Urban-Rural Linkages and Climatic Variability

Abstract

In the face of changing climate conditions, the expanding capital cities in the Sahel will try to keep their privileged situation with respect to the countryside and smaller towns. Tensions with respect to the use of land and water will increase. Whether the scarce water will be used for urban consumption and urban electricity generation or be used instead in irrigation schemes will largely depend on political choices and power arrangements. In any case, urban purchasing power will decrease even further and it will be impossible for large parts of the population to keep up their actual consumption levels (of food, fuel and water). As a result, urban poverty will increase and the discrepancy between poor and rich in the cities amplified.