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Persistence and success of the Sahel desertification narrative
- Original Article
- Published: 21 September 2022
- Volume 22 , article number 118 , ( 2022 )
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- Fabrice Gangneron ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1460-3040 1 ,
- Caroline Pierre 2 ,
- Elodie Robert 3 ,
- Laurent Kergoat 1 ,
- Manuela Grippa 1 ,
- Françoise Guichard 4 ,
- Pierre Hiernaux 1 , 5 &
- Crystele Leauthaud 6
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The paradigm of Sahelian desertification, whose roots lie in the colonial period, increased in popularity following the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s. This “desertification narrative” was shaped in the international arena by organizations working in the fields of international cooperation, human rights, regional development, economic regulation and environmental questions. This narrative has been deployed to have real-world implications of how risks and responses in the Sahel are understood and prioritised, with particularly tangible implications for civil society and international donor agencies. It is indeed widely used in technical writings, general public media and environmental protection projects, regardless of the fact that the majority of literature in environmental science does not support its underlying rationales. It depicts rural populations as victims and culprits (or villains) partially responsible for the desertification, which in turn justifies external intervention in the Sahelian countries. The desertification narrative has an impact on research and development funding by overemphasizing the role of international development aid to combat desertification, thus favoring research on the subject of Sahelian desertification. Furthermore, we argue that the Sahelian desertification narrative contributes to the political control of rural populations, the latter being stigmatized because of their often-considered excessive use of environmental resources.
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Acknowledgements
This work is dedicated to Françoise Guichard, who passed away in late 2020. She was an inspiring scientist, colleague and friend. She is deeply missed.
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GET, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, IRD, UPS, Toulouse, France
Fabrice Gangneron, Laurent Kergoat, Manuela Grippa & Pierre Hiernaux
iEES-Paris, Sorbonne Univ., UPMC Univ., CNRS, IRD, INRA, UPD, UPEC, Paris, France
Caroline Pierre
LETG, CNRS, Nantes Université, Nantes, France
Elodie Robert
CNRM, CNRS, Météo-France, Toulouse, France
Françoise Guichard
Pastoralisme Conseil, Caylus, France
Pierre Hiernaux
G-EAU, AgroParisTech, Cirad, IRD, INRAE, L’Institut Agro Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Crystele Leauthaud
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Correspondence to Fabrice Gangneron .
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Gangneron, F., Pierre, C., Robert, E. et al. Persistence and success of the Sahel desertification narrative. Reg Environ Change 22 , 118 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-022-01969-1
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Received : 30 September 2020
Accepted : 20 August 2022
Published : 21 September 2022
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-022-01969-1
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