Cascao Leipzig Contested Natural Resources Horn Darfur Gambella

Contested natural resources and political conflict: case-studies from Darfur and Gambella European Conference on African Studies Ana Elisa Cascão Leipzig, Germany King’s College of London, UK 4-7 June 2009 CEAUP, Portugal

Ethiopia and Sudan: Territory and Natural Resources Agriculture and Livestock: • Main economic sectors • Main source of livelihoods • Inputs: Land and Water • Competition for control • Patterns of cooperation and conflict Environmental challenges: • Overexploitation of land and water resources • Environmental degradation • Uneven patterns of rainfall • Desertification Other challenges: • Population growth • Population movements (migrations, refugees, etc) • Resource-grabbing

Land Use Darfur Gambella

Livestock Density Darfur Gambella

Human Density Darfur Gambella

Ethiopia and Sudan: Political dimensions of resource-based conflicts Blurred political setting: • Property rights/Land Tenure • Acess and distribution • Unclear development options • Traditional conflict-resolution mechanisms • Alternative conflict-resolution mechanisms? Power politics: • Marginalisation • New competition: for political power and weatlh • Political manipulation of group-identities • Selective empowerement “Extra” political dimensions: • Porous administrative borders • Spillover effects of neighbouring conflicts

DARFUR – A local water war? Roots of the Conflict: Resource-based • Semi-arid region • Concentration of population • Longstanding competition for fertile/grazing land – land tenure problems • Competition for water access • Agro vs. Pastolarist disputes • Customary conflict resolution 1980s: • Increasing desertification/degradation • Limited water supplies • New agro-pastoralist migrations • Growing competition for resources • Governance failure “Darfur is an environmental crisis – a conflict that grew at least in part from desertification, ecological degradation and a scarcity of resources, foremost among the water” (Ban Ki-Moon, 2007)

DARFUR – how a resource-conflict became a political conflict 1990s: • Darfur: Underdeveloped and marginalised region • Increasing competition for natural resources • Increasing competition for political influence • Increasing political unrest • Local/National governance failure 2000s: • “Black Book”: call for power/wealth redistribution • Intra-state spillover effects (Central government + SPLM involvement) • Instrumentalisation of identities (ethnicity) • Empowerement of militias • Inter-state spillover effects (Sudan-Chad relations)

GAMBELLA – Resource-based conflict? The setting • Marginalised and underdeveloped region • Political instability • Federal/regional complexity • Population movements • Spillover effects from Sudan Gambella region The competition(s) • Competition for land and water – farmers, pastoralists, new comers • Problematic land tenure • Patterns of cooperation and conflict • Competition for political power • Instrumentalisation of identity politics The environment?

GAMBELLA – The environment White Nile River Sobat River Baro River Akobo River Gilo River Vast water supplies and fertile land But... • Increasing ecological degradation/deforestation • Increasing pressure over riverian areas • Potential land grabbing

GAMBELLA – Pressure over riverian areas 90s U l er s + Mo Dwel ent 8 vem r b an an 0s A d R rm ef u y ge es 0s 00 ists s /2 l Conflict 90 tora s Pa s Conflict r al s i st 0 Pa s/200 sto 90 80s Hig hlan 00 i st s der 0s s 0s 00 ists 0s oral /2 0s oral 9 t /2 9 t s s Pa Pa

CONCLUSIONS • Potential for resource-based conflicts in Ethiopia and Sudan is high • Growing pressure over land and water resources • Environmental degradation – social, economic and political impacts • Trend: political instrumentalisation of resource conflicts • Growing competition for political resources • Risk for transboundary spillover effects

Cascao Leipzig Contested Natural Resources Horn Darfur Gambella

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