Human and Social Impacts of Global Warming and Resilience Building for Sustainable Development in Saharan African Countries

This paper examined the human and social impacts of global warming in the Sahel-Saharan African countries and as well proposed strategies for mitigation, adaptation and resilience building for sustainable development for countries in the region. The methodology employed an exploratory research design based on a systematic literature review obtained from searches in the Web of Science, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Scopus, and institutional databases using key words including global warming, climate change, human impacts, resilience, and sustainable development from articles published in peer-review journals between 2010-2025 as well as reports from international development organizations including IPCC, WMO, FAO, UNEP using thematic synthesis to identify patterns across the relevant literature on human and social impacts of global warming in the region. The study revealed many critical challenges and highlighted some mitigation, and adaptation strategies as well as opportunities that could be leveraged for resilience building in the region. In addition, the paper highlighted how the abundant natural resources such as strong desert winds, prolonged sunlight hours, floods, and coastal waves could be harnessed to develop renewable energy sources, address persistent issues such as low agricultural productivity, water shortages, unemployment, poverty, migration and climate-related diseases for sustainable development in the region. The findings underscore the importance of integrated adaptation strategies, green technologies, and inclusive policies to build resilience and promote sustainable development.