Kenya’s Nobel Prize laureate Wangari Maathai confronting hired security forces during a Green Belt Movement operation. (AFP/Simon Maina)
Following are a selection of Africa Center products that track environment-related pressures and their security implications.
Infographic
Record Levels of Flooding in Africa Compounds Stress on Fragile Countries
Extensive flooding in more than two dozen African countries due to higher-than-average rainfall has resulted in thousands of fatalities, millions of people displaced, and devastated infrastructure.
Publication
The Regional Security Imperative to Protect the Congo Basin
Unregulated logging of the Congo Basin rainforests threatens to undercut the livelihoods of millions of households in the region, empower transnational organized criminal networks, and disrupt water cycles in West Africa and the Nile River Basin.
Publication
Recalibrating Coastal West Africa’s Response to Violent Extremism
Coastal West African countries can strengthen resiliency to the threat of violent extremism by enhancing a multilayered response addressing local, national, and regional priorities.
Infographic
African Biodiversity Loss Raises Risk to Human Security
Declines in Africa’s rich ecological biodiversity threaten millions of livelihoods, increased food insecurity, conflicts over land, and transmission of zoonotic diseases that can lead to more pandemics.
Infographic
Rising Sea Levels Besieging Africa’s Booming Coastal Cities
Rising ocean levels threaten dozens of Africa’s rapidly expanding coastal metropolises, resulting in shrinking land area, coastal flooding, more powerful storm surges, and the need for better mitigation.
Spotlight
Illegal Logging in Africa and Its Security Implications
Illegal logging is a growing feature of transnational organized crime in Africa, often facilitated by the collusion of senior officials, with far-reaching security and environmental implications for the countries affected.
Infographic
Cycles of Escalating Threats Facing Africa from Extreme Weather
Reinforcing cycles of unsustainable human activity and intensifying climate effects are exacerbating the threats facing hundreds of millions of Africans.
Infographic
Cyclones and More Frequent Storms Threaten Africa
Storms are increasing in frequency and intensity in Africa, exacerbating other socioeconomic stressors across the continent.
Video
Environmental Strains and Security in Africa
This public roundtable assessed the range of climate-related security pressures on the continent and the importance of incorporating environmental security into African security policy.
Infographic
Extended Heat Waves Threatening Human Security in Africa
Rising temperatures are contributing to more and extended heat waves, a tripling of droughts, a quadrupling of storms, and a tenfold increase in flooding in Africa since the 1970s—exacerbating security threats on the continent.
Publication
The Growing Complexity of Farmer-Herder Conflict in West and Central Africa
The rise of farmer-herder violence in Africa is more pernicious than fatality figures alone since it is often amplified by the emotionally potent issues of ethnicity, religion, culture, and land.
Infographic
Rising Temperatures Amplify Instability in Africa
Rising temperatures are straining livelihoods across broad swaths of Africa, intensifying instability in multifaceted ways. The continent’s ability to adapt to and mitigate these effects will have global repercussions.
Spotlight
Nigeria’s Diverse Security Threats
Nigeria faces an array of security challenges beyond Boko Haram. Distinguishing these threats and understanding their socio-geographic contours is essential for adapting customized solutions.
Infographic
Food Insecurity Crisis Mounting in Africa
Acute food insecurity in Africa has increased by over 60 percent in the past year and threatens to widen further as the effects of COVID-19 exacerbate other drivers such as conflict and political mismanagement.
Spotlight
Combating Desertification in Africa an Imperative for Security
The effects of desertification are widespread and growing worse, contributing to heightened resource competition, conflict, and hunger.
Infographic
Selected Effects of Rising Temperatures on Africa
Africa is more vulnerable to rising temperatures than any other region on the planet. This map reflects a few of the ways the changing environment is straining Africa’s social systems.