This study examines extreme precipitation trends across Burkina Faso's Sahelian, Sudano-Sahelian, and Sudanian zones from 1991 to 2023, amid growing hydro-climatic variability in West Africa. The aim is to determine whether changes in rainfall extremes reflect gradual trends, structural shifts, or both. Three indices were analyzed: maximum 1-day precipitation (RX1day), maximum consecutive 5-day precipitation (RX5day), and the Simple Daily Intensity Index (SDII), using a non-parametric framework combining Mann - Kendall trends, Sen's slope, and Pettitt change-point tests (p < 0.05), with spatial patterns mapped via GIS. Results show a latitudinal contrast. In the Sahelian zone, Dori recorded a significant SDII change in 2004 (p = 0.040) followed by increasing intensity. The Sudano-Sahelian zone exhibits the strongest signal: Ouagadougou shows upward trends in RX5day and SDII with a structural break in 2006. The Sudanian zone remains stable, dominated by interannual variability. Overall, climate change manifests mainly through intensified rainfall energy and multi-day accumulations. The 2004-2006 period marks a national hydro-climatic turning point, emphasizing rising flood risks in central urban areas.
Research shows the use of trees by farmers in agroforestry systems improves household nutrition consistent with local culture and food traditions. Additionally, it enhances climate change adaptation while contributing to environmentally friendly agricultural products. Nonetheless, some scientists argue that trees reduce soil moisture content in agricultural settings and that associated water demand could effectively compete with crops over limited available moisture. This research explored these competing claims in the context of Burkina Faso through the lens of farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR). To assess FMNR's impacts on soil moisture, a citizen science approach was used to collect soil matric potential data and measure crop yield near and away from trees using the crop-cutting technique. Results demonstrate that FMNR increases soil water availability and crop yield. Trees significantly increased soil moisture throughout the growing season, and crop yields were consistently higher in the canopy zone compared to outside it. These findings highlight FMNR as a sustainable strategy for managing water resources and boosting agricultural productivity. Beyond improving resilience to climate variability, FMNR contributes to addressing food insecurity and water scarcity in Burkina Faso, underscoring its importance as a nature-based solution for sustainable development.
This study investigates the relationship between neighborhood income levels and urban green space provision in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana, through an environmental justice lens. Using a mixed-methods design, it integrates GIS-based spatial analysis with household surveys and interviews of urban planning officials. Satellite imagery enabled mapping and quantification of green spaces via Percent of Urban Green Space (PercUGS) for extent and UGS Patch Density (UGS PD) for fragmentation patterns across neighborhoods. The results show that high-income neighborhoods, particularly Nhyiaeso, have larger and less fragmented green spaces, with a PercUGS value of 75.15%. In contrast, lower-income neighborhoods such as Ayigya and Gyinyase have smaller and more fragmented green spaces, with PercUGS values of 32.25% and 36.98%, respectively. These patterns indicate inequalities in the availability and distribution of green spaces, which are linked to differences in planning control, land management, and enforcement across neighborhoods. The study concludes that urban green space provision in the Kumasi Metropolis is shaped by socio-economic conditions, resulting in environmental inequalities. The findings suggest the need to strengthen planning and governance systems to ensure a more equitable distribution and sustainable management of green spaces.
Student populations are major trip generators in urban areas, yet empirical evidence on travel behavior and green mobility in Ugandan university contexts remains limited. This study examines mode choice and sustainable travel potential among students at Kampala International University (KIU), drawing on a survey of 383 respondents. Descriptive statistics and a Multinomial Logit (MNL) model were used to identify mode choice determinants. Results show that distance, travel time, cost, income, age, gender, and residential location significantly influence travel behavior. Students living farther from campus favor motorcycles and minibuses over cycling. Higher travel costs reduce private car and motorcycle use, increasing reliance on walking and shared transport. Higher-income students tend to drive alone, while lower-income students walk or use public transport. Male students are more likely to drive, cycle, or use motorcycles than females, and younger students walk more than older peers. Despite low satisfaction with walking and minibus services, students show willingness to shift toward sustainable modes if infrastructure and service reliability improve. The study concludes that targeted parking policies, improved walking and cycling infrastructure, and integrated land-use and transport planning are essential for promoting sustainable mobility at Ugandan universities.
