Eco-Jihad: Islamic Extremist Groups in Africa Recruit Owing to the Environment

Abstract

This article examines factors of natural and human environment used by Islamic Jihadist groups in Africa, in recruitment. The methodology is a comparative study to multiple cases applied deductively from qualitative data. A comprehensive use of primary and secondary sources is used as the data. Each section starts with a quote from Islam’s holy book, the Quran, to show the relevancy of the environment in Islam used in militant recruitment by Jihadist groups in Africa. The cases in four sections start two centuries ago showing that this is not a new phenomenon. The first section details the Jihadists of Sokoto in pre-colonial West Africa (ca. 1800–1840). In recruitment they used civilization / wilderness divides across intellectual and colloquial discourses of common soldiers and political leaders; that included glorification of horses and camels as a recruitment moto associated with authentic Islamic warfare in the style of Prophet Muhammad. The second section provides examples of Islamic Jihadist groups in the Sahel where recruitment applied the symbiotic relationship of environmental shocks, insecurity, chronic hunger, malnutrition, and violent extremist organizations. The third section examines the materialist political ecology approach detailing Jihadist groups in Mali in their peasant / pastoral logics for recruitment. This is compared to the devolution of natural resources and security governance in Nigeria and the specific means applied by Al Shabab in Somalia who has banned single-use plastic bags projecting an environmental friendly image. The fourth section examines specific circumstances in various countries showing how recruitment is furthered by climate change. These are the Maghreb countries Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, and the Lake Chad Basin and Mali. The thematic line drawn, and common denominators in all the sections are that people under stress who have nowhere to turn to, arising from situations resulting from environmental stress, are the targets for militant recruitment. It is fair to state then as a bottom line from the cases in the African context that Islamic Jihadist groups exploit the environment to recruit. This comes naturally for environmental concerns are part and parcel of Islamic religion, military strategy, and politics.