Niger

This study examines the geographical and temporal evolution of violence in which pastoralists are engaged. Building upon an analysis of over 36,000 violent events in North and West Africa between January 1997 and April 2020 in which 206 pastoralist groups were involved, this paper provides a regional report on wider patterns of pastoralist violence over the last two decades. Pastoralist violence has both expanded and intensified in the region, as is evidenced by the rapid increase in number of events and fatalities over the past decade. A comprehensive understanding of pastoralists’ roles in this violence is thus crucial to facilitating more effective polices towards sustainable peace.

Cette étude examine l’évolution géographique et temporelle de la violence impliquant les communautés pastorales. Elle s’appuie sur l’analyse de plus de 36 000 évènements violents en Afrique du Nord et de l’Ouest entre janvier 1997 et avril 2020 dans lesquels 206 groupes pastoraux ont été impliqués, pour identifier au niveau régional des schémas plus larges de violence pastorale au cours des deux dernières décennies. Celle-ci s’est intensifiée dans la région, comme en témoigne la forte croissance du nombre d’événements et de victimes cette dernière décennie. Une compréhension plus fine du rôle des pasteurs au regard de cette violence devient cruciale pour des politiques plus efficaces, menant vers une paix durable.

L'emploi informel, défini par l'absence de protection sociale basée sur l'emploi, constitue la majeure partie de l'emploi dans les pays en développement, et entraîne un niveau de vulnérabilité à la pauvreté et à d'autres risques qui sont supportés par tous ceux qui dépendent des revenus du travail informel. Les résultats de la base de données des Indicateurs clés de l’informalité en fonction des individus et leurs ménages (KIIbIH) montrent qu'un nombre disproportionné de travailleurs de l'économie informelle de la classe moyenne reçoivent des transferts de fonds. Ces résultats confirment que les stratégies de gestion des risques, telles que la migration, jouent un rôle dans la minimisation des risques potentiels du travail informel pour les ménages informels de la classe moyenne qui peuvent ne pas être éligibles à l'aide sociale. Ils suggèrent en outre que les travailleurs informels de classe moyenne peuvent avoir une demande solvable d'assurance sociale, de sorte que, si des régimes d'assurance sociale adaptés aux besoins des travailleurs informels leur étaient accessibles, les transferts de fonds pourraient potentiellement être canalisés pour financer l'extension de l'assurance sociale à l'économie informelle.

Informal employment, defined through the lack of employment-based social protection, constitutes the bulk of employment in developing countries, and entails a level of vulnerability to poverty and other risks that are borne by all who are dependent on informal work income. Results from the Key Indicators of Informality based on Individuals and their Households database (KIIbIH) show that a disproportionately large number of middle‑class informal economy workers receive remittances. Such results confirm that risk management strategies, such as migration, play a part in minimising the potential risks of informal work for middle‑class informal households who may not be eligible to social assistance. They further suggest that middle‑class informal workers may have a solvent demand for social insurance so that, if informality-robust social insurance schemes were made available to them, remittances could potentially be channelled to finance the extension of social insurance to the informal economy.

This paper uses network analysis to map and characterise live animal trade in West Africa. Building on a database of 42 251 animal movements collected by the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) from 2013-17, it describes the structure of regional livestock trade at the network, trade community and market levels. Despite yearly fluctuations in the volumes and spatial patterns of trade, the paper shows that regional livestock trade operates on well-established trade corridors as animals flow in specific directions. The study also confirms that livestock trade is structured around several national and cross-border groups of markets that exchange more animals than expected by chance. Close to two-thirds of all animals are shipped internationally, indicating that regional animal trade in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is remarkably cross-border. Finally, the paper finds that the hub markets that concentrate the most shipments also handle more animals and trade with more markets. Additionally, peripheral markets have more defined roles as primarily origins or destinations of animal shipments than markets in the core of the network. Of the nine key markets identified, three are close to borders, highlighting the importance of Nigeria as a livestock consumption destination for regional livestock production.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the gendered impacts of climate change in the Sahel. In particular, it explores the ways in which gender inequality is a critical factor in understanding vulnerability and resilience efforts concerning climate change. It shows that the current climate crisis is affecting livelihoods throughout the Sahel in pronounced ways. In a region highly dependent upon subsistence agriculture and pastoralist livelihoods, climate variability and environmental degradation have made such livelihoods difficult to sustain, the effects of which have broad ranging impacts on social and economic systems. Consequently, migration, livelihood adaptation, social unrest, and political instability emerge from the ecological challenges the Sahel is facing. Those with the resources to respond to and prepare for future climate events will be better equipped to navigate the climate crisis. Unfortunately, those resources are rarely equally distributed at the household, community, and state levels. In particular, gender inequalities within the Sahel pose a very real challenge for adaptation and resilience strategies as states and global institutions make interventions to support at risk populations. The paper then explores what development and state institutions are doing to resolve gender inequity through climate resilience policy, and where these efforts are falling short. The paper concludes with some strategies to improve opportunities for gender equity and climate resilience based on field research within the Sahel.

L’objectif de cette note est d’analyser l’évolution temporelle et spatiale des violences impliquant les femmes en Afrique de l’Ouest au cours des 20 dernières années. Une première partie montre que le nombre de victimes civiles des conflits ouest-africains dépasse désormais celui attribué aux batailles entre le gouvernement et les groupes armés. Le contrôle de la population civile est désormais devenu l’un des enjeux majeurs des insurrections de la région. Cette évolution conduit à une augmentation des violences faites aux femmes, qui sont souvent les premières victimes des luttes identitaires. Une seconde partie montre que les femmes participent également aux actes de violence, notamment par le biais des attentats-suicides dans le bassin du lac Tchad. Ce phénomène est cependant en forte diminution du fait de la perte de contrôle territorial de Boko Haram depuis le milieu des années 2010. En conclusion, la note souligne la nécessité de mettre en œuvre des stratégies contre-insurrectionnelles qui visent primordialement à protéger les populations, notamment les femmes.

The objective of this paper is to identify the manifold security threats confronting the Republic of Niger. It examines if and how various domestic and external actors may exploit Niger’s adverse structural conditions to their benefit and derives possible future scenarios and recommendations for policymakers. Foreign-based jihadist groups such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Boko Haram will continue to threaten Niger’s domestic stability. However, these groups are unlikely to make further inroads into Nigerien territory. The Tuareg community and conservative Sunni groups are unlikely to rise up against the state as both are well integrated into the political and societal landscape. The most viable threat to Niger’s stability is the continued inability of the current administration to translate macroeconomic gains and donor support into pro-poor growth and social inclusion. The increasing use of authoritarian measures against citizens and journalists has the potential to escalate further and to undermine the legitimacy of the government in the long-term.