Introduction

According to Wikipedia, a natural resource is a substance, an organism, an environment, or an object, present in nature, without human action, and which is in most cases used to satisfy needs (energy, food, etc.). The management of natural resources in this context of climate change constitutes real challenges for Sahelian communities but also involves opportunities, which must be clearly distinguished. In the Sahel, land management, which is one of the essential natural resources, rhymes with this phenomenon of climate change and its corollaries.

The Main Challenges related to Land Management in the Sahel

Increase in population leads to increasing density, and increasing pressure on shared land and natural resources; a decrease in biomass, pollution, and degradation of water and soil, leading to the leaching of cultivable areas; a reduction of arable land, desertification; and, drought. All these challenges associated with low schooling (illiteracy, ignorance) and poverty generate difficult living conditions for the different communities in the Sahel. So, the solution is, and must necessarily be, permanent struggle, continuous combat, and not abandonment or continually reaching out! This solution manifests itself through multiple actions, or strategies, which relate to the notion of “resilience”. 

These actions or strategies climate change specialists will simply call adaptation. Yes, it is indeed about adaptation, but here, let us rather speak of struggle, or combat, to highlight the laborious and obligatory nature of the actions to be carried out. Yes, it is an obligation incumbent on the populations themselves, because it is about survival, responsibility, and dignity.

Some Possible Solutions: A Guarantee of Opportunities for Communities

It is therefore possible to draw up a certain number of strategies; a range of everything which can constitute an opportunity in the face of these challenges. Preservation and restoration of degraded lands, assisted natural regeneration, creation of infrastructure for water control, use of renewable energies in the production cycle, etc. The lands are degraded but they just need us to roll up our sleeves so that they are reborn again and can offer what they have to offer. Communities can do it – it’s not like erecting a mountain, or any megastructure – it’s about the actions being done by hand, with the heart, together. It is also by using less sophisticated tools and local technologies, well-controlled thoughts, and with commitment and firm determination. 

Conclusion

It will be necessary to continually and intensively educate populations in good environmental morals, and in good reflexes friendly to the environment. Only at this price of collective commitment will we be able to revive all of nature, and in return, will guarantee us better living conditions.