Fragilities and shocks effects on households and communities in West Africa

Abstract

Shocks are drivers of fragility yet most works on fragility in Africa use the tag “fragile state(s)” with less focus on the drivers of fragility in its institutions, states, and economies. Shocks are cardinal to the entrenchment or stability of any system. The Covid-19 pandemic revealed how fragile the world is including the “developed” or “advanced” systems. Today, households, businesses, and communities in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa suffer the effects of a triple whammy (climate change, the pandemic and Russia/Ukraine War) including effects of history and an unfavourable global system all of which leaves them in hunger, poverty and vulnerable conditions. This study used secondary sources to revisit the effects of these shocks on households, and communities in West Africa through the lens of common resources. The recent shocks effects prevalent in all these countries is higher than reported and would affect West Africa´s growing population in the foreseeable future with the absence of safety nets or effective interventions. The absence of shocks preparation in the subregion is not sustainable and adds up to the sustenance of the revolving circle of fragility in the subregion.