CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience; 24 JAN 2023

Photo: Women in the agricultural areas in Casamance, Senegal.

Climate-driven environmental challenges and peacebuilding meet in southern Senegal. Two CGIAR Climate Resilience Initiative scientists discuss the challenges faced by – and next steps for – people reclaiming ancestral land that was scarred by conflict – and changed by the climate.

By Alexandra Krendelsberger (Wageningen University and Research; The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT), Carolina Sarzana (The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT)

Close to the border of Guinea Bissau, two small villages recently started resettling efforts after having left their homes abandoned for more than 30 years. The villages of Bissine and Singhere were among the strongest affected by the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance in southern Senegal in the 1990s. Severe security issues remained until 2021 when de-mining activities by Humanity & Inclusion, an NGO, and the government made the zone safe for resettlement.

Since 2020, villagers in both locations have slowly been returning to their ancestors’ lands, where they found their houses and fields taken over by the native tropical vegetation. Left without any shelter or cleared land, the villagers have been struggling to create basic living conditions including housing, water access points, electricity and communal gardens. The provision of these basic infrastructure needs is fully thanks to the contributions Humanity & Inclusion, which is still active in the area, even after the de-mining was completed. Now it seeks to support revitalizing the communities for humans and nature. Another NGO, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, has been intervening in mediation and building social cohesion to sustain peace and security.

Most of the livelihood activities before displacement circulated around agricultural production and the selling of the produce. The main crops grown were rice, ground nuts, corn, beans and vegetables. Now production has shifted towards watermelon, rice and groundnut. Although current production is heavily focused on cash crops, the villagers are unable to harvest and sell enough to sell at nearby markets to make a decent living.

The lack of revenue is, firstly, because not enough land has been cleared to provide for greater production capacity. The preparation of agricultural land is a tedious process, as authorities for water and forests (Eaux et Forêts) need to provide approval for the clearing of lands as Bissine is directly located on the outskirts of a national forest (the Forest of Bissine, or Forêt de Bissine).

See https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/three-decades-after-being-displaced-by-conflict-senegalese-communities-return-to-find-the-climate-changed-things-too/