Coastal erosion is redrawing West Africa’s shoreline, and Togo’s experience shows how climate-driven sea-level rise and port infrastructure can combine to devastate communities.
Over four decades the Atlantic has consumed roughly a dozen villages along Togo’s coast, along with homes, roads, cemeteries and shrines, with erosion averaging around ten metres a year across a 30 km stretch. Residents and campaigners trace the acceleration to construction at the Port of Lomé, particularly its third quay, and a victims’ collective is demanding compensation from the port authorities, the Bolloré group and the World Bank. Scientists warn that towns such as Aného and Agbodrafo could disappear within a decade without intervention. Hope now rests on beach renourishment and a locally invented sand-trapping well system, being scaled up under the World Bank-backed WACA coastal resilience programme to protect nearly 940 households.
Summary based on reporting by Ekué Kodjo Koudohah for the Climate Change Reporting Project (WAJA / Mano River Union CSO Platform).
Read the original at https://mrucsoplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/togo-coastal-erosion.pdf