Climate Change and the Struggle for Natural Resources in Africa

Abstract

Abstract: The study examined the negative impact of climate change in Africa that has negatively impacted livelihoods across the continent. The region that was formerly a robust agrarian belt, animated with a culture based on agro-social energy, is fast becoming a shadow of its erstwhile glorious image. It generally explains how climate change and its implications for natural resource use are fast changing the developmental and migratory narrative, as well as conflict, in Africa. The ‘Word System Theory’ was adopted as the theoretical framework to explain the impact of climate change in Africa. Primary and secondary sources were used to generate data for the study. The central thesis is that the colossal environmental degradation in various parts of Africa, including the Lake Chad Basin, has resulted in a struggle over the available, but fast shrinking, natural resources in the region. The numerous crises that have arisen from the struggle to make a better livelihood in the African region also has a contingent effect on other continents of the world, particularly in terms of migratory movements. The inevitable conclusion is that without relevant, creative, functional and sustainable education on greening the environment and effective pollution control the current crises in the region would not abate. It therefore recommended that stringent measures be taken against countries that emit greenhouse gases, and that urgent strategies be introduced to generate employment for sustainable livelihoods as means of curtailing crises in the region.