Conflict In Sub-Saharan Africa Research Articles

Ethnic diversity and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from refugee-hosting areas

This study explores how forced migration affects ethnic diversity and conflict in 23 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2005 to 2016. Using UNHCR data on refugee camp locations, we predict changes in local ethnic diversity. By integrating Afrobarometer and Ethnic Power Relations-Ethnicity of Refugees datasets, we analyze the link between refugee-induced diversity and conflict occurrence. Findings indicate that refugee-induced polarization increases the risk of local violence, while fractionalization has a mitigating effect. Notably, the number of refugees does not impact the likelihood of conflict; instead, alterations in ethnic diversity, especially polarization, emerge as the primary driver of conflict.

Foreign aid and inequality: Do conflicts matter?

Existing literature on the relationship between foreign aid and income inequality (inequality) is inconclusive and the role of conflict has been underexplored. Yet, the frequency and severity of conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have increased sharply in recent years. This study investigates the impact of foreign aid on inequality in SSA, focusing on the moderating role of conflicts. Using a sample of 41 SSA countries from 1989 to 2022, we employ fixed-effects and System GMM to explore the complex interplay between foreign aid, conflicts and inequality. The results suggest that foreign aid reduces inequality, but that its effectiveness is considerably reduced in conflict-ridden countries. The results confirm the harmful effect of conflict in the foreign aid-inequality nexus in SSA. Results are robust to many robustness checks, such as the alternative strategy, which combines alternative inequality and conflict measures. Our results suggest that promoting good governance by fighting corruption and preventing conflict can enable foreign aid to significantly reduce inequality in SSA.

Gendered perspective on water security, rights and conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

The 2017 Global Risk Report ranked water crisis third among the top six global risks that greatly impact society. While the water crisis is disproportionately distributed worldwide, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has more people (most of whom are women) who face water problems compared to other regions worldwide. Through the application of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol version 2020, a systematic review examining the connection between gender and water security, rights, and water conflicts in SSA was done. A total of 24 out of 229 articles made it into the final analysis. Previous research studies on gender politics in the water sector have done so in a fragmented way, focusing on specific water security parameters. The emerging findings show that 14 years after the adoption of an enforceable human right to water and about 6 years prior to the cut-off date for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, matters of gender and water in SSA are far from being addressed. Rural people, especially women, still face multiple water-related challenges and conflicts, including discriminatory practices upholding male hegemony in water governance. It is recommended that actors in the water sector precede the implementation of water projects by understanding contextual settings that influence gendered water security. Furthermore, the implementation of the water Sustainable Development Goal (SGD 6) should be done in the context of SDG 5 (Gender Equity) and the prioritization of procedural water justice and governance, access to technical skills, and water conveyance technologies.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.prisma-statement.org/.

Allocation of public health services across urban and rural regions and armed conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Armed conflicts exacerbate public health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Inequality across groups and poverty in rural areas can be an important factor in triggering local wars. This study investigates whether equitable distribution of public services by governments across urban and rural geographical regions reduces the risk of local wars initiated by armed groups in Sub-Saharan African countries. Does an equitable distribution of public services such as healthcare and clean water public services across regions decrease the risk of armed conflicts? Uneven distribution of public services can increase the risk of conflict by contributing to group grievances, rural poverty, and rent-seeking competition over government resources. Analyses of 39 Sub-Saharan African countries from 1947 to 2021 show that a one-standard deviation increase in equal access to public services by urban-rural location lowers the risk of armed conflict, a substantial 37 to 53 percent with consideration of a battery of control variables.

