This article explores the integration of seasonal climate forecasts into adaptive social protection (ASP) systems in the Sahel. The authors emphasize that communities in the region heavily rely on seasonal rainfall for their livelihoods. By combining climate forecasts with livelihood information, actions can be triggered ahead of shocks, reducing the time needed for needs assessments before delivering a response. The World Bank's Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Programme (SASPP) is highlighted as a major initiative aimed at building resilience among populations facing climate hazards. Mauritania, as one of the six countries targeted by the SASPP, actively participates in this initiative by implementing adaptive social protection systems to help vulnerable populations better cope with climate shocks. The article also identifies challenges, including the variability in the quality of climate forecasts and the difficulty of integrating these forecasts into existing early warning systems. The authors recommend enhanced collaboration among stakeholders, improved understanding of climate impacts on livelihoods, and sustained investment in climate research and services.

Climate change, Food security, Adaptive social protection

The article “Democracy under the threat of security in Africa: the case of Burkina Faso” analyzes the impact of terrorist threats on Burkina Faso’s democratic achievements since 2015. It conceptualizes democracy by encompassing the protection of individual freedoms, the holding of free and fair elections, and checks and balances between state institutions. The study demonstrates that, although terrorist violence has weakened Burkinabe democracy, it is resilient. Far from putting an end to democratization, insecurity opens new perspectives for its revitalization. The article also emphasizes the importance of maintaining the functioning of public institutions and resisting restrictions on individual freedoms, even in times of security crisis.

Governance, Security, Democracy, Transition, Liberté

The article titled "Climate Risks and Food and Nutrition Security in Niger: Mapping Impacts and Resilience Needs" analyzes the effects of climate change on food security in three regions of Niger. The authors identify drought as the main risk, leading to declines in agricultural production, livestock numbers, and the disappearance of valuable tree species. These impacts exacerbate food insecurity and poverty. Factors contributing to the vulnerability of rural households include land degradation, poverty, and the rudimentary nature of agro-pastoral activities. The study proposes resilience benchmarks, classified into four groups (V1, V2, V3, V4), to guide effective responses to climate risks.

Climate change, Security, Food security

The article examines agroclimatic risks affecting rainfed agriculture in western Niger, combining community perceptions and meteorological data. Communities identify early cessation of rains, early-season sand winds, and dry spells as the main climatic risks. These perceptions align with observed data analyses, except for early cessation of rains, where an improvement is noted but remains imperceptible to communities due to climatic variability. Immediate impacts include loss of seedlings and crops, leading to food insecurity and weakened livestock. Although adaptation strategies, such as the use of improved crop varieties and water and soil conservation techniques, are implemented, communities remain vulnerable to these phenomena. The study suggests that targeted adaptation strategies addressing identified risks would help mitigate the effects of climate change on rainfed agriculture in the Sahel.

Agriculture, Climate change

This article explores state formation in the Sahel through the prism of Charles Tilly’s “warmongering” model, with a focus on the war on terror and its impacts. Focusing on Burkina Faso, it shows a dual dynamic: on the one hand, war strengthens coercive capacities and revives the national project; on the other hand, it weakens the state through its patrimonialization and hybridization. The Sahelian context partly confirms Tilly’s theories, but also reveals a distinct state, which moves away from the ideal Weberian model. International security policies and the management of self-defense groups contribute to this complexity, exposing the state to internal and external challenges. Finally, if war accelerates state formation, it also exacerbates sociopolitical tensions and administrative informality.

Politics, Political party, State, Natural ressources, Security, Conflict, Education, Human security, Threat

Jabir Touré's article, published in the Revue internationale des francophonies, examines the efforts of French-speaking Sahel countries in combating terrorism, focusing on the G5 Sahel. Established in 2014 by Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad, the G5 Sahel is an intergovernmental organization aiming to enhance security and development in the region. Despite international support, notably from France through Operation Barkhane, and the creation of Task Force Takuba in 2020, the G5 Sahel joint force struggles to reach full operational capacity. Terrorist groups like the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) have expanded their influence, making 2019 particularly deadly. However, since the Pau Summit in January 2020, improved coordination between national forces and their partners has partially reversed the balance of power on the ground.

Politics, Political party, State, Natural ressources, Peace, Justice, Conflict, Jihad, Terrorism

The article from the Revue internationale des francophonies examines the importance of social bonds between peacekeeping forces and civilian populations, focusing on MINUSMA in Mali. It highlights that traditional peacekeeping operations, centered on aspects such as ceasefire monitoring and population protection, often fail due to the lack of meaningful social interactions with local communities. The author proposes an alternative approach focused on strengthening social bonds, including proficiency in the local language, humanitarian aid, cultural heritage protection, promotion of intercommunity dialogue, and participation in sports and cultural activities. This strategy aims to establish lasting peace by actively involving civilian populations in the stabilization process.

State, Natural ressources, Peace, Justice, Conflict, Social, Threat, Civil Society, Crisis

The lack of pasture space in the Ferlo is nowadays the major concern of herders and various development actors in the sylvopastoral zone. It appears to be the main (re)known symptom, almost habitual, of the cyclical crises affecting pastoralism in Senegal. On the face of it, this situation can be interpreted as a banal ‘tragedy of the commons’, characterised by a significant increase in pressure on the resource, which is itself poorly managed since it belongs to everyone, and whose regeneration is furthermore hampered by both natural (climatic disruption) and anthropogenic (overgrazing, progression of the agricultural front) factors. However, in this situation as in others, the tragedy of the commons is a flawed, even simplistic, interpretative scheme, focusing mainly on the effects of animal demography and community management of grazing land, which are considered to be deleterious. A more detailed analysis of the various factors involved in this "grazing crisis" and the observation of the adaptive strategies of the farmers and the responses proposed by the differents organisations (ngos etc.) supporting the sector (fodder crops, food supplements in particular) lead to the formulation of other hypotheses: the fodder shortage might be the inevitable but underestimated consequence of a long series of interventions in the field of pastoral water supply. Also this crisis might reflect the exhaustion of the entire pastoral breeding model and the beginnings of a profound (and perhaps radical) transformation whose prospects remain uncertain. Rather than a tragedy with an inescapable end, should it not be seen as a turning point for the Ferlo and for pastoralist farming as it exists in the present conditions?

Pastoralism, Livestock, Crisis

This communication aims to analyze the cross-border migrations of women traders in sub-Saharan Africa. To carry out this study, we used a qualitative methodology comprising a semi-structured interview guide addressed to a number of 42 people, with 6 respondents per country. The approaches that are: historical, informality, comprehensive of Max Weber and the comparative method of Durkheim Émile were used for theoretical illumination. It follows from this study that cross-border migrations of women traders constitute a survival strategy and a fight against unemployment. In addition, they weaken the macroeconomy by promoting the flourishing of the informal economy. Thus, they allow the greatest number of vulnerable households to survive.

Political party, Migration, Boundary, Gender, Natural ressources, Education, Women, Trade, Soicial sciences, Researh, Knowlege production