Abstract

Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan share not only resources but a history of violent conflicts and political instability. Moreover, conflicts in the three countries are connected to each other by resource, ethnic, cultural, demographic, and geographical factors. A conflict in any one of the three countries would have implications on the others through population movement, pressure on resources, and political/security threats. There is an acknowledgement that any strategy for conflict management and maintenance of a long-lasting peace should take into account resource scarcity and the access to and management of natural resources. This project will aim to identify the ways of interaction between resource scarcity/degradation and violent conflicts, and outline alternative resource management policies that can prevent further eruption of conflicts.

Researchers will identify the conditions under which competition over scarce and depleted resources develop into conflicts; develop guidelines for post-conflict reconstruction that would minimize the possibilities of the transformation of competition into conflicts; study methods of resource allocation among groups in conflict-prone areas and examine the "traditional methods" of inter-group conflict resolution; analyze how state control of allocation and management of resources makes the state both the object of conflict and a principal means by which it is waged; and launch a regional network of researchers, community leaders, and policymakers to exchange ideas on resource scarcity, conflict management, and conflict prevention.

Post-Project Summary

This project was beset by a number of external factors affecting personal security in all three countries. Foremost among these was the outbreak of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which limited the amount of fieldwork that could be accomplished by the Eritrean team. Thus, while the researchers satisfactorily documented the relationship between land degradation and scarcity on the one hand, and conflicts on the other, they did not succeed in generating concrete policy guidelines. Nevertheless, the project resulted in three research reports that were to be combined in a book and published by the Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA). IFAA designed and offered a one-month course for a class of 25 based on the information generated by the project. Also as a result of the project, a network called the Horn Forum for Peace, Development and Democracy was formed in 1999. And, the IAA was able to secure funding arrangements with many donors in Europe.

Recipient Institution(s)