The loss of livelihood is a powerful weapon against peace and security.

 

The loss of livelihood is a powerful weapon against peace and security.

Diverting from agriculture as the main stay of the economy marked the beginning of climate change crisis from unsustainable practices. In 1965, over 417 grazing reserves were created in Nigeria. In these reserve areas where vaccination programmes, feed, drinking and other practices for the grazing of livestock. Rather it has become a forgotten law that would have otherwise help build a sustainable future for all since fossil fuel has taken the place of agriculture. This is dis-appropriately affecting human security today. Most of those land reserved have been taken over by industries, and housing. In recent times, the main burden of climate change rest on national security.

We should all be worried about the clashes between the farmers and herders since they both depend on water and land; which intercept their needs and dictates their level of survival in a changing climatic condition. Migration of herdsmen and their cattle as a survival mechanism in search of natural resource has failed in recent times as what they share in common (land and water) are now threatened by climate change thereby leading more clashes which becomes a threat to our food system. Now the second school of thoughts that says “migration is a failure of adaptation” is now what it is. It is no longer adaptation but survival of the fittest. So there is a strong  relationship between water, peace and livelihood because scarcity of water can result into conflict and this will disrupt livelihood.

One of the direct consequences of climate change is the depletion of our natural resource. These natural resource are the basic needs for our human rights. Over time climate change is transitioning into inequality issues. One of those things the world should look at for in this decade as to the impact of climate change is the loss of resource control which bears the highest possible means of escalating into real time war if unsustainable practices keep increasing at an increasing rate.

Research has shown that there is a 10-20% increase in the risk of armed conflict associated with each 0.5⁰c increase in local temperatures. Such is evidence in Syria, Darfur and now in West Africa countries. In Africa for instance, 8 out of 10 persons can be bearing the burden of climate change while in western countries, it can only be 2 out of 10 persons. The desert encroachment has stretched from the Sahara into the Sahel and keeps spreading into the Lake Chad region as seen in the inability of the lake to sustain people’s livelihoods in the region.

Loss of livelihood is the most powerful weapon against peace and security in our world today because the “shrinking natural resources” aid survival. It was noted that between 1983 to 1984, famine alone killed nearly 100,000 of these living in its Darfur. In the Lake Chad region, over 10.7 million people has been displaced from their livelihoods. In such such scenario, farmers’ displacement will definitely affect food security. Worldwide, women and girls are known to devote million hours each day to get water for household use.

We all need to act fast and now because we have to win this race. The COP26 is the first of its kind in this decade of action hence bears a lot of responsibilities to deliver ambition beyond negotiations. We must work the talk.