming national climate security strategy and action plan. Similarly, in Mali, ClimBeR’s findings are expected to inform the technical committee tasked with developing the country’s national climate security strategy.

In Burkina Faso, ClimBeR was invited to contribute to a three-phased stakeholder consultation process. It was led by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Sanitation, through its Permanent Secretariat of the National Council for Sustainable Development (SPCNDD), together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Integrated Development Authority for the Liptako-Gourma region (ALG). In three workshops, which brought together more than 50 representatives from national ministries, non-government and international organizations, and the media, ClimBeR researchers contributed research insights and analyses and validated their findings with stakeholders.

Thanks to ClimBeR’s technical support, climate security hotspots—areas where climatic conditions exacerbate conflicts and forced migration—and climate security impacts were integrated into drafts of the national climate security strategy and action plan. Other ClimBeR analyses were also included in the draft strategy, showing how the causes of growing climate-related insecurity include competition over natural resources, loss of livelihoods and food security, migration and displacement, and inter-community conflicts.

In Mali, ClimBeR researchers initiated a stakeholder consultation process similar to that in Burkina Faso, aiming to establish a shared vision for climate, peace, and security. ClimBeR organized a workshop co-hosted by UNDP, ALG, and the Malian Agency for Environmental and Sustainable Development (AEDD). It brought together 50 experts, practitioners, and government representatives, including the Minister of Environment, Sanitation, and Sustainable Development.

At the workshop, ClimBeR researchers presented causes of climate-related insecurity—such as conflicts over water between farmers and livestock herders. Together with stakeholders, they identified practical program, policy, and finance solutions as well as research priorities. For example, Malian stakeholders recommended designing programs that enhance the ability of local communities to cope with climate impacts and security threats. These research-based recommendations are expected to guide the technical committee in developing Mali’s first national climate security strategy.

In both countries, the national climate security strategies have yet to be published, but once finalized, they will provide essential building blocks for the ALG to, in collaboration with partners, develop a regional strategy that can contribute to fostering climate, peace, and security across the Sahel.

“CGIAR’s work has helped strengthen the scientific quality of the strategy. Indeed, the CGIAR team has made considerable contributions by providing solid data on climate-related conflicts in the Sahel and Burkina Faso, which allowed us to identify climate security actions to be integrated into the action plan accompanying the strategy.”

Pamoussa OUEDRAOGO, Permanent Secretary of the National Council for Sustainable Development, Ministry of Environment, Water and Sanitation of Burkina Faso.