PBS News published a story claiming that Senegal is suffering from climate change and that developed countries have not guaranteed their commitment to help the country. [emphasis, links added]
The first claim is absolutely wrong. Senegal's economy has experienced significant growth during the recent slight warming period.
Another major indicator of improvement prospects, life expectancy, has also improved significantly.
About the second claim It is not clear whether developed countries have made specific commitments to Senegal on climate funding, but it is clear that Senegal receives billions of dollars in foreign aid every year.
The story is “Senegal is struggling to combat climate change despite the help of other countries,” composed of a series of interviews and anecdotes shared by Select Seengalese with PBS, whose troubles they face are related to climate change and lack of Western funding to alleviate climate mitigation.
In particular, the PBS story focuses on the dilemma of the Senegal fishing industry and NGOs.
Even though acknowledging that funds from the World Bank have built a seawall that helps prevent flooding, beach erosion and benefits from tourism, Fred de Sam Lazaro reported on PBS:
[E]So far, the World Bank and donor countries have been unhappy with what the toughest welcomes have done. The long-standing flooding surrounding Saint-Louis has been hit by devastating flooding, building two miles of seawalls, and fishing families have moved further inland. They say they are safer, but hardly safe.
. . .
Their struggle is evident in the fishing communities up and down the coast. A shocking morning work, everything that brought the ship back today was a box, about a quarter, filled with anything to sell.
Climate change has reduced the quality of fisheries.
The problem with Lazaro's narrative is that he points out that there is no data, nothing to identify as evidence, and less certain evidence that climate change is a difficulty facing the Senegal fishing community, and in fact, it is actually causing some people in the fishing village to move.
Fishing is a staple food in Senegal's economy.
“Senegal has one of the richest fishing farms in the world. Over the past five years, Senegal has an annual annual income rate of 450,000 tons per year, and Senegal has been the second largest fish producer in West Africa,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture country. ”
There is no evidence for PBS as there is no evidence that climate change is worsening the fishing situation or causing exhausted fish populations.
Although the amount of catch in the Senegal fishing industry varies every year, the value of its capture is quite stable, indicating that the industry is performing well overall, although the issues are discussed below. Therefore, the fishing industry in Senegal must consider another reason for its dilemma.
There is another more viable culprit: illegal fishing by foreign operators.
Senegal’s fishing fleet consists of traditional boats that cannot compete with foreign commercial trawlers, which increasingly violate Senegal’s exclusive 12-mile fishing zone over the past decade.
The government's efforts to stop foreign fishing are underfunded and are largely ineffective. As one source pointed out: “[i]It is estimated that fishermen in the country lose 300,000 tons of fish annually to fish illegally. ”
It was a problem, even Lazaro recognized, saying, “…compromising things, they complained about the large foreign trawlers clamoring.”
Because commercial fishing is capital and energy intensive, Commercial trawlers will not poach around the world if they do not accommodate large fish stocks.
Foreign trawlers are forcing small handmade fishermen in Senegal to sail away from small boats on the shore, but these vessels are not suitable for deep-sea fishing.
After dealing with misleading misleading climate change, it is damaging Senegal's fishing industry, The broader data also involves PBS's assertion: “Senegal struggles to deal with climate change…”
In recent warm times, Senegal's economic growth is usually strong. In 2023, Senegal's GDP grew by 4.6%, an enviable interest rate for any developed country.
For comparison, U.S. GDP grew by 2.5% in 2023. Recently, Senegal's GDP grew by 7.4% and 6.5% in 2021.
In fact, from 2014 to 2023, Senegal experienced an average GDP growth rate of 5.34%.
From 2000 to 2022, life expectancy in Senegal increased from 56.9 to 67.9 years, and in just 20 years, Senegalese life expectancy increased by more than a decade, and in two years, climate crisisists mistakenly thought it was the most enthusiastic decade.
Agriculture accounts for a large part of Senegal’s economy, and like the rest of the world, climate change has promoted improvements in growth conditions and crop yields.
Most of Senegal's crops are grown for domestic consumption rather than trade in international markets. Among the top crops grown in Senegal are corn, mango, millet, rice and sorghum.
Data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization shows that from 1990 to 2023:
- Senegal's corn production increased by more than 196%;
- Mango production in Senegal has expanded by about 8.5%;
- Millet production in Senegal increased by nearly 132%;
- Rice yields in Senegal increased by about 54%; and
- Sorghum production in Senegal increased by more than 88%. (See the image below.)
As studies clearly show that crop yields and yields have increased during recent climate change, a direct result of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and overall improved growth conditions and fertilization of moisture, climate change has benefited Senegal’s agricultural industry.
With no evidence that climate change has damaged Senegal, it is difficult to claim that the “obligation” of developed countries fails to fund Senegal’s defense and compensation for climate change.
In 2022 alone, Senegal received $1.45 billion in foreign aid, of which $206 million came from various U.S. government agencies.
Regarding foreign aid, Senegal receives billions of dollars in foreign aid each year directly from national governments, multilateral banks and government-funded development institutions.
In 2022 alone, Senegal received $1.45 billion in foreign aid, of which $206 million came from various U.S. government agencies. In fact, from 2010 to 2023, the United States alone provided about $3.29 billion in aid.
According to the U.S. State Department, the aid was delivered to Senegal:
US seeks assistance to Senegal Increase Agricultural productivitystrengthen the economic growth of the private sector, Improve health care and health security, reform and modernize the energy sector, Mitigate the impact of climate change,,,,, Strengthen basic education and empower local participants.
The highlighted part shows that the United States has indeed provided assistance to Senegal to enable it to respond and adapt to climate change.
Neither global nor U.S. aid provided to Senegal is in line with the definition of “the commitment of help from other countries” by PBS or NGOs interviewed, but I think most rational people would admit billions, if not over time, that is the help of the state.
Like other mainstream media, PBS refuses to let go of narratives, even if the data shows that climate change will harm everyone, even if the data shows other situations.
Although the data clearly shows that Senegal is improving, it remains a poor country with numerous problems. Climate change has neither caused these problems nor made Senegal's situation worse.
Otherwise, due to the crime of PBS, it misleads the concern of the real problems that Senegalese still face. This leads to the allocation of available resources to minimize or address the real potential problems that cause Senegal poverty.
The latter is a real tragedy related to climate change: the misunderstanding of facts that lead to misleading resources and slows down the improvements in Senegal and its global economy and health.
Top photo shows Senegalese fishing boat on Unsplash
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