Heavy seasonal rainfall in Eritrea generates substantial runoff, accelerating topsoil loss, particularly on deforested and poorly managed slopes. This study evaluates and maps the soil erosion risk in the Tsmieti catchment, within Nu & egrave;s Zoba (sub-region) of Adi Quala, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) integrated with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The results indicated that annual soil loss ranges from 0 to 78 t ha(-1) yr(-1), with a mean of 13.56 t ha(-1) yr(-1). Approximately 34% of the catchment exceeds the tolerable erosion limit (11 t ha(-1) yr(-1)). High (11-17 t ha(-1) yr(-1)), very high (17-36 t ha(-1) yr(-1)), and extreme (>36 t ha(-1) yr(-1)) erosion classes account for 9%, 15%, and 10% of the area, respectively. Cropland constitutes the largest area subjected to elevated erosion rates, accounting for 17.85%. Class-wise, grazing and degraded bare lands are facing erosion rates exceeding the tolerable limit in over half of their respective areas. Slope gradient exerts a dominant influence on soil erosion rates, whereas rainfall exhibits no clear spatial pattern, suggesting localized spatial variability. The results provide an erosion risk map for prioritizing conservation measures, facilitating targeted land management interventions, and supporting resource planning in the Tsmieti catchment.
Land tenure arrangement is of great importance in the selection of climate-smart technologies to maintain environmental protection, productivity, and economic growth. This study examines the impact of socio-economic factors and land tenure arrangements on the adoption of climate-smart technologies among maize farmers in Nigeria, utilizing the probit model and a multi-stage sampling technique from 120 farmers. The findings show that key technologies, such as improved seeds, inorganic fertilizers, maize-legume intercropping, and pest-disease control, are commonly adopted by farmers, with tenure length and security significantly influencing adoption rates. Specifically, farmers with longer tenure lengths were more likely to adopt sustainable technologies, while those with insecure tenure tended to favor short-term solutions. Other factors such as age, farming experience, education, farm size, and marital status were also significant determinants. Thus, intensive farmers' education and sensitization about climate-smart technologies are essential for inclusive adoption. The government must be intentional about youth-friendly policies to make climate-smart technologies appealing to farmers.
South Africa faces increasing and recurring floods that cause severe socio-economic and infrastructural damage. While robust disaster governance mechanisms exist at national and provincial levels, there is a limited understanding of how these translate into localized adaptation actions at household and municipal levels. This study examined flood adaptation actions in Vhembe District and assessed alignment between community needs and municipal strategies. The study used a mixed-methods approach comprising structured questionnaires (n = 93), key informant interviews (n = 6), and policy document reviews. Results indicate that household responses before, during, and after floods are uncoordinated and limited by resource constraints. Although a comprehensive policy framework exists to guide actions from the national to the local level, it fails to translate into consistent local action. Bottlenecks in early warning information dissemination, poor drainage maintenance, and inadequate community engagement undermine policy effectiveness. Municipal efforts focus predominantly on post-flood recovery, such as relief distribution, providing temporary shelter, and counselling, rather than on flood preparedness. However, a holistic implementation of policies is needed to equip households with disaster preparedness resources and practical emergency skills to enhance their resilience. Municipalities must also implement robust early warning systems and maintain infrastructure, supported by adequate funding, accountability, and monitoring mechanisms from local government.
Industrialized mining and oil drilling have engendered profound infrastructural and environmental violence throughout Africa in the twentieth century. Rapacious resource extraction has resulted in toxic wastelands, land dispossession, and jeopardized well-being. As ways of resisting extractive violence and longstanding environmental dispossession, some communities have made attempts to repossess and 'legitimize' the natural resources in their localities through practices of artisanal extraction. Drawing from examples of jerabos mining waste dumps on the Zambian Copperbelt and kpo fire crude oil refining in the Niger Delta, this article conceptualizes these artisanal practices as a form of environmental resistance to pervasive extractive violence. Through ethnographic, archival, and newspaper sources, we analyze the politics of environmental resistance in extractive geographies, focusing on how communities interact with, respond to, and resist infrastructural violence. Adopting an historical approach, the article shows the interdependencies and tensions between industrial and artisanal forms of resource extraction. While artisanal extraction emerged as a form of environmental resistance, it ultimately deepens the environmental crisis in these localities. We contribute to debates in political ecology and the environmental humanities by deconstructing artisanal mining and oil drilling as forms of environmental resistance to global capitalist extractivism.
