Refugees and environmental change in West Africa: the role of institutions

Richard Black and Mohamed F. Sessay
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Richard Black: School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, Postal: School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Mohamed F. Sessay: School of Geography, University of Leeds, UK, Postal: School of Geography, University of Leeds, UK

Journal of International Development, 1998, vol. 10, issue 6, 699-713

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between forced migration and environmental change in West Africa, through an analysis of the changing institutional context through which resource use and management decisions are made. The paper draws on the work of Leach and Mearns (1991), who have highlighted how institutions shape the ways in which different groups of people gain access to and control over resources, and in doing so, affect environmental outcomes. This approach is used to illuminate two apparently paradoxical case studies of refugee influxes in Senegal and the Republic of Guinea, where despite significant increases in the population of host areas, degradation of natural resources has remained limited. It is argued that flexible local institutions have been able to adapt to the presence of refugees, providing regulated access to natural resources, and so reducing destructive behaviour. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Date: 1998
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:10:y:1998:i:6:p:699-713

DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(1998090)10:6<699::AID-JID511>3.0.CO;2-Z

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