The climate and food crisis in the Sahel

At the CFS High-Level Forum Tackling Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Land Degradation through the Right to Food, Hamadi Ag Mohamed Abba, an agropastoralist from Timbuktu in Mali and participant of the CSIPM, delivered a powerful testimonial on the climate crisis in the Sahel.

“Climate is everyone’s business. Everyone must play their part, because disasters occurring in one region can have impacts on others.”

Hamadi described his region, the Sahel, is marked not only by climate crisis but also by daily widespread violence against civilians. He lamented the persistent silence of the international community in the face of these tragedies.

“In the Sahel, violence against civilians is daily. Beyond climate change, violence is destroying people’s livelihoods, forcing them to flee to neighboring countries that are themselves affected by climate change and poverty.”

He highlighted how the region suffers from temperatures exceeding 45°C, low rainfall, drying lakes, and rapidly advancing desertification. These conditions undermine efforts to restore degraded lands and worsen rural communities’ vulnerability. 

He also emphasized the central role of governance as crucial for anticipating crises and protecting communities. In the Sahel, climate change impacts often arrive suddenly and unexpectedly, through droughts or devastating floods, and poor governance prevents the building of the capacity needed to respond.

He identified poor governance as a major cause of the failure of climate adaptation policies. He pointed to the marginalization of local actors, corruption, and diversion of development funds as significant obstacles. 

Hamadi noted that the link between the Rio Conventions, food security, and nutrition also reflects the connection between development and human rights. The more human rights are respected, he said, the more development is fostered.

He also pointed out that despite numerous international instruments adopted by the United Nations, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Rio Agenda 21 (1992), the Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food (2004), the Voluntary Guidelines on the Governance of Tenure (2012), and the Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises (2015), their implementation on the ground remains insufficient. 

In the latter part of his intervention, Hamadi highlighted the massive rural exodus that is emptying the countryside and concentrating populations in urban areas, creating growing pressure on urban resources and infrastructure, and he proposed several concrete recommendations for successful climate adaptation in the Sahel:

• Training local communities on climate challenges and sustainable agricultural techniques, including water management, agroecology, resilient agriculture, and crop diversification;
• Empowering women and youth, who play key roles in natural resource management and whose involvement in decision-making can enhance the effectiveness of adaptation initiatives and curb youth migration;
• Investing in climate-resilient infrastructure such as efficient irrigation systems, weather-resistant roads, and crop storage facilities;
• Promoting renewable energy solutions like solar panels and rainwater harvesting or solar-powered wells;
• Protecting local ecosystems, which are vital for climate regulation; 
• Encouraging farming practices that improve soil health and reduce dependence on chemical inputs;
• Creating climate-specific funds targeting local communities and vulnerable areas, including microcredits for farmers and grants for ecological projects, alongside transparency mechanisms;
• Establishing decentralized governance enabling local communities to fully participate in decisions about their environment.

For more information about the CFS High-Level Forum visit the dedicated website.