Article
Environmental Sciences
Jannis M. Hoch, Sophie P. de Bruin, Halvard Buhaug, Nina Von Uexkull, Rens van Beek, Niko Wanders
Summary: This study is the first to use machine learning methods to project sub-national armed conflict risk in Africa, showing variations in conflict risk under different scenarios and assessing the impact of climate change on armed conflict.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Areidy Beltran-Pena, Paolo D'Odorico
Summary: Africa faces challenges in food security, with irrigation expansion increasing agricultural productivity but not sufficient to meet future food demand. Under climate change, Africa's food production may not be enough to feed its growing population, leading to reliance on imports and uncertainty from global food price volatility.
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
Chris Funk, Laura Harrison, Zewdu Segele, Todd Rosenstock, Peter Steward, C. Leigh Anderson, Erin Coughlan de Perez, Daniel Maxwell, Hussen Seid Endris, Eunice Koch, Guleid Artan, Fetene Teshome, Stella Maris Aura, Gideon Galu, Diriba Korecha, Weston Anderson, Andrew Hoell, Kerstin Damerau, Emily Williams, Aniruddha Ghosh, Julian Ramirez-Villegas, David Hughes
Summary: This commentary discusses the advances in predictability of east African rains and emphasizes the potential for improved early warning systems, humanitarian relief efforts, and agricultural decision-making. It updates climate attribution studies on recent droughts in the region and highlights how prediction models can be used for proactive risk management. The article also addresses social barriers to forecast use and reviews the literature on the effectiveness of EWS in agro-pastoral advisories and humanitarian interventions. Overall, it suggests the importance of investing in African-led EWS and better collaboration between EWS and agricultural development efforts. Rating: 7/10
Review
Plant Sciences
Jacob Olagbenro Popoola, Oluwadurotimi Samuel Aworunse, Omena Bernard Ojuederie, Babasola Daniel Adewale, Oluwapelumi Comfort Ajani, Olaniyi Ajewole Oyatomi, Davelyne Ifechukwude Eruemulor, Taofeek Tope Adegboyega, Olawole Odun Obembe
Summary: Poverty, food, and nutrition insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa have become major concerns. Climate change, insurgency, and politico-economic instability threaten sustainable agriculture. Overdependence on major staple crops is leading to the near extinction of orphan legumes, which have immense potential as protein and nutritional security crops. Exploiting the genetic resources and economic utility of these legumes is essential for achieving the UN sustainable development goals.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Frank M. Davenport, Shraddhanand Shukla, William Turner, Chris Funk, Natasha Krell, Laura Harrison, Greg Husak, Donghoon Lee, Seth Peterson
Summary: This study examines the relationship between the start of the rainy season (SOS) and grain market price movements in five African countries, finding that SOS indicators can increase the predictive power of price forecasting over a 6-month period. However, the performance of SOS indicators vary considerably by country, with the strongest results seen in central Ethiopia, southern Kenya, and southern Somalia.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Review
Agronomy
Paul M. Barasa, Christina M. Botai, Joel O. Botai, Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi
Summary: Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is promoted as key for agricultural adaptation in Africa, with several countries endorsing it, but lacking national investment plans. CSA research in Africa is still developing, with the need for a framework to guide implementation.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Isidro Juan Miron, Cristina Linares, Julio Diaz
Summary: This study reviews the impact of climate change on food production and food safety. It found that frequent extreme weather events lead to decreased crop yields, with a greater impact on developing countries. Additionally, higher average temperatures may increase the risk of foodborne illnesses.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Tesfaye Walle Mekonnen, Abe Shegro Gerrano, Ntombokulunga Wedy Mbuma, Maryke Tine Labuschagne
Summary: The world is currently experiencing population growth and food scarcity, and climate change is a major threat to global food security. Cowpea has the potential to contribute significantly to food security, as well as being part of a sustainable food system and a genetic resource for future crop improvement. In sub-Saharan Africa, cowpea has become an important crop for addressing food insecurity and malnutrition. However, its potential as a leafy vegetable has not been fully explored due to various challenges such as low yield potential, susceptibility to stresses, quality issues, and cultural beliefs. The development of high-yielding, nutritious, and stress-resistant cowpea genotypes could help address food security and malnutrition challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.
Review
Agronomy
Rasu Eeswaran, A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, Aliou Faye, Doohong Min, P. V. Vara Prasad, Ignacio A. Ciampitti
Summary: Livestock farming plays a crucial role in the livelihood and food security of West African countries, including Senegal. However, there are numerous challenges to optimal production, such as limited resources, climate change, and poor management. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of different livestock farming systems and highlights the need for targeted interventions to improve productivity and food security in the region.
Article
Food Science & Technology
David Backer, Trey Billing
Summary: The overall accuracy of FEWS NET projections for 25 African countries from 2009-2020 is 84%, but it drops sharply with increasing food insecurity, skewing towards over-projection. Variations in humanitarian responses, climate, and conflict appear to be connected to these patterns. The study highlights FEWS NET's performance in anticipating food insecurity in fragile conditions and suggests improvements through ongoing validation, deeper scrutiny of reliability-affecting factors, increased transparency, and informed usage.
GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY-AGRICULTURE POLICY ECONOMICS AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Abiodun A. Ogundeji
Summary: This study explores the factors influencing smallholder farmers' adoption of climate change adaptation measures and their impact on household food security, finding that these measures significantly improve food security status and factors such as household gender composition, age, tropical livestock unit, and access to climatic information influence the likelihood of smallholder farmers adopting these measures.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Evelyn Agba Tackie, Hao Chen, Isaac Ahakwa, David Amankona, Samuel Atingabili
Summary: This study investigates the factors driving food security in West African countries, specifically examining the impact of natural resource rents, institutional quality, and climate change on food security while controlling for industrialization and economic growth. The findings reveal that natural resource rents, climate change, and industrialization are detrimental to food security in the region, while institutional quality and economic growth are beneficial drivers. The study recommends substantial investments in sustainable natural resource utilization and improvements in institutional efficiency, along with research on climate change mitigation, to enhance food security in West Africa.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ran Zhai, Fulu Tao, Upmanu Lall, Joshua Elliott
Summary: The study shows that global warming of 1.5 degrees C or 2.0 degrees C will shorten the maize growing season in Africa, aggravate droughts, and reduce yields. Technology development can improve the maize supply-demand ratio, but future projections on population and technology development still need to be considered.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Thomas Peprah Agyekum, Philip Antwi-Agyei, Andrew J. Dougill
Summary: The provision of timely and accurate weather information can reduce people's vulnerability to climate change risks. There is a focus on weather information services in the agriculture sector, while research in energy and water resource management is limited. Users mainly access information related to rainfall and temperature through radio, mobile phones, and television. Poor communication and limited technical understanding hinder the access and use of weather information, resulting in a lack of benefits for most users.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
A. F. M. Kamal Chowdhury, Ranjit Deshmukh, Grace C. Wu, Anagha Uppal, Ana Mileva, Tiana Curry, Les Armstrong, Stefano Galelli, Kudakwashe Ndhlukula
Summary: Southern Africa is facing the challenge of providing affordable energy while limiting carbon emissions and socio-environmental impacts. Wind and solar technologies are predicted to become the dominant sources of electricity in the region by 2040. No new coal capacity is expected to be built, and planned hydropower capacity is not cost competitive. An 80% clean energy target can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions with a modest cost premium.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elisabeth L. Rosvold, Halvard Buhaug
Summary: This article introduces a new open source extension providing subnational, geocoded data on major disasters triggered by natural hazards. The Geocoded Disasters dataset facilitates rigorous empirical analyses of disaster determinants and impacts by connecting the EM-DAT database to other geographic data sources on the subnational level.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Halvard Buhaug, Nina von Uexkull
Summary: Climate change poses threats to human security in terms of economic prosperity, food availability, and societal stability. Recent humanitarian crises in war-torn regions like Afghanistan and Yemen are exacerbated by climate-related hazards, highlighting the interplay between vulnerability, conflict, and climate impacts. A unified conceptual model is developed in this article, connecting research areas on social vulnerability, climatic drivers of armed conflict risk, and societal impacts of armed conflict to illustrate the complex relationships between these factors.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES, VOL 46, 2021
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sebastian Schutte, Jonas Vestby, Jorgen Carling, Halvard Buhaug
Summary: Recent research indicates that climate variability and change affect forced migration, but other non-climatic factors like political violence play a more significant role in predicting asylum migration flows to the EU.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sebastian Schutte, Jonas Vestby, Jorgen Carling, Halvard Buhaug
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Review
Environmental Studies
Elisabeth A. Gilmore, Halvard Buhaug
Summary: Climate policies need to incentivize societal changes to achieve emission reduction goals. Research shows that climate mitigation policies may increase conflict risks, while policy designs can promote more favorable societal outcomes.
WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-CLIMATE CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sophie P. de Bruin, Jannis M. Hoch, Nina von Uexkull, Halvard Buhaug, Jolle Demmers, Hans Visser, Niko Wanders
Summary: Currently, little research has been done on projecting long-term conflict risks and they are not included in the development of socioeconomic scenarios or climate change impact assessments. However, projecting armed conflict risks in response to climate change, although uncertain, is important and necessary for shaping sustainable future policy agendas in climate change impact assessments.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS
(2022)
Article
International Relations
Henry Thomson, Karim Bahgat, Henrik Urdal, Halvard Buhaug
Summary: This article presents a detailed event dataset covering national capitals and major urban centers, analyzing trends in urban social disorder across space and time. The research finds a positive relationship between city population and lethal urban social disorder, providing valuable data and avenues for future studies.
JOURNAL OF PEACE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Halvard Buhaug, Tor A. Benjaminsen, Elisabeth A. Gilmore, Cullen S. Hendrix
Summary: This essay discusses the extent to which climate impacts and responses may produce severe risks to peace. It provides a conceptual discussion of what risks to peace entail and explores the conditions under which climate-related risks could become severe. Based on empirical research, it presents three illustrative scenarios to examine the implications of alternative warming and adaptation trajectories for the prospect of future peace. The essay concludes by reflecting on the implications for future research needs.
CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Area Studies
Tor A. Benjaminsen, Hanne Svarstad, Iselin Shaw Of Tordarroch
Summary: This article emphasizes the importance of recognition in achieving climate justice. By analyzing three examples, the central types of recognition in climate issues (formal and discursive recognition) are identified. The article also highlights how powerful actors exercise their power to cause climate injustice through misrecognition of poor and vulnerable groups.
IDS BULLETIN-INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
(2022)
Article
Political Science
Tor A. A. Benjaminsen
Editorial Material
Demography
Halvard Buhaug
Summary: The increase in global displacement has led to a surge in quantitative comparative research in recent years. While there is a high demand for deeper systematic knowledge on contextual determinants of disaster-related mobility and associated risks, caution should be exercised in quantitative modeling of human displacement. In this commentary, three central challenges related to the quality of available displacement statistics are reflected upon. Future scientific progress in this field would greatly benefit from the harmonization and validation of displacement data that distinguish between distinct mobility responses.
INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
(2023)
Article
Political Science
Tor A. Benjaminsen, Boubacar Ba
Summary: Violent clashes between Fulani and Dogon have escalated in central Mali, with the Malian army sponsoring and training a Dogon militia that has attacked Fulani villages, leading to counterattacks. Internal conflicts within Fulani and Dogon societies have also emerged.
Article
International Relations
Ingrid Vik Bakken, Halvard Buhaug
Summary: Recent research highlights the transformative potential of war in empowering women, especially after severe conflicts. Post-conflict improvements in female empowerment primarily occur after high-intensity conflicts, particularly with gender-specific provisions in peace agreements.
JOURNAL OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Political Science
Halvard Buhaug, Mihai Croicu, Hanne Fjelde, Nina von Uexkull
Summary: Common political economy models focus on rational motives for conflict, while grievance models emphasize structural origins of shared frustration. The authors develop a theoretical model predicting that income loss triggers violent mobilization when linked to preexisting grievances.
JOURNAL OF POLITICS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Tor A. Benjaminsen
Summary: The study highlights the significance of visual representations in environmental discourse analysis, demonstrating how images can shape myths surrounding environmental issues. Through specific examples, it shows how images are used to convey false narratives about environmental degradation and influence policy decisions.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH
(2021)