Climate change and sustainable management of agro-pastoral dams in the department of ouangolo: From water scarcity to inter-community tensions

Abstract

Climate change is currently posing a challenge to social cohesion in rural communities in Côte d'Ivoire, given the social upheavals it has caused. In Ouangolo, for example, the perfect cohabitation between Fulani herders and indigenous farmers is gradually being called into question by the adverse effects of climate change. The small hydraulic dams are drying up, creating social divisions as a result of conflicts of interest over their control. It is this issue that this study addresses. It is based on a qualitative approach and requires the use of Alain Touraine's sociological action theory. In the end, it emerged that climate change has led to a reduction in Ouangolo's water resources, to the point where the last water points are now the subject of covetousness between the local farmers and Fulani herders. Each party wants to preserve its access to water resources. The Peulhs, observing the partial or total occupation of the grazing and ox-grazing areas around the dams that they own, make the animals cross into the cultivated areas, destroying everything in their path. This does not leave the locals indifferent. They express their indignation. So, in a context where these watering holes have become an existential issue for these populations, there is a risk of major confrontation over control of the water. In Ouangolo, conflict is a recurring phenomenon between these two players.