Material Security and Ecological Insecurity: The Quest of Sand for Building and Coastal Destruction in West

Abstract

Before the urban phenomenon can be considered, cities need to be built. This requires huge quantities of materials mainly cement and sand. In this regard, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) sand is the most used solid material with 50 billion tonnes per year (UNDP, 2022: VII). Out of this exponential quantity, around six billion tonnes are extracted from the world’s seas and oceans (UNDP, 2023), causing a devastating toll on biodiversity, coastal land, and conflicts among communities. After Asia, Africa is the continent where this trend is active, because of the population growth, mainly in cities (Choplin, 2020). That is why this communication aims to draw attention to the fact that -- before the sand from the desert can help --the quest and security of supplies of this resource is today a source of ecological and human insecurity, all over the world. Specifically, the communication explores the case of Western Africa: as a coastal conurbation - stretching from Dakar to Lagos -is progressively built, the coast itself is shrinking largely because of the over-extraction of sand. However, it focuses on the most affected section of this conurbation. It is based on many reports from the United Nations and regional organizations as well as on scientific literature dealing with the issue of sand mining and sea level rise. Finally, this communication wants to stress the fact that, this global problem can be solved only with the true involvement of local communities (Ali, Diallo, Kameni et al., 2023).