Environmental inequality in West Africa

This chapter reviews the topic of environmental inequality in Africa, with a particular focus on West Africa and the country of Burkina Faso. We address a broad tendency in mainstream approaches to African environmental issues of ignoring questions of inequality and downplaying the historical, social, political, and economic drivers of environmental degradation. The chapter begins with an overview of historically produced environmental inequality between Africa and wealthier nations; we review the role of colonialism and racism, the establishment of patterns of ecologically unequal exchange, and the effects of neoliberal structural adjustment policies and “sustainable development” programs. We then shift scales to look at inequalities within African nations. The bulk of the chapter explores two case studies from Burkina Faso, pulling out the threads of colonial history and ongoing environmental inequalities through examples of 1) land and access to natural resources and 2) cotton production and pesticide exposure. These case studies illustrate both historical and present-day inequities in resource enclosures, land grabbing, mining, export-oriented agricultural practices, and exposures to toxicity. We show how these inequalities create significant livelihood hardships for marginalized people and can contribute to violent conflict. Numerous groups have emerged to protest and resist these injustices, calling for changes to the underlying institutional, political, and economic drivers of these inequalities.