Ecological degradation in the Chad Basin has triggered Africa's latest humanitarian crisis. It's time, the basin countries looked beyond the excuse of insurgency.
LAST YEAR when Nigeria declared a nutrition emergency in Borno, indicating acute food insecurity in the state, and said the region stands to lose 80 children every day, it caught the world's attention. More than a dozen humanitarian organisations working in West Africa issued a joint statement, saying the ongoing conflict with the jihadist militant group Boko Haram has pushed the number of people facing severe hunger in the region to more than 6 million. In January this year, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien informed the Security Council: “The humanitarian crisis across northeast Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, triggered by the horrendous, violent and inhuman campaign of Boko Haram, is deepening.” The UN has since revised its appeal and called for more funds for lifesaving humanitarian assistance in the region, also known as the Chad Basin. International organisations have also scaled up their response to ensure food security, reduce malnutrition and provide shelter to refugees and internally displaced people in the region.
While almost all the discussions seem to revolve around the immediate crisis, the humanitarian emergency unfolding in the basin has actually been in the making for decades. ªThe recent civil, armed conflict and related security threats only significantly exacerbate the pre-existing regional food insecurity and nutrition problems,” states a World Food Programme (WFP) report, released in 2016. ªWhile the security threats are undeniable aspects of the crisis, recent media and reports (SIC) on the alarming regional emergency situation attributing the crisis to Boko Haram activities, risk grossly oversimplifying the complicated interrelated socio-ecological issues at hand leading up to insurgency in the basin,” it says.
A protracted crisis
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 01, 2017 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 01, 2017 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Trade On Emissions
EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports, is designed to protect European industries in the guise of climate action.
'The project will facilitate physical and cultural decimation of indigenous people'
The Great Nicobar Project has all the hallmarks of a disaster-seismic, ecological, human. Why did it get the go-ahead?
TASTE IT RED
Popularity of Karnataka's red jackfruit shows how biodiversity can be conserved by ensuring that communities benefit from it
MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO
Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.
The politics and economics of mpox
Africa's mpox epidemic stems from delayed responses, neglect of its health risks and the stark vaccine apartheid
Emerging risks
Even as the world gets set to eliminate substances threatening the ozone layer, climate change and space advancement pose new challenges.
JOINING THE CARBON CLUB
India's carbon market will soon be a reality, but will it fulfil its aim of reducing emissions? A report by PARTH KUMAR and MANAS AGRAWAL
Turn a new leaf
Scientists join hands to predict climate future of India's tropical forests
Festering troubles
The Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to contain mpox amid vaccine delays, conflict and fragile healthcare.
India sees unusual monsoon patterns
THE 2024 southwest monsoon has, between June 1 and September 1, led to excess rainfall in western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while others like Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab recorded a deficit.