African Environmental and Human Security in the 21st Century
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African Environmental and Human Security in the 21st Century By ...

Chapter 1:  On the Margins
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nations leads to corruption and trafficking of illicit goods…”48 One type of good that has greatly affected the rise of violence is the accessibility of small and light arms that either finance or are used in terrorist or criminal activities.49 And, unfortunately, there still is trafficking in human beings, though, for example, Niger in 2004 made slavery a criminal offense. However, due to the government's inability to enforce the law, there are a reported 43,000 slaves in Niger.50 According to Reven Paz and Moshe Terdman, Africa offers opportunities for terrorists:

The political and military conditions in most of the African continent, the broad weakness of its governments, and the internal fighting and corruption of these regimes, ease the ability of the Mujahidin to move, plan, and organize themselves, far from being seen. They enjoy in Africa easier operational abilities than in other countries, which have effective security, intelligence, and military capacities.51

The illegitimate and poorly functioning regimes provides a set of conditions that invites a potent mix of violent groups. This only serves to exacerbate human insecurities.

Environmental Insecurities

We argue that environment insecurities have profound effects on all the other human security components. For example, according to Lester Brown, economic development will be meaningless if we do not have a planet that can sustain a global economy.52 Thomas Homer-Dixon warns that

within the next fifty years, the planet's human population will probably pass 9 billion, and global economic output may quintuple. Largely as a result, scarcities of renewable sources will increase sharply. The total area of high quality agricultural land will drop, as will the extent of forests and the number of species they sustain. Coming generations will also see the widespread depletion and degradation of aquifers, rivers, and other water resources; the decline of many fisheries; and perhaps significant climate change.53