Flooding is a major environmental hazard affecting rural communities in Botswana, yet little empirical work has examined its spatial drivers or incorporated local knowledge into assessments. This study modelled flood hazard levels in Gweta village by integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Participatory GIS (PGIS) to produce a community validated hazard map. Seven factors including elevation, slope, soil type, land use and land cover, population density, rainfall, and flow direction were standardized and weighted using AHP, with elevation (35%) and slope (23.7%) emerging as the most influential. The composite hazard map shows that about one third of Gweta, particularly the western area, falls within high to very high hazard zones. PGIS sessions corroborated these patterns, highlighting inadequate drainage, shallow water tables, and settlement encroachment into natural flow paths as key contributors to vulnerability. Findings demonstrate that flood risk in Gweta results from interactions between terrain characteristics and historical settlement patterns. Integrating community knowledge with spatial modelling improved the accuracy and relevance of the hazard assessment. The study recommends targeted structural improvements, strengthened land use planning, and hybrid early warning strategies that combine indigenous indicators with accessible technologies.
Geographers continue to analyze the politics of forest carbon offset projects, often emphasizing local-global and global North-Global South spatialities. Regional spatiality of the forest carbon economy remains largely unexplored, despite the analytical opportunities it offers. Drawing on analysis of data from ten (10) carbon offset registries, we map the uneven regional geographies of forest carbon offset projects (or REDD+ type projects) in West Africa. We found that private actors dominate West African carbon forestry projects, and more than half of the project proponents are based or headquartered outside Africa. The majority of carbon offset buyers are based in Europe, where companies in the Engineering, Manufacturing, and Construction sectors top the list. In addition to the much-analyzed Global North-South and local-global spatialities underpinning forest carbon offset projects, our study highlights the regional histories, politics, and socioecologies that also shape the dynamics of these projects in West Africa. We demonstrate that carbon forestry initiatives should be understood as space-making relations and processes that are reconstituting the West African region through the uneven distribution of influence over carbon, forests and land. Spatially explicit regional analyses of REDD+ are crucial for deepening our understanding of forest carbon politics as actors pursue net-zero agendas globally.
This study examines the socioeconomic and cultural impacts of mining-induced resettlement in Biung, Digare-Accra and Gbani in Ghana's Talensi District, an area witnessing extensive mineral extraction. While mining is central to Ghana's economic development, it often disrupts the lives and livelihoods of local populations through forced land dispossession and poorly managed resettlement processes. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork conducted in 2024 in communities affected by Cardinal Namdini Mining Ltd and Earl International, the study employs in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and community observations to examine lived experiences of displacement, livelihood loss and erosion of social networks and ecology-based cultural practices, interpreted through a decolonial analytical lens. Findings reveal a marked disjuncture between policy frameworks and the lived experience of resettled populations. Despite global and national safeguards, resettled communities endure inadequate amenities, harsh living conditions, diminished livelihoods and weak institutional support. Situating these findings within colonial and neocolonial critiques of extractive political economies, the paper demonstrates how involuntary resettlement or dislocation undermines community resilience, produces infrastructural violence and sustains imperial legacies in Ghana's mining sector. By foregrounding community perspectives, this paper calls for decolonial alternatives to mineral governance and extraction that prioritize social justice and cultural continuity.
Climate change threatens agricultural productivity, especially among smallholder maize farmers in Nigeria. Although climate change adaptation strategies (CCAS) are promoted, evidence on adoption dynamics and income effects remains limited. This study analyzes the determinants of CCAS adoption and its income impacts using advanced econometric methods. Data from 300 maize farmers, selected through multistage sampling across major producing regions, were used. Adoption decisions and intensity were estimated with a Hurdle Negative Binomial model, while income effects across the distribution were assessed using an Instrumental Variable Quantile Treatment Effect (IV-QTE) model to address endogeneity. Results show that gender, age, household size, income, awareness, and access to meteorological information significantly influence adoption decisions. Adoption intensity is mainly driven by household size, farm size, weather information, revenue, and extension access. IV-QTE estimates indicate that CCAS adoption significantly increases net farm income, with the largest gains among lower- and middle-income farmers. The findings highlight the importance of information and institutional support. The study recommends strengthening extension services, improving timely weather information access, and expanding credit-linked training programs to enhance adoption and farmer resilience.
