SAHEL REGION - INTERNATIONAL
News: The Alliance of Sahel States:
A regional crisis in troubled West Africa
What's in the news?
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On 16 September 2023, the three West African
junta-led countries of Burkina Faso,
Mali, and Niger declared the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States, or L’Alliance des États du Sahel (AES).
Key takeaways:
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On 28 January 2024, they took their pact one step
higher when three national leaders simultaneously declared on their national
television that they would be withdrawing their countries from the 15-member West African regional
organisation, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
effective immediately.
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This undoes the decades of regional integration
work and affects the ongoing attempts as well, which have been disrupted by
several coups.
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As the move would thwart the region’s commerce and
service flows worth US$150 billion annually, some experts have termed this West Africa’s Brexit moment.
Sahel Region:
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It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic
realm of transition between the Sahara
to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south in Africa.
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The term "Sahel" is borrowed from the
Arabic name for the region. Sāḥil literally means "coast, shore".
Location:
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Having a hot
semi-arid climate, it stretches across the south-central latitudes of
Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea.
Countries:
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The Sahel part of Africa includes – from west to
east – parts of northern Senegal,
southern Mauritania, central Mali, northern Burkina Faso, the extreme south of Algeria, Niger, the extreme north of Nigeria, Cameroon and Central African Republic, central Chad, central and southern Sudan, the extreme north of South Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Issues in the Region:
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There are frequent
shortages of food and water due to the dry harsh climate.
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This is exacerbated by the population increasing rapidly due to very high birth rates across
the region.
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Niger has the world's highest fertility rate.
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Jihadist insurgent groups including Boko Haram,
Islamic State and al-Qaeda frequently carry out major attacks in some parts of
the western Sahel.
Climate and Ecology:
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The Sahel has a tropical semi-arid climate.
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The Sahel is mostly covered in grassland and savanna, with areas of woodland and shrubland.
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Species of acacia are the dominant trees, with Acacia
tortilis the most common, along with Acacia senegal and Acacia laeta.
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The Sahel was formerly home to large populations of
grazing mammals, including the scimitar-horned oryx, gazelle etc.
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The seasonal wetlands of the Sahel are important for migratory birds moving
within Africa and on the African-Eurasian
flyways.
Demography:
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Traditionally, most of the people in the Sahel have
been semi-nomads, farming and
raising livestock in a system of transhumance, which is probably the most
sustainable way of utilizing the Sahel.