Herder-farmer conflict in sub-Saharan Africa and corporate social responsibility in Nigeria’s oil host communities

ABSTRACT There have been increasing demands on multinational oil companies (MOCs) to provide community development programmes and security to their host communities in Nigeria. This is mainly because developmental projects and security are lacking in most of these communities and most of the time they are not provided by the government. Thus, we set out to examine the impact of MOCs’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) model on cutting the main drivers cum prompters of herder-farmer violence in the Niger Delta expanse of Nigeria. Results from the use of both propensity score matching and the logit model indicate that, though a very skimpy part of the CSR intervention is specifically aimed at alleviating herder-farmer conflict, CSR has made a momentous impact in the drops in land deprivation, social disparities, pressure over land as well as better people’s lives in the region. The finding suggests that MOCs are well positioned to tackle the drivers and triggers of farmer-herder violence when investment in cluster development boards (CDBs) is designed to improve land management infrastructure, train local leaders in dispute resolution techniques and prioritise trust between communities and the security forces. This implies that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern.

Echoes Across Borders: Macroeconomic Spillover Effects of Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Echoes Across Borders: Macroeconomic Spillover Effects of Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Fraying Threads: Exclusion and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Fraying Threads: Exclusion and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Fraying Threads: Exclusion and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Fraying Threads: Exclusion and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Taming the Tides of Internal Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Political Institutions and Natural Resources

This article examines the interaction effects of resource rents and political institutions on internal conflicts in a panel of 29 Sub-Sahara African countries from 1983 to 2018. Relying on the system generalized method of moments (SGMM) estimator that controls for instrument proliferation, we find robust evidence of the adverse interaction effects between resource rents and political institutions on internal conflicts. Comprehensive marginal effect analysis on both variables reveals the following significant findings. First, there is a (broad) U-shaped marginal effect of resource rents and political institutions. Second, when each component of resource rents was analyzed, only oil and mineral rents had a negative and statistically significant interaction effect with political institutions on internal conflicts. The U-shaped marginal effects hold only for oil rents (but become narrower), while mineral rents exhibit only an L-shaped marginal effect at low levels of political institutions. Our findings are robust to a broad set of alternative measures of political institutions and alternative specifications of the interaction term. JEL Classification Q34, E02, N57

Refugee crisis in 2015 and 2022 – similarities and differences on the example of policy towards war refugees in Turkey and Poland

The aim of the publication is a comparative analysis of the migration crisis of 2015 and 2022, with particular emphasis on refugee policy in Turkey and Poland and in the broadly understood context of the European Union. Embedded in the interdisciplinary field of European Studies, the article is based on the assumption that the dynamics and scale of migration flows in 2022 distinguish this crisis from the events of 2015, and the neighborly location of Ukraine influenced a different assessment of the situation than it was in the case of conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa or the Middle East. The cultural and ethnic proximity of Ukrainians has played a key role and is reflected in EU legislation regulating their status as displaced persons. The conclusions highlight the trend in Turkey and EU countries to renationalise refugee protection measures, the temporary nature of which is becoming a common standard. The research is based on the legal-dogmatic method, institutional analysis, comparative method and discourse analysis, using appropriate research techniques.

Infectious disease and political violence: Evidence from malaria and civil conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa

As an infectious disease, malaria consumes around 250 million yearly clinical cases and with more than half a million annual deaths. It has shown tremendous burden for the economic and social life of many countries around the world, particularly in the tropical and developing nations. The conventional wisdom claims that the prevalence of malaria infection either prolongs or should be positively correlated with outbreaks of civil conflicts. We contend that malaria infection should deter civil conflict occurrences because warming parties should avoid engaging each other in areas with rampant malaria infection. We test the hypothesis with 20 years of geo-referenced panel data of conflict event and malaria risk from Sub-Sahara Africa. Our result renders strong support for our hypothesis that areas with more malaria infection tends to have less civil conflicts.

Conflict, healthcare and professional perseverance: A qualitative study in a remote hospital in an Anglophone Region of Cameroon.

