Volume 41, Issue 1, November 2023, Pages 182–187
E. FOTO1, S. N. Sakama2, O. Allahdin3, M. Kembe4, and O. Biteman5
1 Laboratory Hydrosciences Lavoisier, UNESCO Chair on Water Management, University of Bangui, Faculty of Sciences BP 908 Bangui, Central African Republic
2 Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Bangui, Central African Republic
3 Laboratoire Hydrosciences Lavoisier, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Bangui, Central African Republic
4 Geography Department, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bangui, Central African Republic
5 Laboratoire Hydrosciences Lavoisier, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Bangui, Central African Republic
Original language: English
Copyright © 2023 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The fragility of Lake Chad’s existence due to climate change and anthropogenic activities has been demonstrated by several scientific articles in physics-chemistry, water chemistry and climatology, as well as studies in the human and social sciences, notably anthropology and sociology. The aim of this study is to investigate the population of the North and North-West of the Central African Republic, the Lake Chad basin, in order to understand all the existing uncertainties which will contribute to the definition of new preventive solutions for the sustainability of water resource management. In human societies, water potential reveals modes of social organization, local socio-political dynamics, power relations and the legitimization of status and social roles. Around water resources, actors with opposing interests confront and clash, making this natural and cultural heritage an «arena» at the heart of social organization. This implies that water potential is one of the «resources most closely interwoven with social and cultural relations», and appears to be a vector of social transformation. This work has highlighted the advent of inter-community conflicts caused by cross-border transhumance, the abandonment of local knowledge on water use, water pollution from mining and the destruction of the ecosystem that protects water resources in the southern slopes of the basin.
Author Keywords: Socio-environmental, transhumance, Lake Chad, water, ecosystem.
E. FOTO1, S. N. Sakama2, O. Allahdin3, M. Kembe4, and O. Biteman5
1 Laboratory Hydrosciences Lavoisier, UNESCO Chair on Water Management, University of Bangui, Faculty of Sciences BP 908 Bangui, Central African Republic
2 Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, University of Bangui, Central African Republic
3 Laboratoire Hydrosciences Lavoisier, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Bangui, Central African Republic
4 Geography Department, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bangui, Central African Republic
5 Laboratoire Hydrosciences Lavoisier, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Bangui, Central African Republic
Original language: English
Copyright © 2023 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The fragility of Lake Chad’s existence due to climate change and anthropogenic activities has been demonstrated by several scientific articles in physics-chemistry, water chemistry and climatology, as well as studies in the human and social sciences, notably anthropology and sociology. The aim of this study is to investigate the population of the North and North-West of the Central African Republic, the Lake Chad basin, in order to understand all the existing uncertainties which will contribute to the definition of new preventive solutions for the sustainability of water resource management. In human societies, water potential reveals modes of social organization, local socio-political dynamics, power relations and the legitimization of status and social roles. Around water resources, actors with opposing interests confront and clash, making this natural and cultural heritage an «arena» at the heart of social organization. This implies that water potential is one of the «resources most closely interwoven with social and cultural relations», and appears to be a vector of social transformation. This work has highlighted the advent of inter-community conflicts caused by cross-border transhumance, the abandonment of local knowledge on water use, water pollution from mining and the destruction of the ecosystem that protects water resources in the southern slopes of the basin.
Author Keywords: Socio-environmental, transhumance, Lake Chad, water, ecosystem.
How to Cite this Article
E. FOTO, S. N. Sakama, O. Allahdin, M. Kembe, and O. Biteman, “Socio-anthropological and environmental study of water resources in the North and North-West of the Central African Republic, Lake Chad basin, in a context of climate change,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 182–187, November 2023.
