Environmental Conflicts Revisited
The commonly held link between violent conflict and competition for natural resources has recently prompted amplified concerns due to accelerated environmental change and the perceived hostilities it could trigger. Yet, previous NCCR North-South findings suggest that the human element likely plays a bigger role in such conflicts than environmental change per se: human interaction, formal and informal practices among stakeholders, state and institutional policies governing resource use all are decisive factors. Focussing on pastoral groups in the West African Sahel and the Ethiopian lowlands, this research project aims to pinpoint the mechanisms of environmental conflicts and determine institutional policies that could ease or eliminate such tensions.
Project leaders: Gilbert Fokou and Allemmaya Mulugeta
PhD Dissertation linked with the project:
Myra Posluschny (University of Basel) Modernization of the Agricultural Sector as a National Development Strategy to End Poverty in Ethiopia