Environmental sustainability: The ecological footprint in West Africa

Abstract

Although achieving sustainability remains a key goal of development, efforts to attain it vary across places, making a regional focus important. This paper investigates the ecological footprint—one measure of environmental sustainability—over time with focus on West Africa. Expectations from environmental impact and structural human ecology approaches are incorporated into an investigation of key factors driving national-level environmental sustainability in five countries. Results reveal that demographic attributes are key factors that affect ecological footprints in these countries. Findings are discussed with attention to policy implications regarding the West African context and in relation to opportunities for exploration in further academic study.