Armed conflicts are a major contributor to global disease burden owing to their deleterious effects on health and healthcare delivery. The Anglophone crisis in Cameroon is one of the ongoing conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa and has led to massive displacement of healthcare workers (HCWs). However, some HCWs have stayed back and continued working. An understanding of their experiences, perspectives and professional perseverance is lacking. We designed a phenomenological study using Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews to: understand the experiences of 12 HCWs in a remote hospital in the North West region of Cameroon with armed groups; evaluate how it affects healthcare delivery from HCWs perspective and examine HCWs coping mechanisms during the conflict with a view of informing HCW protection policies in conflict zones. Results revealed that HCWs go through all forms of violence including threats, assaults and murders. Overall insecurity and shortage of health personnel were major barriers to healthcare delivery which contributed to underutilization of healthcare services. Participants observed an increase in complications due to malaria, malnutrition and a rise in maternal and infant mortality. The hospital management and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) played an essential role in HCWs adaptation to the crisis. Nevertheless they unanimously advocated for a cease fire to end the conflict. In the meantime, passion for their job was the main motivating factor to stay at work.

Forest management institutions and actor-centered conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa: Contemporary realities and future avenues for research and policy

The rapid transformation of forest landscapes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been a key trigger to social conflicts among forest management actors. This development has a governance undertone with institutions playing a central role in shaping the dynamics. This Special Issue synthesizes nine published articles which address questions on the perceptions, attitudes and transaction costs linked to forest management institutions, institutional bricolage and the interaction between state-facilitated (formal) and community-facilitated (informal) institutions. The Special Issue also provides empirical evidence on gendered perspectives in institutional change processes, partnership reforms in forestland systems, institutional coordination and the (un)intended outcomes of decentralized forest management. The contributions to this Special Issue provide a glimpse on the separate treatise of actors and institutions, and on manifest social conflicts in forestry settings in SSA. The synthesis led to the definition of the following future lines for research and policy: Firstly, future studies should reemphasize the links between forestry and social conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa. Secondly, fostering the “marriage” between actors and institutions will ensure a holistic appreciation of forest use and management processes. Thirdly, the literature on the links between pandemics and forest-linked institutional change in sub-Saharan Africa is still scanty. Fourthly, studies to uncover the governance of forced migrants and their role in shaping forest use and management institutions are required. Finally, there is a need for multi-country studies, employing mixed-methods approaches to analyze actor-institutions dynamics in forest use and management in sub-Saharan Africa.

Varying climatic-social-geographical patterns shape the conflict risk at regional and global scales

Given that armed conflict has been seriously impeding sustainable development, reducing the frequency and intensity of armed conflicts has become an explicit goal and a common theme of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Determining the factors shaping armed conflict risks in different regions could support formulating region-specific strategies to prevent armed conflicts. A machine learning approach was applied to reveal the drivers of, and especially the impact of climatic conditions on, armed conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia and characterizes their changes over time. The analyses show a rising impact of climatic conditions on armed conflict risk over the past decades, although the influences vary regionally. The overall percentage increases in the contribution of climatic conditions to conflict risks over the last 30 years in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia are 4.25, 4.76, and 10.65 percentage points, respectively. Furthermore, it is found that the Climatic–Social–Geographical (“C–S–G”) patterns that characterize armed conflict risks vary across the three studied regions, while each regional pattern remains relatively stable over time. These findings indicate that when devising defenses against conflicts, it is required to adapt to specific situations in each region to more effectively mitigate the risk of armed conflict and pursue Sustainability Development Goals.

Water Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa

Freshwater is a strategic natural resource in any region of the world, and this is especially true for the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Sub-Saharan Africa states, where water ecosystems are strategic resources, are oriented towards regional conflict rather than cooperation. However, its fossil fuels—principally, oil and natural gas—have constantly been exposed to scientific scrutiny. To compensate for the scarcity of scientific literature on the issue, the article analyses the role of the unequal distribution of freshwater that has been generating conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa from the time of decolonization. Next, these conflicts are examined. Recommendations on the non-conflictual use of water are provided.

Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa

Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa

Explaining transhumance-related violence: Fulani Ethnic Militia in rural Nigeria

The growing incidence of farmer-herder conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa raises questions about its underlying causes. In Nigeria, for example, where both terrorism and farmer-herder conflicts have increased, questions arise about the roles of Boko Haram, vis-à-vis climate, natural disaster, grazing resources, market and policy-related constraints to grazing. To explain the causes of transhumance-related violence, we conceptualize push factors, which increase the spread of pastoral activities away from historical grazing areas; pull factors, which attract pastoralists to previously less-grazed areas; and escalating factors which explain increased pastoral violence in the latter. We further develop a theoretical location choice model to explain the grazing location decisions of herdsmen and violence resulting from resistance from destination communities. Using the Nigerian Fulani Herdsmen situation as a case study, we confirm the expected influences of hypothesized resource-related causal factors and the escalating roles of some economic, policy, market and land use challenges. Specifically, we empirically find that Boko Haram attacks escalate farmer-herder conflicts by intensifying the effects of drought, natural disasters, high temperature and other grazing constraints on herdsmen. We also explore possible policy solutions to the growing human casualty from violent attacks.

The Climate Conflict Trap: Examining the Impact of Climate Change on Violent Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

As recently as 2019, international security officials reported that international state sponsors of terrorism, such as ISIL, were moving into Sub-Saharan Africa. The causal links between climate change and conflict, especially in an understudied and misunderstood region such as Sub-Saharan Africa, are often complicated and ill-defined. In reality, climate change does not unilaterally or unconditionally strengthen terrorist organizations and, by extension, civil conflict. The circumstances of climate change impact the trajectory of violent non-state armed groups in Sub-Saharan Africa through three primary mechanisms that intersect and interact with one another: natural resource instability, colonialism, and the intensity of intra-state tensions throughout a particular region. Through these three primary lenses, it is evident that, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the effects of climate change exacerbate conditions that, in turn, provide a unique, fertile environment for violent non-state armed groups to develop and thrive.

Identity, Ethnic Conflict and Communal Conflict in Sub- Saharan Africa

Ethnic identity is one of the most significant types of identities. Meanwhile, some researchers have recently begun to criticise the term ‘identity’ as being too excessively associated with political ideologies, lacking operational power and being difficult to define precisely. Simultaneously, attention has been drawn to what can be referred to as ‘ethnic revival.’ Ethnic identity is created based on the opposition between what is ‘one’s own’ and what is ‘foreign.’. Even though the category of ‘the Other’ or the ‘foreign’ always appears in the context of identity, it has a special significance in the case of ethnic identity. By such means, the belonging to a particular ethnic group is emphasized, while simultaneously one is cut off from other groups. Conflicts between clans, tribes and ethnic groups have occurred throughout the ages and in all civilisations. There is no single opinion among researchers about how ethnic conflict should be defined. Increasingly, in recent literature of the subject, the distinction between ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts has come to be applied. The article aims to analyse the identity problems expressed in ethnic and communal conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is based on the critically reviewed literature of the subject, as well as the author’s conclusions from many years of research on the problem of state dysfunctionality, conducted in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Cattle Ranching and Farmer-herder Conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the Conditions for Successes and Failures in Northern Ghana

ABSTRACT To address the prevalence of farmer-herder conflicts, Ghana has recently adopted a national cattle ranching project to establish ranches. Through a qualitative approach, this study examines the performance of existing ranches in addressing farmer-herder conflicts and the feasibility of ranches under complex land tenure arrangements. In Northern Ghana, identity, perceptions of land grab, and dynamics of access to animal feed and water sources might make cattle ranching less feasible in addressing farmer-herder conflicts. The study finds that the identity of herders as Fulani is generally perceived as dangerous, murderous, and violent. However, these issues are complicated by further concerns of corruption and rent-seeking behavior among the chiefs and security officers, especially the police. The results suggest the need to reconsider the cattle ranching policy by understanding the nature of conflicts and widening public consultation. The findings of this study are relevant for sub-Saharan African countries currently contemplating or implementing cattle-ranching policies.