This report analyses the factors which motivate land use by rural populations and provides a context for any policy or strategy which addresses natural resource conservation in the Sahel. The author suggest that production systems in the Sahel have reached or even exceeded their capacity to respond to the needs of a growing population and further that development aid has only had a negligible impact on the trend to over exploit. It offers a different perspective on issues concerning the Sahel.

The 1968-1974 drought in the Sahel was an unprecedented catastrophe for the region, causing extensive crop failures, loss of human and animal populations, political instability, and the destruction of social and cultural structures. The response of the world to the catastrophe began with food aid donations from the Western nations and led to the fo

'Living on the Edge' examines the function of the Sahel region of Africa as an important wintering area for long-distance migrant birds. It describes the challenges the birds have to cope with – climate change, of course, and rapid man-made habitat changes related to deforestation, irrigation and reclamation of wetlands. How have all these changes affected the birds, and have birds adapted to these changes? Can we explain the changing numbers of breeding birds in Europe by changes in the Sahel, or vice versa? Winner of the BB/BTO Best Bird Book Award 2010 The Jury commented: "It is a tremendous book in every department. It marks a step-change in our knowledge of the ecology of this critically important region in the European-African migration system and of the many species (familiar to us on their breeding grounds) that winter there. The authors combine the latest scientific information with vivid descriptions of landscapes and animals. Their book is richly illustrated with large numbers of drawings, maps and photographs by acclaimed experts. The wealth of coloured graphics has been particularly well thought out and encourages readers to delve into the figures and learn more about the region, rather than having the (all-too-common) opposite effect. Summing up, the jury praises not just the high quality of the texts, the information and the illustrations, but also the sheer pleasure of reading the book: "One of the key attributes of a good book is to be able to grip the reader's attention and transport him or her to another place. We feel confident that [Living on the edge] will have that effect."

Analyzes the politics around military deployments in the Sahel since 2012 from a critical geopolitics perspective.

"Bringing together a wide diversity of authors based on three continents and from different disciplinary backgrounds, this book offers analyses of a wide range of factors that characterize and that are shaping the future of the African Sahel. In forty chapters, organized in nine sections, the book examines this complex and rapidly changing region on multiple dimensions. Collectively, the book attempts to offer an understanding of the specificity of the Sahel, and to examine its core characteristics as shaped by the geographic, cultural, and political parameters that define it. Following a series of chapters focused on the shaping of the Sahelian space as a region, six chapters explore the distinct national trajectories of the countries of the political Sahel: Senegal, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Chad. The extraordinary combination of environmental, economic and political challenges, and the ways in which Sahelian states and societies have responded, are the primary focus of the three subsequent sections, while the various parameters of the lived realities of these societies in motion are explored in the four final sections of the book. Transversally throughout, the chapters aim to offer an interdisciplinary and holistic view of the challenges and the dynamics that are shaping a region at an historical crossroads, and an understanding of the many factors that feed and perpetuate its vulnerabilities and fragilities, as well as its sources of resilience"--

Examining the conditions for land occupation and natural resource use in the Sahel, this book offers a conceptual and practical approach to social organization and environmental management in the face of rapid environmental change.

The war on Gaza, the war on Ukraine, the energy crisis, and several initiatives to reshape regional and international partnerships and alliances have made the EU Southern Neighbourhood even more strategic for Italian and European interests. The urgency to diversify the energy supply (drawing on both fossil fuels and clean energy sources) has pushed Italy to strengthen old and create new partnerships with countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, as well as turn to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This is aimed at both transforming Italy into an energy hub and becoming autonomous from Russia. A reflection on energy supply diversification and political reconfigurations necessarily considers the highly strategic Red Sea and Gulf regions, which are increasingly interconnected with the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood in both political and economic terms, as acknowledged by the recent European energy strategy. The volume focuses on the most recent energy and political realignments involving actors in the areas, with an eye to identifying guidelines for an integrated approach able to respond to the priorities of Italian and European foreign policies.The book is divided into six chapters. The first two chapters analyse the relationship between perspectives on cooperation and energy partnerships across the Mediterranean and into sub-Saharan Africa (Chapter 1) and the Gulf (Chapter 2), examining the necessity of proposing alternative models for energy partnerships by promoting investments and cooperation aimed at local development. Chapter 3 focuses on political and security developments linking the Sahel and the Mediterranean regions, and unpacks Italy’s evolving role in navigating the geopolitical complexities of the two regions. Chapter 4 addresses the Gulf political dynamics, especially in light of the war on Gaza, the war in Yemen, the interconnected Red Sea crisis, and a renewed sense of polarisation across the region after a few years of (often contested) normalisations. Chapter 5 centres on the role of global actors (China, Russia and the United States) in an increasingly interconnected great power competition spanning from the Sahel to the Gulf through the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Chapter 6 integrates insights across regions and domains to identify strategies for Italy and the EU to act in line with their strategic objectives without resulting in negative effects on the governance and local development of their partners.