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The document assesses how climate variability and anthropogenic factors drive resource scarcity and conflict in Africa, focusing on the African Union's response and specific regional crises in the Lake Chad Basin, Lesotho, the Nile Basin, the Niger Delta, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, and Uganda.

• The African Union (AU) has established environmental regimes and is developing a climate change regime, but it is criticized for not sufficiently integrating environmental protection into state policies and for being absent from some multilateral proceedings.
• Lake Chad has experienced a dramatic reduction in surface water, losing over 50% of its water between 1973 and 2002, driven by resource overuse, population surge, and climate variability.
• In the Lake Chad Basin, the shrinkage of the lake has intensified conflicts between different livelihood systems, specifically between fishermen, pastoralists, and farmers.
• Lesotho is currently water abundant but is projected to enter a period of water stress by 2019 and water scarcity by 2062 due to predicted lower precipitation and population growth.
• The Nile Basin faces significant tensions over water distribution, with Ethiopia contributing 86% of the water but utilizing less than 1% of its potential, while downstream Egypt fears for its national security.
• In Nigeria's Niger Delta, oil exploration activities such as gas flaring and oil spills contribute to global warming and local environmental degradation, fueling militancy and resource conflicts.
• The Nyakyusa people of Tanzania historically used traditional conflict resolution techniques, including public communication, conservation policies, and representation, to manage resource scarcity during floods and droughts.
• In the Soutpansberg region of South Africa, anthropogenic interference—specifically deforestation and population crowding in the eastern mountains—has disrupted evapo-transpiration and reduced rainfall in the western part of the range.
• Research in the Bukoba district of Tanzania indicates that soil carbon sequestration potential is influenced by topography and land use, with home gardens (Kibanja) showing significantly different carbon concentrations than other land uses.
• Borana pastoralists in northern Kenya utilize indigenous coping mechanisms such as mobility, communal land ownership, and herd diversification to manage drought, though these are becoming less effective due to political and social pressures.
• Tanzania's implementation of REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) faces challenges including inadequate financing for the forestry sector, which receives less than 1% of the national budget.
• In Uganda, there is a lack of direct linkage in legislation between climate change, law, sustainable development, and livelihoods, leading to a failure to mainstream adaptation measures into poverty reduction strategies.

APA

van Wyk, J.-A., Onuoha, F. C., Mwangi, O. G., & Mwiturubani, D. A. (n.d.). untitled. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono170.pdf

Chicago

van Wyk, Jo-Ansie, Freedom C. Onuoha, Oscar Gakuo Mwangi, and Donald Anthony Mwiturubani. untitled. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono170.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=van Wyk |first1=Jo-Ansie |last2=Onuoha |first2=Freedom C. |last3=Mwangi |first3=Oscar Gakuo |last4=Mwiturubani |first4=Donald Anthony |title=untitled |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono170.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vanwyknduntitled, author = {van Wyk, Jo-Ansie and Onuoha, Freedom C. and Mwangi, Oscar Gakuo and Mwiturubani, Donald Anthony}, title = {{untitled}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono170.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }