A collaborative project between the Luxembourg development cooperation agency and the government of Burkina Faso is a perfect example of a development project that seeks to address the climate driven causes of insecurity. The “Project for land reclamation efforts towards pastoral usage and in conservation areas” seeks to implement the sustainable management of natural resources and by doing so lessen the vulnerability of livestock owners to climate shocks.
In order to do so, the project has provided for the restoration and securing of over 10,000 hectares of pastoral areas and the marking of livestock rest areas, trails and water points. It has also restored sites and upgraded their capacity through the conservation of hay and sustainable land use. To ensure the long term viability of the project, it has aided the development of income-generating activities that include small-livestock farming and the sale of carbon credits pertaining to the restored land.
Through these measures, undertaken in 22 municipalities in Burkina Faso, including in the Sahel region, the project intends that the restored land will better be able to support the pastoral communities that live there. An explicit aim of the project is that the improved resilience of communities to climate shocks will help to reduce farmer-pastoralist conflict which is prevalent in the region. As such, this is the perfect example of a climate security practice which helps to mitigate conflict by addressing climatic drivers.
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Read more about the project here
Photo by EC/ECHO/Anouk Delafortrie via Flickr