Canadian Social Science
The Impact of Climate Change on Forced Migration in the Sahel: Human Rights Perspective (Nigeria as a case study)
Abstract
Climate change casts a long shadow on Nigeria’s Sahel region, driving environmental degradation, disrupting livelihoods, and displacing communities. The consequences are grave leaving the most vulnerable in the society square up against human rights abuses in their search to escape their environmental misfortune. Given this happenstance, this narrative review explores the human rights dimensions of climate change-induced migration in Nigeria’s Sahel region. Anchored by Environmental migration theory, Human rights-based approach, Intersectionality theory, and Governance and policy theory, it investigates the drivers, impacts, and potential solutions to this complex issue. The review sought to identify the environmental drivers and patterns of climate-induced migration in the Sahel, to analyze the impacts of climate change on livelihoods, food security, and human rights in the region, to investigate the specific human rights concerns faced by climate-induced migrants, considering diverse vulnerabilities, and to propose potential solutions and best practices to mitigate the human rights costs of climate-induced migration. The findings revealed that environmental factors like droughts, desertification, and erratic rainfall patterns act as potent “push” factors, forcing communities to migrate and hence can be regarded as drivers. Climate change severely impacts livelihoods and food security, raising critical human rights concerns regarding food, water, health, and education, particularly among vulnerable groups. The review further found that for solutions, a comprehensive approach is needed, encompassing mitigation and adaptation efforts, strengthening legal frameworks for climate migrants, providing humanitarian aid, and investing in sustainable development initiatives. To reduce the problems and challenges faced by Nigerians living in the Sahel caused by climate changes in the area, it is recommended that collaboration and policy action among stakeholders is improved to address root causes and protect human rights and to prioritize equity and inclusion in all solutions and interventions.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Adebayo, A. G., & Oruonye, E. D. (2020). Environmental challenges and community resilience in the Sahel: The case of Nigeria. Journal of Environmental Studies, 56(3), 457–471.
Adger, W. N., et al. (2019). Changing the climate of development: The Sahel and the risk of climatic destabilization. The Geographical Journal, 185(1), 3–11.
Biermann, F., & Boas, I. (2010). Preparing for a warmer world: Towards a global governance system to protect climate refugees. Global Environmental Politics, 10(1), 60–88.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989, 139–167.
Entezari Zarch, A., Ahmadi, H., Moeini, A., & Pazira, E. (2021). Impacts of environmental and human factors on desertification-induced land degradation in arid areas. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 14, 1-12.
Etodike, C. E., Ezeh, L. N., Ogbeide, D. E., & Ike, P. R. (2018). Typical solution to the unemployment problems in Nigeria: The convergence utility of the entrepreneurship models. European Journal of Human Resource Management Studies, 1(2), 130–138. http://www.oapub.org/soc DOI:10.5281/zenodo.1253337
Ezeh, L. N., & Etodike, C. E. (2016). Corruption in Nigerian organizations: Theories & implications. In Proceedings of Annual Scientific Conference of Nigeria Psychological Association (NPA) (pp. 11–14). Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria.
Ezeh, L. N., & Etodike, C. E. (2017). Entrepreneurship models and perennial unemployment: Theoretical paradigm shift for poverty alleviation in Nigeria. In Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary Research Conference on Poverty, Health and National Security (pp. 21–22). Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.
Hermans, K., & McLeman, R. (2021). Climate change, drought, land degradation and migration: Exploring the linkages. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 50, 236–244.
Hunter, L. M. (2010). Migration and environmental hazards. Population and Environment, 32(3-4), 273–289.
I.O.M. (2018). Environmental migration, disaster displacement and planned relocation in West Africa (p. 6).
IDMC. (2022). Global report on internal displacement (GRID). Link
IOM. (2020). The principle of prevention. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). Link
IPCC. (2018). Global warming of 1.5°C: Summary for policymakers. In IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR15) (pp. 3–26).
IPCC. (2018). Impacts of 1.5°C of global warming on natural and human systems (Special Report 15, Chapter 3).
IPCC. (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pirani, A., Connors, S. L., Péan, C., Berger, S., Caud, K., Chen, Y., Goldfarb, L., Gomis, M. I., Huang, M., Leitzell, K., Lonnoy, E., Matthews, J., Maycock, T. K., Waterfield, T., Yelekçi, O., Yu, R., & Zhou, B.).
Nwangwu, N. I., Etodike, C. E., Okeke, H. C., & Nnaebue, C. I. (2021). Organizational factors in job creativity among public university librarians in Anambra State. South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics, 10(1), 34–44.
