Climate & Peace Dispatch With CGIAR’s West Africa Hub
The interview outlines how climate change and insecurity in West Africa increasingly reinforce one another, creating a cycle that erodes livelihoods, weakens governance, and fuels the expansion of armed groups. Climate pressures such as erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and land degradation intensify competition over land, water, forests, and grazing corridors, especially in areas already marked by political exclusion and fragile institutions. In turn, insecurity disrupts markets, mobility, and natural resource governance, deepening vulnerability.
CGIAR responds to these intertwined risks through tools like the Climate Security Observatory, the Climate-Conflict Pressure Index, and new conflict-sensitivity guidelines. A forthcoming Fragility and Conflict-Sensitivity Hub aims to embed peace-responsive approaches across CGIAR’s work by providing practical toolkits, analytical support, and a community of practice.
The interview highlights persistent challenges: data gaps, scale mismatches, and the complexity of linking climate, governance, and socio-economic dynamics. It also underscores disconnects between national strategies, regional frameworks, and the daily realities of communities facing climate stress.
Despite these obstacles, emerging innovations offer promise. Predictive early warning systems, improved climate information services, and conflict-sensitive nature-based solutions can help stabilize livelihoods and reduce risks. Ultimately, resilience will depend on integrated approaches that link climate adaptation, conflict prevention, food security, and inclusive governance.