What’s in a Name? Making the Case for the Sahel Conflict as “Eco-Violence”

Jul 15, 2022 | Olumba Ezenwa
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The Sahel region of Africa is a semi-arid, arc-shaped landmass that stretches 3,860 kilometres from Senegal across portions of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and even Sudan. It is also the most neglected and conflict-ridden part of the planet, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.

For generations, conflicts over water and agricultural resources have raged in Africa’s Sahel region. At the heart of the conflict in the Sahel region in recent years is violence between sedentary farmers and nomadic herders.

The author believes that a consistent use of the term “eco-violence” would be more exact, and refocus our attention on the essential elements of these conflicts. Shifting the lens in this way illuminates other (and often ignored) factors that sustain these violent conflicts, such as government failures to address resource scarcity, insecurity, climate change challenges, and primordial sentiments (resource captures). It also better captures the range of effects created by the violence, including mass murder and human displacement, ecological destruction, and social injustices.