Conceptualising eco-violence:Moving beyond the multiple labelling of water and agricultural resource conflicts in the Sahel

Abstract

The conflict over water and agricultural resources within the Sahel of Africa has led to the destruction of lives, property and nature for decades. The extant practice is to label these conflicts with multiple names and conceptualise them as single-issue events. This article illustrates this practice further and highlights some issues associated with such approaches. Existing terms for these conflicts in Africa’s Sahel region are primarily linked to people’s occupations and ethnic identities, distracting efforts to gain a deeper understanding. This view obscures the broad dimensions of these struggles among those competing for water and agricultural resources. Thus, this paper remedies the conceptual gaps by recommending ‘eco-violence’ as an umbrella term for these conflicts and foregrounding the emerging trends of eco-violence within the Sahel region. By referring to these conflicts as eco-violence, we can foster a more inclusive perspective that incorporates social and environmental injustices and political failures as factors related to these conflicts.