Safeguarding climate-smart villages through conflict-sensitive and peace-responsive approaches. Lessons from Senegal

This paper examines how Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) interventions shape social cohesion, inclusion, and peace/conflict dynamic outcomes by drawing on mixed methods research at the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) site in Kaffrine, Senegal. Fieldwork conducted in late 2024 combined two sex-disaggregated focus group discussions, 20 semi-structured interviews with men, women, youth, and implementers, and a survey of 89 respondents. The study applies a political ecology lens to understand how CSA programming intersects with existing power relations, access to resources, and perceptions around governance. It builds on environmental peacebuilding to discuss the potential of the CSV approach to foster peace co-benefits. Results show that the CSV generated substantial adaptive gains, including widespread uptake of climate-smart practices, improved harvests, and greater livelihood diversification. These advances contributed to stronger reciprocity and cooperation among many community members. However, the benefits were not evenly distributed. Exclusive institutional arrangements, such as membership-based groups with privileged access to resources and credit, produced grievances and perceptions of inequity. Weak communication channels and limited transparency in leadership structures further undermined institutional trust, creating risks of fragmentation and exclusion. We argue that perceptions around the quality of governance structures are crucial in determining how CSA can either strengthen social cohesion or reinforce grievances. Based on these lessons from the Kaffrine CSV, we propose the concept of a peace responsive CSV, the CSV+ approach, which embeds inclusive participation, transparent information-sharing, and accessible grievance mechanisms into adaptation programming. The safeguards can enable CSA projects to deliver peace-positive co-benefits alongside climate resilience.