Benin Struggles In Battle To Halt Coastal Erosion

Cotonou, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 22nd Nov, 2023) Along its Atlantic coast, Benin‘s government has spent millions of Dollars to protect coastal communities from sea erosion. But Doris Alapini can only watch as waves tirelessly eat away at her land and the large seaside restaurant she built.

The ocean is slowly winning the battle.

“The sea is advancing a lot. We have to do dredging or else block it, otherwise it will keep advancing,” Alapini said as she walked along Cotonou‘s long sandy beach.

“I have seen how many times it has destroyed and invaded the neighbourhood.”

She has lived for 27 years in the Jak district, one of the oldest and most chic in the economic capital of Benin. Every year, sea waters overflow into her area.

“The neighbourhood is under threat every day,” she said.

“No one here has any guarantees. If there is a big wave, it will demolish the entire neighbourhood.

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Not all coastal erosion is linked to climate change. But since 2002, Benin has lost kilometres (miles) of coastline, said Esquill Outiclissou, executive of the government‘s general directorate of environment and climate.

“The state has not remained idle,” he said, pointing to protective structures, stone groynes and other installations, particularly to the east of Cotonou.

According to Outiclissou, nearly 100 billion CFA francs ($160 million) have been injected into the protection of Beninese coasts in recent years and the investment helped slow down the ocean’s advance.

Africa often finds itself on the front line of climate change impact despite the continent contributing the least to greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Still, Benin and its littoral West African neighbours Togo and Ghana are, just like Pacific islands and coastal South Asian cities, at risk of shore erosion’s impact on communities.