Environmental issues - A huge threat to Africa’s security


By Lazarus Sauti

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is suffering from many environmental issues (harmful aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment) and these problems hinder the region from making progress with regard to economic development.

Due to the fact that these issues are not fully understood, many Africans have been delaying in solving them.

Sadly, many – if not all – environmental issues (desertification, problems with access to safe water, population explosion and fauna depletion) in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are caused by anthropogenic effects (objects resulting from human activity) on the African natural environment and have major impacts on humans and nearly all forms of endemic life.

Colin Powell, the first African American appointed as the U.S. Secretary of State concurs and further states that environmental issues are destroyers of people.

“Sustainable development is a compelling moral and humanitarian issue, but it is also a security imperative.

“Poverty, environmental degradation and despair are destroyers of people, of societies, of nations. This unholy trinity can destabilise countries, even entire regions,” said Powell.

Importantly, nearly all of SSA’s environmental problems are geographically variable and human induced, though not necessarily by Africans.

In the paper ‘Environment Threats to Security, Stability and U.S. Interests in Southern Africa’, Dr. Christopher Jasparra writes, “Environmental issues lie at the intersection between human and traditional security.”

They can be a threat to SSA’s security as they cause discontent and conflicts amongst Africans.

Because of this, Francis Nhema, former Minister of Environment in Zimbabwe said: “Environmental sustainability has to do with national security issues and the challenges are a threat to peace and security.

“These environmental challenges cause discontent and instability amongst people.”

Ultimately, environmental sustainability involves making decisions and taking action that are in the interests of protecting the natural world, with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the environment to support human life.

As a region, SSA needs to deal with environmental problems to promote security and peace. These issues should be solved without delay to effectively change the economic situation of the region.

 

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