Climate, land use, and conflict in Africa
Climate, land use, and conflict in Africa
Editor(s): T. Brücher, M. Brzoska, M. Claussen, K. H. Cook, P. M. Link, J. Link, C. Mbow, and J. Scheffran

Africa, and the Sahel in particular, is highly vulnerable to climate change, due to strong exposure to increasing temperature, precipitation variability, and population growth. A major link between climate and humans in this region is land use and associated land cover change, mainly where subsistence farming prevails. But how strongly do climate change and land use change affect each other? To what extent are climate-induced water, food, and wood shortages associated with land degradation, migration, and conflict?

We welcome contributions covering at least one of the following four themes with a focus on Africa:

  • Theme 1: climate change in recent years and possible future climate change;
  • Theme 2: current land use and land cover change;
  • Theme 3: current conflict and conflict potential;
  • Theme 4: synthesis of climate, land use, and conflict.

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19 Dec 2017
Future supply and demand of net primary production in the Sahel
Florian Sallaba, Stefan Olin, Kerstin Engström, Abdulhakim M. Abdi, Niklas Boke-Olén, Veiko Lehsten, Jonas Ardö, and Jonathan W. Seaquist
Earth Syst. Dynam., 8, 1191–1221, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-1191-2017,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-1191-2017, 2017
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13 Dec 2017
Desertification, resilience, and re-greening in the African Sahel – a matter of the observation period?
Hannelore Kusserow
Earth Syst. Dynam., 8, 1141–1170, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-1141-2017,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-1141-2017, 2017
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21 Dec 2016
Vulnerability to climate change and adaptation strategies of local communities in Malawi: experiences of women fish-processing groups in the Lake Chilwa Basin
Hanne Jørstad and Christian Webersik
Earth Syst. Dynam., 7, 977–989, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-977-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-977-2016, 2016
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13 Dec 2016
Weather and resource information as tools for dealing with farmer–pastoralist conflicts in the Sahel
Ole Mertz, Kjeld Rasmussen, and Laura Vang Rasmussen
Earth Syst. Dynam., 7, 969–976, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-969-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-969-2016, 2016
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10 May 2016
Actors and networks in resource conflict resolution under climate change in rural Kenya
Grace W. Ngaruiya and Jürgen Scheffran
Earth Syst. Dynam., 7, 441–452, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-441-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-441-2016, 2016
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23 Feb 2016
Potential impact of climate and socioeconomic changes on future agricultural land use in West Africa
Kazi Farzan Ahmed, Guiling Wang, Liangzhi You, and Miao Yu
Earth Syst. Dynam., 7, 151–165, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-151-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-151-2016, 2016
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08 Feb 2016
Perspectives on contextual vulnerability in discourses of climate conflict
U. T. Okpara, L. C. Stringer, and A. J. Dougill
Earth Syst. Dynam., 7, 89–102, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-89-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-89-2016, 2016
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10 Dec 2015
Implications of land use change in tropical northern Africa under global warming
T. Brücher, M. Claussen, and T. Raddatz
Earth Syst. Dynam., 6, 769–780, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-769-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-769-2015, 2015
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03 Nov 2015
The nexus of oil, conflict, and climate change vulnerability of pastoral communities in northwest Kenya
J. Schilling, R. Locham, T. Weinzierl, J. Vivekananda, and J. Scheffran
Earth Syst. Dynam., 6, 703–717, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-703-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-703-2015, 2015
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13 Oct 2015
Socio-environmental cooperation and conflict? A discursive understanding and its application to the case of Israel and Palestine
T. Ide and C. Fröhlich
Earth Syst. Dynam., 6, 659–671, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-659-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-659-2015, 2015
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