Villagers in Togo mourn homes swallowed by the sea

The ruins of Kokou Denis Apedo's, the former Chief of Afidegnigban, house that was destroyed by coastal erosion and sea storms are seen in Afidegnigban, suburb of Lome, Togo, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

The Togolese coastal community of Baguida has always had the ocean at its doorstep, but the waves have lapped higher and higher in recent years, destroying homes and locals' hopes for the future.

On the outskirts of the capital Lome, crumbling abandoned buildings dot the shoreline, their empty windows staring out at the advancing water. Remaining residents are fearful.

Resident Marie Ma Joie Gami, 26, stands at the door of her home on the sandy beaches that she says are being lost through coastal erosion and sand storms in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo February 17, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

"I have three children. I think that one day the sea will take us by surprise, we won't know where to go," said 27-year-old Olivia Afanubo Hollalie, standing outside her single-storey house, metres from the surf.

Global greenhouse gas emissions are accelerating coastal erosion worldwide and the countries on West Africa's Atlantic shore are among those most at risk. The rising waters may wash away more than half of Togo's sandy shore by the end of the century, according to a March study in the journal Nature Climate Change.

In the village of Doevikope on Baguida beach, three-quarters of residents have moved away since the ocean swallowed precious agricultural land, the school's playing field and the cemetery.

FILE PHOTO: The remains of a well that has been exposed in the sand due to costal erosion and sea storms are seen on the sandy beach of Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

"The sea wants to take even our dead," lamented Chief Togbui Dorllayi, who lives in a makeshift shelter of straw and planks while he rebuilds his home for the sixth time.

The damage wrought by the encroaching waves is more than just physical.

Environmental degradation in the coastal areas of four West African countries, including Togo, cost $3.8 billion, or 5.3% of their national output in 2017, according to a World Bank study published last year.

FILE PHOTO: A lock corroded by sea water secures a storm damaged door on a property that is under threat of destruction from sea storms and coastal erosion in Afidegnigban, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

"The sea has destroyed everything. Now I'm tired. I am also old. I don't know how I'm going to eat," said 70-year-old Assah Kokou Akpebiotor, who has lived on Baguida's shrinking sands his whole life.

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Gareth Jones)

FILE PHOTO: Massi Natou, 46, collects water from a well on a coastline that is threatened by sea storms and coastal erosion in Afidegnigban, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

A boat passes by the remains of a costal road that has fallen into the sea due to coastal erosion in Lome, Togo, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Afenou Agnes, 58, a resident of Baguida, who was given money in 2014 by the government to be rehoused in Tropicana, sits in her home in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 28, 2020 after returning to Baguida after the funds ran out. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Woollams Ablavi, 61, who was given money in 2014 by the government to be rehoused when she said her property was destroyed by coastal erosion but returned to Baguida when the money ran out, hangs clothes up to dry at her home in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 28, 2020. In 2014. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Afanubo Hollalie Olivia, 27, her husband Agbe Sanvi, 32, and their three children, all of whom are residents of Baguida, stand by their home that was damaged by storms and they say is threatened with destruction by coastal erosion in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Togbui Doevi Jean Dorllayi II, 63, the chief of Doevikope in Baguida, demonstrates where the sea line used to be, while walking along the beach that he says has been damaged by coastal erosion, in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

The sea is seen from part of the ruined house of former Chief of Afidegnigban, Kokou Denis Apedo, on the sandy beaches of Afidegnigban, a suburb of Lome, that are being lost through coastal erosion and sea storms in Togo, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Jacob Amedrana, 47, who said he had to leave his home as it was destroyed by coastal erosion, sweeps the floor in front of his temporary home which is now also under threat of coastal erosion, in Baguida, Togo, February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Rocks and stones that are intended to protect the beach from coastal erosion are seen on the beach front in Aneho, Togo, February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Marie Ma Joie Gami, 26, sits with her daughter Sarah Tamakloe, 1, by the front door to their home, which they say is under threat from coastal erosion as they talk with a friend in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

The window of an abandoned bar is seen on the coast where many of the population have moved away from the sandy beaches that are being lost through coastal erosion and sea storms in Afidegnigban, a suburb of Lome, Togo February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

People walk past boats abandoned on the beach where the port of Lome can be seen in the distance in Lome, Togo, February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Togbui Doevi Jean Dorllayi II, Chief of Doevikope, 63, sits in his temporary home, a makeshift shelter made of straw and planks in Baguida a suburb of Lome, Togo, while he is building a new home 100 yards inshore from his former property that he says has been destroyed by coastal erosion and sea storms, February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

The remains of an abandoned house are seen on the coast of Afidegnigban a suburb of Lome, Togo where many of population have moved away from the sandy beaches as they are being lost through coastal erosion and sea storms, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Assah Kokou Akpebiotor 70, smokes as he looks out to sea from the coastal village of Baguida, a suburb of Lome from where many of population have moved away from their homes on the sandy beaches which he says are being lost through coastal erosion and sea storms in Togo, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

The remains of an abandoned bar are seen on the coast of Afidegnigban, a suburb of Lome, Togo, where many of the population have moved away from their homes on the sandy beaches that are being lost through coastal erosion February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

The sea is seen through a window of an abandoned house on the sandy beach of Afidegnigban, a suburb of Lome, which are being lost through coastal erosion and sea storms in Togo, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Togbui Doevi Jean Dorllayi II, 63, the chief of Doevikope in Baguida, talks on his mobile during a private business meeting in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

People walk past the remains of a house that was destroyed by coastal erosion and sea storms in Afidegnigban, Lome, Togo, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Lucien Kpondji, 54, a resident of Afidegnigban, holds an old black and white photograph of his father Azonsou Kpondji, his grandfathers, relatives and friends, in Afidegnigban, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Waves crash against former stairs of a building swept away by the sea on the sandy beaches that are being lost through coastal erosion and sea storms in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo February 17, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Togbui Doevi Jean Dorllayi II, Chief of Doevikope, 63, works on his kitchen garden next to his temporary home in Baguida a suburb of Lome, Togo, while he is building a new home 100 yards inshore from his former property that he says has been destroyed by coastal erosion February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Fishermen repair their nets on the sandy beach of Aneho, Togo, which is under threat from coastal erosion February 26, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

The sea is seen from the windows of the ruined house of former Chief of Afidegnigban, Kokou Denis Apedo, on the sandy beaches of Afidegnigban, a suburb of Lome, that are being lost through coastal erosion and sea storms in Togo, February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Adjahi Komlan, a grandson of former Chief of Afidegnigban Mr Koukou Denis Apedo, looks out to sea from the ruins of his grandfather's house which was built on sandy beaches that are being lost through coastal erosion and sea storms in Afidegnigban a suburb of Lome, Togo February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Pupils line up in the yard of their school, which, according to head teacher Hlongnoin Akouavi, was damaged by sea storms and is under threat from coastal erosion, in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 24, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Afanubo Hollalie Olivia, 27, her husband Agbe Sanvi, 32, and their three children, all of whom are residents of Baguida, stand by their home that was damaged by storms and they say is threatened with destruction by coastal erosion in Baguida, a suburb of Lome, Togo, February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago