A new report was launched yesterday by the Sahel Working Group and the International Institute for Environment and Development. It provides hard-hitting conclusions in relation to the continuing vulnerability of people in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso - three of the poorest countries in the world, already subject to annual drought and under additional threat from the effects of climate change.
But what are the root causes of chronic vulnerability in the Sahel? As ReliefWeb summarise: “The imposition of external ideas about what constitutes good development and a focus on economic growth as a driver for national development are not addressing the needs and realities of the most vulnerable rural poor…. The few exciting positive developments in the region derive almost exclusively from long-term project work based on good learning from the communities concerned.”
The World Bank model of development doesn’t just bring about the destruction of natural resources but also involves the erosion of indigenous knowledge, traditional coping mechanisms and social capital.
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