Nwokoye, C. H., Etodike, C. E., & Mbeledogu, N. (2018). Community-led video creation: Towards complementing reformative programmes for prison inmates. In Proceedings of the 2nd African Conference for Human Computer Interaction: Thriving Communities (pp. 27–34). ACM. Digital Library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3283458.3283474
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). (2006). Human rights and climate change: OHCHR factsheet No. 33. United Nations. Link
Ogunjobi, O. O., Odekunle, A. O., & Olawale, O. O. (2016). Climate change and food security in Nigeria: A review. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 18(2), 139–150.
OHCHR & U.N. Women. (2020). Realizing women’s rights to land and other productive resources.
OHCHR. (2015). Land and human rights: Standards and applications (p. 3).
Okeke, I. N., & Umar, B. (2022). Learning from Nigeria: Climate change, migration, and policy responses in the Sahel. African Journal of Political Science, 29(4), 512–527.
Olagunju, T. E., Adewoye, S. O., Adewoye, A. O., & Opasola, O. A. (2021, February). Climate change impacts on environment: Human displacement and social conflicts in Nigeria. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 655(1), 012072.
Olawuyi, D. S. (2019). Climate change, human rights, and forced migration: Emerging legal challenges in Nigeria. Human Rights Law Review, 19(2), 289–308.
Onafeso, O. D. (2020). Analysis of climate change-induced forced migration in Sub-Saharan Africa. Analale Universitatii Bucuresti. Seria Geografie. https://doi.org/10.5719/aub-g/69.1/9
Premium Times. (2019). Zamfara: 100 killed in fresh communal clash. Premium Times. Retrieved from https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/318676-zamfara-100-killed-in-fresh-communal-clash.html
Rodrigues do Nascimento, F. (2023). Causes and impacts of desertification in the world. In Global Environmental Changes, Desertification and Sustainability (pp. 27–48). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Smith, J. (2021). Agricultural disruptions and forced migration in the Nigerian Sahel: Climate change perspectives. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 22(4), 1024.
U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, UNDROP Art. 17.
U.N. Women. (2020). Gender and climate change. U.N. Women. Retrieved from www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/climate-change-and-the-environment
UNDP Nigeria Country Office (UNDP NCO). (2021). Climate change adaptation and resilience in Nigeria: A review of UNDP’s contributions.
UNHCR & others. (2019). Climate risk profile: Sahel (pp. 6–8).
UNHCR et al. (2020). Forced displacement in 2020. UNHCR Global Trends.
UNICEF. (2013). Nigeria: Floods and landslides - Update 2. UNICEF. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/nigeria-floods-and-landslides-update-2-15558
UNICEF. (2020). Nigeria: Humanitarian situation report - November 2020. UNICEF. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/nigeria-humanitarian-situation-report-november-2020
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). (2010). Report on the first workshop on the impact of the implementation of response measures. United Nations. Retrieved from unfccc.int/resource/docs/2010/sbsta/eng/inf02.pdf
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR). (2006). Human rights and climate change: OHCHR factsheet No. 33. United Nations. Retrieved from www.ohchr.org/en/issues/climatechange/pages/climatechangeindex.aspx
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (1951). Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. United Nations. Retrieved from www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.html
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) & World Bank. (2019). Sahel women’s empowerment and demographic dividend (p. 9).
World Bank Group (WBG). (2018). Global monitoring report 2018: Leaving no one behind. World Bank Group. Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10996/28688
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13313
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2024 Canadian Social Science
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Reminder
- How to do online submission to another Journal?
- If you have already registered in Journal A, then how can you submit another article to Journal B? It takes two steps to make it happen:
1. Register yourself in Journal B as an Author
- Find the journal you want to submit to in CATEGORIES, click on “VIEW JOURNAL”, “Online Submissions”, “GO TO LOGIN” and “Edit My Profile”. Check “Author” on the “Edit Profile” page, then “Save”.
2. Submission
Online Submission: http://cscanada.org/index.php/css/submission/wizard
- Go to “User Home”, and click on “Author” under the name of Journal B. You may start a New Submission by clicking on “CLICK HERE”.
- We only use four mailboxes as follows to deal with issues about paper acceptance, payment and submission of electronic versions of our journals to databases: caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net; ccc@cscanada.net; ccc@cscanada.org
Articles published in Canadian Social Science are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY).
Canadian Social Science Editorial Office
Address: 1020 Bouvier Street, Suite 400, Quebec City, Quebec, G2K 0K9, Canada.
Telephone: 1-514-558 6138
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net; Http://www.cscanada.org
E-mail:caooc@hotmail.com; office@cscanada.net
Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture 
