Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood

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• PhD Leadership, Security and Development
• Lecturer in Sustainable Futures at University of St Andrews

This is the third special issue of the IJCJSD seeking to engage in global Green Criminological Dialogues, previously presenting ‘Voices from the Americas and Europe’ (Goyes et al, 2019) and then ‘Voices from Asia’ (Goyes et al, 2022). The focus for this collection is Africa, a continent of enormous diversity—in Indigenous Peoples and Local Communit...

Editorial of the Special Issue of African marine and coastal conservation

Africa’s marine environment and resources that lie beneath it are central to the continent’s sustainable development and actualising the ambitions set out by the African Union in its Agenda 2063, where the oceans are described as the frontier of Africa’s development. The continent’s maritime domain and resources are also attractive to foreign partn...

Tropical peatlands store globally significant quantities of carbon and are ecologically and culturally important, but little is known about their vulnerability to oil and gas exploration and extraction. Here, we analyse the exposure of tropical peatlands to the activities of the petroleum industry and review what is known about the sensitivity of p...

This study examines the response of women to disruptions caused by COVID-19 in small-scale fisheries (SSF) in the Gulf of Guinea (GOG). It interrogates the concept of resilience and its potential for mitigating women’s vulnerability in times of adversity. We define resilience as the ability to thrive amidst shocks, stresses, and unforeseen disrupti...

The blue economy has roots in the international arena of sustainable development and sets out to unlock opportunities for economy and society whilst protecting and enhancing marine environments. To date there has been no analysis of how this overarching intention for sustainability has influenced the rapid development of blue economy policies at na...

To support and scale‐up global restoration efforts, the United Nations (UN) has proclaimed 2021–2030 the “UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”. The Decade offers significant opportunities for and challenges to restoration, in particular for Africa, a continent that has a large need and potential for restoration. We thus argue that the Decade must be...

The sustainable use of fisheries resources is a priority of the African Union in developing the Blue Economy (BE). Growing global demand for seafood has attracted diverse actors to African waters, including Distant Water Fishing Nations (DWFNs) fleets. Complex fisheries governance challenges, unsustainable rates of fishing and rising fisheries-rela...

In recent years global leaders have been criticized for their lack of commitment to the continuing rise of sea levels. These leaders have failed to recognize that people are already living with the impact of climate change today. Countries like Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo were significantly affected by coastal erosion, which resulted in a calc...

This paper engages the open governance framework to assess whether and how Ghana's Right to Information Law, 2019 (Act 989) contributes to accountability in petroleum revenue management. The Constitution's freedom of information provision aims to get civil society and other non-state actors to be proactive in exerting public accountability through...

The threat of criminal activity in the fisheries sector has concerned the international community for a number of years. In more recent times, the presence of organized crime in fisheries has come to the fore. In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly asked all states to contribute to increasing our understanding the connection between illegal f...

Toxic waste is chemical compounds that, when ingested or inhaled, can cause physiological impairment and, in extreme cases, death. It is also known for its detrimental effect on the environment when disposed of in an unsafe manner. Yet, countries in the Gulf of Guinea continue to be targeted by Western waste-brokers notwithstanding the existence of...

Socioeconomic security has motivated African states to explore natural resources in areas of overlapping maritime claims. However, Africa's maritime boundaries are characterized by unresolved disputes. Resolution of these disputes is time-consuming, expensive and can undermine the state's ability to exploit natural resources. The Somalia and Kenya...

The concept of Blue Economy (BE) is recognized as central for sustainable development that incorporates socio-economic benefits and ecological conservation. However, in Africa, much of the emphasis on BE is placed on economic gains; as a result, traditional livelihoods and small-scale local operations are outcompeted by international corporations a...

The concept of Blue Economy (BE) is recognized as central for sustainable development that incorporates socio-economic benefits and ecological conservation. However, in Africa, much of the emphasis on BE is placed on economic gains; as a result, traditional livelihoods and small-scale local operations are outcompeted by international corporations a...

Stable Seas: Gulf of Guinea explores the connections between maritime governance themes and security challenges, drawing on interviews conducted with experts and practitioners in seven countries across the region. Maritime insecurity threatens the stability of coastal communities as well as their landlocked neighbors and puts the sustainable develo...

Analyzes of [maritime] security issues have long focused on threats to the nation-state, thereby promulgating traditional state-centric security policies and practices. The preceding claim is valid for maritime security responses on the African continent, where piracy/armed robbery at sea has been met with robust regional and international interven...

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) espouses the significance of fisheries and their contribution to food and economic security globally. It emphasises the need for the conservation of the ocean and the integrity of marine resources in the interest of future generations. Demonstrating an understanding of the need to im...

Fish makes a significant contribution to the food security of millions of people in the Gulf of Guinea, accounting for up to 80 per cent of the animal protein, and sometimes the only source of animal protein consumed in coastal communities across the region, including those in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. However, this contribution is increasin...

Fisheries contribute to the food security of more than three billion people globally. In the Gulf of Guinea, it accounts for more than 80 percent of the animal protein and sometimes is the only source of animal protein consumed in littoral communities in Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana and Senegal. However, the pervasiveness of unsustainable practice...

The significance of the ocean and the resources that lie beneath it is well represented in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, Goal 14 of the SDGs highlights the need to conserve the ocean, seas and marine resources and, as such, is a significant contributor to the achievement of other SDGs. Goals 1 and 2 are aime...

This article discusses the role of negotiation, arbitration, and that of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in resolving maritime boundary disputes in the Gulf of Guinea region. Primarily using the cases of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, the paper highlights that joint maritime development agreements could be a better option for resolving existin...

This research note examines the use of depleted uranium weapons in contemporary military interventions and the hazardous effects of their use. It also demonstrates attempts made by the United States and the United Kingdom to block any international efforts to ban the use of these weapons. Although there is no laboratory evidence, experiential evide...