Transforming africa's sahel region #westafrica

The Sahel region, a vast arid stretch of land
linking six countries in West Africa -- Burkina
Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal --
is home to some of the most productive
pastoralist communities in the world.And yet,
assailed by a host of climatic, political and
development challenges, their pastoralist way of
life is under threat.
Here, over centuries, some 16 million pastoralists
have perfected the art of survival in the Sahel,
raising sheep and livestock in some of the most
harsh and unforgiving environments anywhere
on the planet. Meat yields fromthe Sahel rival
those from some of the best ranches in Australia
and the United States. Currently, half of the meat
and two-thirds of the milk produced and
consumed in the countries of West Africa
originates in the Sahel.
However pastoralism is facing multiple threats.
These include rapid population growth, conflict,
volatile food prices, animal diseases, and
shrinking grazing areas and water resources.
Combined, these factors are steadily jeopardizing
the survival of the pastoralists of the Sahel.
Climate change is expected to hit Africa hardest. It
is increasingly likely that scientific warnings that
the world could warm by 2°C in the next 20 or 30
years will come true. In such a case, pastoralism
will be imperiled. The effects on the African
continent will be dramatically more devastating
under a warming scenario of 4°C.
Desert and aridity define the Sahel, yet its vast
water resources are untapped. In a region where
farming is the predominant economic activity,
sadly, only 20 percent of the Sahel's irrigation
potential has been developed. Worse still, one
quarter of the area equipped with irrigation liesin a
state of disrepair.
Pastoralism matters for Africa's future particularly
in the Sahel. So does irrigation. Both affect
farming, the dominant industry in the
region,which accounts for one-third and more of
all economic output in the Sahel. This in turn
empowers the women of the Sahel, as women
account for the majority of Africa's farmers.
Supporting pastoralism with more climate smart-
policies; reducing vulnerability to drought,
flooding and other disasters; and raising more
healthy livestock through timely vaccines, are all
necessary to help communities adapt to the
ecological harshness of the Sahel.