This study examines how climate affects farm-type selection and agricultural income per capita, drawing on 14,800 observations from five African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda. By employing three empirical models, we aim to find the mechanisms driving these interactions. First, an ordered probit model explores the factors influencing farm-type selection, reflecting ecological and socio-economic trade-offs. Second, a Ricardian model quantifies the effect of climate variables on farm income, linking climatic factors to productivity and land use. Finally, an augmented inverse-probability weighting model analyzes the relationship between farm types and income, providing insights into how farming practices shape and are shaped by ecological processes. The findings highlight that factors such as the household head's sex, urbanization level, country of residence, and access to information significantly shape farm-type selection and income. Moreover, the study reveals that African farmers respond to long-term temperature and rainfall changes by transitioning from mixed crop-livestock systems, recognized for their profitability and ecological diversity, to more specialized crop or livestock production. Therefore, research and development policies must prioritize strengthening the resilience of mixed crop-livestock systems through investments in climate-smart technologies, extension and information services, and targeted support for vulnerable groups.
Migration has long shaped agrarian livelihoods in Northern Ghana, where north - south mobility is a key strategy for managing environmental risk, economic precarity, and uneven development. Although previous studies show that migrant households often benefit from remittances and improved agricultural investment, less is known about how migration reshapes who gains access to agricultural services and under what structural conditions. Drawing on a mixed-methods study of 2107 agrarian households and 56 qualitative interviews and focus group discussions in the Upper West and Savannah regions, this paper examines how migration intersects with gender relations, regional inequalities, and institutional arrangements to structure access to agricultural services. Binary logistic regression and thematic analysis reveal that migrant households are more likely to access improved seeds, fertilizer, and markets, but these advantages are unevenly distributed. Women's agricultural responsibilities increase in the context of male outmigration, yet persistent gendered barriers to extension services, credit, and market participation remain. Framed through a feminist political ecology lens, the study demonstrates that migration reorganizes rather than resolves agrarian inequality. The paper advances debates on migration and rural transformation in Northern Ghana by moving beyond remittance-centered explanations to show how mobility reproduces differentiated access to agricultural services across gender, household, and region.
This paper examines how sea level rise and coastal erosion are reshaping emotional geographies, cultural attachments, and grassroots adaptation strategies in two frontline communities - Fuveme and Atiteti - in Ghana's eastern coast. While prior research has documented the physical and socio-economic impacts of erosion in West Africa, less attention has been paid to how coastal change is emotionally experienced, gendered, and narrated by communities themselves. Through a qualitative, phenomenological approach involving in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, transect walks, and key informant interviews, the study interrogates how place-based memories, spiritual meanings, and informal responses are reorganized in the face of environmental rupture. Drawing on the socio-ecological resilience framework, the concept of solastalgia, and climate justice theory, the findings reveal a complex interplay of place-based grief, gendered emotional loss, improvisational adaptation, and perceived institutional abandonment. The study contributes to climate adaptation scholarship by foregrounding experiential knowledge and affective responses that remain underexplored in policy frameworks. It argues for more inclusive adaptation pathways that recognize not only physical risk but also emotional dislocation and the symbolic erosion of home.
Extreme waves pose severe threats to coastal infrastructure and communities, yet their long-term patterns and risks remain understudied in vulnerable regions. Here, we present a comprehensive 30-year analysis (1992-2022) of extreme wave events along the West African coast, leveraging high-resolution WAVERYS significant wave height (Hs) data. Focusing on four critical coastal zones; Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo/Benin, and Nigeria, we employed the Peaks Over Threshold method and Generalized Pareto Distribution to model exceedances above the 99th percentile Hs threshold. Our analysis revealed 113 extreme events in Ivory Coast, 102 in Ghana, 105 in Togo/Benin, and 114 in Nigeria, with Hs (duration) reaching 3.18 m (87 hours), 3.04 m (48 hours), 3.22 m (57 hours), and 3.04 m (126 hours) extremes, respectively. Notably, we identified a strong correlation between extreme Hs magnitudes and prolonged durations, suggesting compounding hazards for coastal systems. Our derived 100-year return level maps provide unprecedented spatial risk quantification, highlighting regions most susceptible to severe wave impacts. These findings advance the predictive understanding of extreme wave climatology in West Africa and offer actionable insights for resilient coastal engineering, disaster preparedness, and climate adaptation policies.
