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Who governs here? Informal resource extraction, state enforcement, and conflict in Ghana
Over the past two decades, “illegal” natural resource extraction has become a significant driver of environmental change and social conflict across the Global South. In response, numerous Sub-Saharan African states have engaged in governance reforms that heed calls to securitize – or, establish and consolidate state control over – natural resources. In Ghana, securitization has served to entrench the informal economy as domestic producers, marginalized in the process of reform, continue to utilize non-state institutions to maintain access.
Reconnecting with nature in the shadow of war
Woman and her children in Timor-Leste. In a country where historic conflict has drastically impacted the environment and community dynamics, CI is helping to spark dialogue between local community members and government officials to promote peace through conservation agreements. (© Conservation International/photo by Lynn Tang)
This is the second blog in our series on environmental peacebuilding, which chronicles CI’s growing role in this emerging field of research. Today’s post focuses on our case study in Timor-Leste.
Actors, networks, and globalised assemblages: Rethinking oil, the environment and conflict in Ghana
This article draws on actor network theory (ANT) and assemblage to interrogate the potential future manifestation of open conflicts due to unresolved latent local socio-economic and political grievances associated with oil exploitation near fishing communities and the implications of oil-related environmental degradation on local livelihoods in the Western Region of Ghana.
We Say the Land is Not Yours: Breaking the Silence Against Forced Displacement in Ethiopia
Over the past six years, the Oakland Institute has been at the forefront of exposing the social, economic, and environmental impacts of foreign land grabs in Ethiopia.
Strong Institutions in Weak States: Institution Building, Natural Resource Governance, and Conflict in Ghana and Sierra Leone
Since the end of the Cold War, natural resources have assumed an increasingly prominent role in security, conflict, and peace studies. Scholars and development practitioners alike view the development of strong institutions, which aim to domesticate global regulatory regimes that foster neoliberal principles like privatization, transparency, and accountability, as necessary to mitigate natural resource conflict in resource-rich states, as well as enhance opportunities for peace and social justice.
Constructing the Herder–Farmer Conflict as (in)Security in Nigeria
The recent spate of violence mostly in north-central and southern Nigeria, typically credited to conflicts between herders and farmers, and the reactions, narratives, and representations that have attended them, calls for an examination of core security questions: who or what is to be secured, from what threat and by what means. In fact, it could be further contextualized as: how is the conflict between farmers and herders constructed, framed, and represented as (in)security within the Nigerian context?
Social Capital and Pastoral Institutions in Conflict Management: Evidence from Eastern Ethiopia
This paper examines the role of customary pastoral institutions in managing conflicts. It indicates thatintra‐ethnic conflicts can be managed customarily because of shared norms attributed to the social proximity and cultural homogeneity, whereas managing inter‐ethnic conflicts goes beyond the capacity of elders' council exercising customary law. The introduction of ethnic‐based federalism and historical political relations between different ethnic groups has weakened customary institutions in managing inter‐ethnic conflict.
Land resource conflict mitigation diplomacy for harmonious inter communities coexistence: the Oku-mbessa legacy in the North West region of Cameroon
Land resources in montane highlands often represent common property prerequisites for the survival and sustenance of the human in communities that are dependent thereof. The Oku and Mbessa communities on the northern fringe of the Ijim-Kilum citadel have in the course of manning their respective base resources sowed a spectre of edgy perceptions and practices of ownership entitlements that have hatched land resource conflicts.
Report: Risk & Resilience: Advancing Food and Nutrition Security in Nigeria through Feed the Future
This report examines the challenges and opportunities of Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, working in the complex political, economic, environmental, and cultural context of Nigeria. With the initiative moving into its second phase, adding resilience as a strategic objective and including more fragile target countries like Nigeria, Feed the Future needs to evolve its model to meet the needs of the world’s most at-risk populations.