Climate Change in Africa and Immigration to Europe – Mali

Climate change can make the African continent to lose more farmland than the land that is currently under cultivation for the main crops in the United States. The area under threat to become too dry and hot for cultivation is almost one million square kilometers. According to a study published in the journal Environmental Science and Policy agriculture in Africa could collapse by 2050 and millions of people could lose their sources of livelihood.

Mali is one of West Africa's landlocked, drought-prone countries, which are situated south of Sahara. Economic factors, worsened by climatic conditions, have increased migration prospects for Malian migrants throughout the 1990s. The 1990s saw continued fluctuations in rainfall, leading to food deficits and cotton crop failures in several years.

Mali's geographical location, the low percentage of arable land (14%) and level of its economic development leave Mali vulnerable to climate change. 73.2% of its population lives in rural areas under extreme poverty (with less than one dollar a day). Sustainable land management is a major concern for the country, with an economy largely dependent on the primary sector, notably agriculture and farming.

Increasing poverty and vulnerability due to lack of resources such as pasture land and water have led to conflicts between herders and farmers and heightened the risk of famine. The risk of chronic poverty leads people to desperate attempts to move outside of the country. In order to tackle the problem, Mali, along with its technical and financial partners, has undertaken a number of actions on setting a national climate change adaptation strategy that has had an impact on strategies, policies and programmes for sustainable agricultural development and food security.

Source: Presentation by Mr. Bakary Doumbia, Kilabo, Mali: Immigration from Mali to Europe due the Climate Change at the international seminar on "Displacement induced by Environmental Problems and Development" in Helsinki 10-11 June 2010 by Siemenpuu Foundation.