On 8 June (1400-1600 Nairobi time), our ninth seminar features authors from a recent special issue of the journal ‘Disasters’ discussing some of the core challenges faced in the drylands and how best to provide support amidst difficult circumstances.
Featuring authors of several articles, this seminar launches a fully open access special issue of the journal ‘Disasters’, focused on some of the core challenges faced in the drylands and the question of how best to provide support amidst difficult circumstances.
Africa’s drylands are not inherently vulnerable, despite the impression created by unnuanced crisis narratives which, in many instances, obscure both the resilience and diversity of these regions, while depoliticising many of the deeper structural forces at play.
Nevertheless, dryland areas do, in many instances, continue to face intersecting crises driven by conflict, climate shocks, market volatility, political and economic marginalisation and many other factors. When such crises emerge, they are rarely straightforwardly predictable or manageable, often instead becoming protracted and complex, and involving the intersection of multiple kinds of disaster unfolding at different speeds and scales.
To make sense of this, and to offer suggestions for more effective ways of providing aid and support in intractable situations, this special issue brings together case studies from across the continent. Exploring diverse themes and new evidence from Mali, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia, the articles call for new ways of thinking, seeing and acting in a moment fraught with uncertainty, with aid budgets contracting, climate risks intensifying and large-scale infrastructure projects reshaping dryland regions in ways that often sit uneasily with local livelihoods and aspirations.
Join us to exchange ideas, hear new perspectives and engage in friendly debate on the core issues shaping Africa’s drylands.
